Why Your Nose Feels Like You Inhaled Water

A “water up the nose” feeling seems like something that would only happen when you're in a swimming pool. That burning sensation can make it feel like your nose is drowning, which can be irritating and inconvenient, especially if it's for unexplained reasons.

But if your nose feels like you inhaled water, there are three main causes most likely to blame.

Here, Zara Patel, MD, a professor of otolaryngology and director of endoscopic skull base surgery at Stanford Medicine in California, explains the most common causes and ways to treat them.

Allergies

“Anything that causes inflammation in the nose or sinus cavities can make you have these symptoms,” Dr. Patel says, adding that irritation, congestion, and drainage in your nose are common signs of allergies causing that “water up your nose” feeling.

Treatment

For allergic rhinitis, Patel first suggests getting allergy tested to identify specific allergens that may be causing irritation. You can then undergo allergy desensitization, also known as allergen immunotherapy, to build tolerance towards the identified allergens.

To help manage your symptoms, try dry nose remedies like saline spray or rinses.

Nonallergic Inflammation (Rhinitis)

Nonallergic rhinitis can occur from irritation by other things in the air, like pollution, Patel says. It could also be the result of dysregulation of your autonomic nervous system within your nose — what's called vasomotor rhinitis.

“That dysregulation can occur for many different reasons — medications and underlying disease states — but the most common reason is simply getting older,” Patel says.

• Smoking
• Strong odors or chemicals
• Hormonal changes
• History of prior nasal surgery

Treatment

For inflammation in the nose (rhinitis), Patel says nasal rinses combined with prescribed nasal sprays are the best treatment.

“There are different types of nasal sprays, and a doctor could prescribe the correct combination after obtaining a history and performing an exam,” she says.

Sinus Infection

“There is acute sinusitis, lasting less than a month typically, and chronic sinusitis, which is when sinus inflammation lasts for three months or longer,” Patel says. “People often think that sinusitis means they have a sinus ‘infection,’ but an infection — whether viral or bacterial — is only one of many reasons why you might end up with inflammation.”

There are also genetic and environmental factors that can contribute to chronic sinusitis, like nasal polyps, Patel says. Sinusitis can occur with or without polyps, but polyps are a sign of more severe inflammation.

Treatment

Other Treatments for Nasal Inflammation

If nasal rinses or sprays are unsuccessful in getting rid of the “water up your nose” feeling, Patel says further treatments may be necessary.

“Adding medical therapy such as antibiotics or steroids may be needed to resolve the issue,” she says. ”Sometimes these medical therapies would be in oral form (like a pill) and sometimes this would be medicine we could add to a rinse.”

If those solutions don't work either, surgery may be the next step. Surgery can address underlying genetic factors, clear the infection or inflammation and allow for rinses and sprays to gain better access to the sinuses.

“It is important, however, to remember that surgery does not change the underlying reactivity to the environment,” Patel says. “Continuing topical medical therapy after surgery is just as important to keep patients at the good new baseline we can get them to.”

When to See a Doctor

If your symptoms are interfering with your quality of life or ability to do everyday activities, it's probably a good time to talk with your doctor. If symptoms persist or worsen, you should also seek medical attention.

“Any time a sinus infection starts to cause more severe headache, pain, lethargy, change in vision, or change in eye position would be when you need to be seen more urgently,” Patel says.

The Takeaway

• If you feel like you have water up your nose and you haven’t been swimming, there could be several reasons behind it.
• Possible causes could be nasal inflammation caused by allergies, nonallergic rhinitis, sinus infections.
• If your symptoms interfere with your quality of life, talk with your doctor to explore treatment options.