Alright, I just got back from boot camp…and to help keep my sanity while i was there, I pondered all the questions I would ask the Teeming Millions once I returned home…and there were quite a few questions!
Okay, that’s my disclaimer.
My first question:
While I was in remedial swim, every morning at 0530, I became highly irritated by the burning sensation when water entered my nose.
What is this phenomenon? What exactly is going on in my nose to make it burn? Is it the chlorine? I vaguely remember some liquid I was drinking traveling the wrong was (think milk out the nose) and it burning.
It might be the chlorine, but even fresh water can irritate the inside of your nose. As I understand it, nasal cells are kind of exposed, so they are subject to osmotic pressure. Osmosis can cause the cells containing a saline solution (blood plasma) to bloat up and even explode when exposed to fresh water.
Now that I’ve posted my WAG, the real biology mavens can come in and mop up after me. :smack:
Water is very uncomfortable to anyone when it goes up their nose. However, I should mention that a person that truly knows how to swim doesn’t have water entering their nose in the first place the vast majority of the time.
It can happen to anyone during very specific circumstances like high-diving or making a rare mistake but having water enter your nose during regular swimming means that you don’t truly know how to swim.
You indicated that you were in remedial swimming lessons. That indicates that you didn’t really know how to swim before you took the course. Is that true?
None of this is meant to be condescending. Everyone that takes beginner swimming lessons swallows some water and gets water up their nose. That is easy to overcome with more practice and won’t be normal after you practice more.
Nah, I’m a diver. I snorkel. I grew up with a pool and always thought myself a pretty good swimmer. But when they give you the swim assessment at boot camp (if you’re a lazy recliner tuber, like myself) it’s in the second week and you’re pretty sore, exhausted and lack confidence. So I jumped in the water, swam about 25 feet before requesting a ride to the side.
It was during the unnecessary remedial swim exercises that my mind was able to drift from boot camp to the Straight Dope Message Board. We had to do these things called “wall push-ups,” where you basically stand there and push and pull your body toward and away from the side of the pool. It creates a splash and every so often, a droplet would find it’s way in your nose…and burn. I think everyone has experienced that sensation. I was just curious as to the biology of it and if the sensation itself actually had a name!
I don’t have a definite answer either, but this one definitely jives with my understanding of things, because one of the home remedies I was taught for a runny nose was to suck in salty water through the nose and spit it out. Salty water didn’t hurt at all, while fresh water did.
