This happens to me when I do long swims in the pool. After the swim, snort warm salt water up each nostril several times. Usually works well for me.

yeah, neti pot after you swim. Some people are allergic/sensitive to chlorine (and the other chemicals in the pool), a neti pot will rinse all that out.

Thanks very much for your replies.
I will try it.

The neti pot will help a lot. It is a little awkward to use but, it will clear you right up!

I usually get snotty & sneeze for a few hours but it also usually sidelines itself. I typically sleep with a humidifier running. I don't use the neti pot because I'm pretty sure I'd drown or gag myself, but I do flush some water through my sinuses sometimes (through a really unattractive snort/sniff/hork/spit process that would probably make a neti pot look suave). Not sure if it helps or I'm just complicated, but it's not usually much of a problem.

Do you swim later in the evenings?

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AW

I use noseplugs when I swim. It isn't the sexiest look but it has completely stopped my all day "swim sneezes" as well as lowering the number of sinus infections I get.

There are a few products out there like Ocean and Simply Saline that you can use to irrigate your sinuses without using a neti pot. (They also help if you are getting a cold - you can flush out your sinuses just like you would with a neti pot.) If you use a neti pot, depending upon your geographical location you might want to boil the water first. Sounds really stupid, I know, but there was a report from the CDC a few months ago that two people in Louisiana died from a bacteria/amoeba thingy that got into their sinuses from water, and both had used neti pots. The water in that area apparently comes from some pretty stagnant sources, which is where that bacteria thrives. I don't think it would be an issue for most, but figured I'd mention it. Again, ocean or simply saline would probably do the trick, too... and no boiling required!

I started getting this a couple years ago too.

If the nasal rinse doesn't work for you the nose plugs will. The ones I have (metal with rubber) come in different sizes which I didn't realize at first. I looked really stupid wearing the large ones!

I'm curious, does a nose plug make it harder to swim because it affects your breathing? I definitely blow air out my nose when I swim.

To the OP - I sneeze for a few hours post-swim but it doesn't seem to be worse than that. It started a few years ago and I figured that, just as people can develop allergies to milk or something as adults, I'd developed one to chlorine. Occupational hazard :-)

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

May not be the chlorine as such, but rather chloramime, which is a by-product of the interaction of chlorine with urine and sweat. Causes respiratory irritation. It's a big problem at the older indoor pools in my area, which tend to have old filter systems that don't work that well, high use and poor water quality. This link to CDC explains more:

http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/swimming/pools/irritants-indoor-pool-air-quality.html

I got to swim in an indoor salt water pool last year. It was heaven!

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No coasting in running and no crying in baseball

I have nighttime congestion all the time after swimming. I also have insomnia so I can'/won't take antihistamines due to that. I LOVE Breathright strips at night! It eliminates all congestion and no medication(besides Ambien of course!)

Thanks for all the replies.

I used to just sneeze a lot for a couple hours, but now I just can't breath at all for a day. Even today (36 hours after swimming) I feel ok, but people keep asking if I'm ok because I sound so congested.
I started myself on Nasonex to see if that will calm things down a bit. It might be because the pool I swim in is old. I may need to change to a different pool, may need to consider finding a saline pool if this continues.

Tigerchik- I was wondering about the breathing while swimming w/ nose plugs as well. I do blow out through my nose too (at least I do one thing a fast swimmer dose :)) But if this nasal congestion thing continues, I may need to change that because this won't allow me to swim much if I have this much problems w/ my upper resp system

I'll let you know if I find something that works.

dumb question - sure you don't have a cold?

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

The odd thing is I actually like swimming with it now. Don't have to blow out for flip turns (I do a little, but not as much as before), and it's kinda nice for backstroke. I also find spotting in OWS a lot easier with the nose plug.

In my case the sneezing and nose blowing got so bad that I would be up all night with it.

Too bad they look so ridiculous!

Not a dumb question. I thought of that. But it's happened each night the last 2-3 x I've swam. Although I'm still stuffy today, so maybe the chlorine is making existing allergies worse.

I started on nasal steroids (Flonase). I am going to swim tonight. Wish me luck .

would only ask you :-
lf there is such a filter for nasal beathing whilst swimming? This is because, although I can swim and breath through my mouth, I learned to swim by breathing through my nose. The problem is that I have lost the hairs in my nose, which since leaves me coughing or even choking when taking in water whilst swimming. Any advice much appreciated. Regards. Clive Nicholas
e-mail clivesmail@zoho.com

Nose clip. that's about the only thing I know of that'll keep it out, unless you train yourself to NOT breathe out of your nose. There's a few that swim with them full-time in my various groups - both pool & lake. I can't get it to work myself, I've swam without them for too long that I choke myself with one. But then, we've always known I'm not the brightest bulb...ha!

I'm almost always a little snotty & stuffed up after swimming - lake is especially bad. I've mastered the Zyrtec the night before, doing my best to NOT allow the water up my nose/sinuses and hitting some saline spray after swimming on lake days. The pool gets better on its own after a couple hours.

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AW

Another one who is always snotty and stuffy after swimming (and I don't have allergies or respiratory issues). That environment just inspires a flooding of the pipes.
Of course it is personal preference, but I would never use a nose plug- just too awkward.

at 2011 worlds, missy franklin won the 200m back wearing a nose plug.

to be honest, i'm surprised they aren't banned in competition because it's a huge advantage for backstroke since you have to continuously breathe out through your nose after you push off from the wall to avoid water going up your nose (and as we all know, underwater kick = faster than swimming regular stroke at the surface). you can kick to 8m or 9m at the 150m turn without going into huge oxygen deficit.