Minimizing swim disorientation

Triathlon Forum
1

Hello,

First off, my apologies if this issue has already been discussed elsewhere in this forum.

My question concerns the dizziness or disorientation one experiences when coming out of the water after the swim leg. Has anyone discovered a good way of minimizing this effect? Is dramamine or meclizine the only answer?

Thanks.

2

I used to have that problem but now I practice comming out of the water and running 1/10 of a mile and the dizziness just went away.

jaretj

3

I am not sure there is a lot you can do about it. I think it is caused primarily by a drop in blood pressure. First, when you are in the water, hydrostatic pressure makes your blood pressure higher. Second, you are horizontal with your head at the level of your heart. So, when you get out of the water and stand up, you are going to have a blood pressure drop. Same as when you stand up sometimes and get dizzy. I put a little cooler in my transition area. I use it to rinse my feet, and I also sit on it to put my bike shoes on. If I try to put my bike shoes on standing up, I will fall over.

4

If you haven’t tried the following solution, do so ASAP: Ear plugs! I’m serious. I have no problems with swim vertigo in the pool, but in open water I get disoriented, nauseous, and feel nasty. I heard a variety of explanations(hypothermia, for example) and solutions to this problem, but then I tried ear plugs, and I have not had the problem a single time since then.

In my case, the vertigo was caused by water getting into my ear canals and messing up my balance. Since I got so much water in my ears during open water swims, it would take until well into the bike before I’d feel better, and the remnants of the disorientation would stay with me for hours.

So if you haven’t tried ear plugs, do it. Get a pair of the silicon ones, as they are most comfortable.

I hope this helps you.

5

I know this sounds funny, but when my coach holds transition practice for her clients, she makes everyone twirl around 5 or 6 times to get a little dizzy, then run to the practice area.

6

The dizziness comes from the cold water hitting your eardrums. I was taught in both nursing and paramedic school to never irrigate someones ears with cold water, because it will make them violently ill and cause dizziness and cause the pt coordination problems. Your eardrums have fluid that helps control your balance perception.

7

I second what people say about ‘practice’ and getting used to it … For me it was much worse in my first few races and now it is much less: I swim until my hands touch gravel (or mud), get up slowly, stagger out pretty slowly but I look ahead, put one foot in front of the other and walk for a few steps(so what if some dude passes me), About 10 sec. of this, my HR comes down a bit, I feel better and can jog into the transition area for a decent transition. -TB

8

Whew, glad to hear that this is somewhat normal…

I just did my first open water swim of the year in order to try out my new wetsuit and get ready for a 1.5k/5k aquathon on Wednesday night. For the first time ever (after swimming outdoors my entire life), I felt dizzy and just plain “strange” when I got out of the water. In fact I almost fell over and it lasted for nearly 10 minutes. It feels like it was the “cold water on the eardrum” problem because I distinctly remember a couple of things when swimming today…

1- damn this water is cold on my head and

2- why did that huge amount of water rush into both of my ears, that doesn’t normally happen?

I think I’m going to get some earplugs for the race on Wednesday. I’ve never worn earplugs and have seen some conflicting advice about which type works the best though.

9

I feel kind of goofy when I get out of the pool after a long swim. I attribute it more to being a little hypoxic after a strenuous swim. The blood pressure drop makes sense. I don’t really get dizzy - I feel mildly intoxicated.