Runny nose after swimming

voxpop

Ive only been swimming for a few months, but everytime after swimming I get a runny nose - like a head cold. This lasts for the day after the swim and is really annoying. Instead of feeling good after swimming, I feel like Ive come down with a cold.

Any solutions out there that I can try ? Could it be down to the pool ?

death1234567

voxpop wrote: »

Any solutions out there that I can try ? Could it be down to the pool ?

Try swimming with a nose peg. The chances are its water getting into your sinuses that's causing a mucus overload.

secman

Definitely sinus reaction from Chlorine/ chemicals in the water. I have to wear nose peg in pools, but never ever in the sea as saline solution actually good for clearing sinus.

Secman

liamo

I had been suffering with a long, long cold up to a few months ago but thought it might have been due to the amount of training (circa 14 hrs/wk) I was doing at the time.

I picked up an injury and was unable to train at all until very recently. I'm only back in the pool and my old symptoms returned almost immediately - nasal secretions, inflamed sinuses, sore eyes - just like hayfever.

It now seems pretty obvious to me that I'm reacting to the chemicals in the pool and I'm going to try a nose peg to see if that works.

I had been using Flixonase to treat the symtoms and it worked very well so that might be a short-term option for you if the nose peg doesn't work.

Killgore Trout

I occasionally get sinus problems from the pool. Otravine nasal spray is great for clearing them up - though it's not reccomended for routine regular use.

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100002956.html

liamo

Killgore Trout wrote: »

I occasionally get sinus problems from the pool. Otravine nasal spray is great for clearing them up - though it's not reccomended for routine regular use.

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100002956.html

I had also tried Otravine. It's *very* good and *very* fast acting. However, as Kilgore Trout says, it's not meant for regular use. It is recommended not to use it for more than a few days. Overuse can cause rebound congestion which essentially means that the initial cure will cause the symptoms to come worse than ever.

A little more on the nasal spray, Flixonase, that I mentioned earlier:
It can be used for months at a time. It is recommended, however, not to use it for more than 3 months (I think). It can take a few days of use for the effects to build to their maximum effect but it works really well. However, rather than relying on drugs to treat the symptoms, this time I'm going to try the nose-peg to try and treat the cause of the problem.

voxpop

Are these nasal sprays like sudafed ?

I guess its not the pool then but me - still I dont remember having these symptoms when swimming in the markovic(sp?) pool a few years ago. The sessions that I swim are generally the last at night in the pool (9:45) - could it be a build up of gunk during the day rather than the chlorine, thats causing the problem ?

Green Hornet

Different pools sem to have different amounts of chlorine. In the Kingfisher in Waterford for instance my nose, eyes etc are in a bad state every time. Sneezing etc.

Waterford Crystal pool is much better though. No real bad congestion at all.

I tried the nose clips but it kept falling off. Also, rightly or wrongly I breathe out through my nose and couldn't really get used to it when it did stay on.

ironmonkey

I've had this problem for years - take an antihistamine before swimming, sauna after swimming to sweat some of the chlorine from the swim pores and avoid the jacuzzi where the concentration of chlorine is much higher than the pool.

griffin100

I've just started wearing a nose clip which has sorted the problem for me. It can be difficult to keep on though.

Green Hornet

griffin100 wrote: »

I've just started wearing a nose clip which has sorted the problem for me. It can be difficult to keep on though.

Yeah, I gave up on it.:(

mcdonrob

Green Hornet wrote: »

Yeah, I gave up on it.:(

Re: Noseclip....don't bother with the plastic speedo ones... you need the ones with the wire frame.... speedo do them but they're hard to get in the shops.

Reduces snoring, nose dribbling... also some pools have much less chlorine in them.

I found ebay the best... I use the ones that you see some of the synchronised swimmers using... like this

Burkatron

Hi guys, Im a swim teacher myself & suffer from the same issues. Some pools kill me where as others Im grand after been in,this is defo down to chlorine content in the pool & Ive point blank refused to work in pools due to the way they treat (mistreat) their water! As mentioned earlier Saline solution/salt water is great for clearing the nose, you can get a spray in any chemist thats safe for everyday use which if used just before & after a swim it should minimise the problem. When this doesnt work alone I find taking an anti histamine a major help! Hope this helps.
Dave

marky boii

Ya I get the same its so so annoying like:mad:.

Casey_81

I used to have the same problem, I find now that using the steam room / sauna at the end of my session helps.