slyjackson

Does anyone here use these? I have tried them and I like them a lot since it does actually open up my nasal passage to allow me to breathe better. I do have a small nasal way and these strips really help. My problem is when I sweat, these things tend to come aloose. I have watched football guys play a whole game and are soaking wet with sweat and their breath right seems to stay stuck to their nose as it should.



Is there another brand out there that focuses on sports, whereas the adhesive is stronger? If so, anyone know where I can get them? The regular breath right tan or clear seem to have sticking problem with me and most of the guys I seen using a breath right strip are wearing black strips. Any info would be helpful.



Thanks

crash66

Try cleaning the contact area of your nose with rubbing alcohol first, it will eliminate the natural oils and make the most of the adhesive power.

huytheskigod

Yes, clean the contact area real well and it should stay adhered better. Don't know about using them in exercise (haven't tried) but it does wonders for my sleep.

tomoscotto

about cleaning it with alcohol, your LBS should have a small patch containing alcohol that comes with disk brake equipped bikes...

huytheskigod

You can buy a similar thing in the first aid section of your drug store.

rog

GRedner

I wear them every night, otherwise I sleep fitfully.

To keep them from coming off, wash your nose *really* well beforehand with something like Ivory soap, and then let it dry completely. Put the strip on and pinch for a few minutes (longer than the box instructions tell you to). Leave the strip on for a while before you do anything that will cause you to sweat, which will help "cure" the adhesive a bit more.

Also, make sure you're getting the tan-colored strips. The clear ones have weaker adhesive.

slyjackson

Thanks for the info guys, I was using the"Clear" type, I'm going to try the colored type tomorrow.

Homebrew01

When I'm excercising I breathe through my mouth, so I can't see how they'd help. I can believe they help while sleeping.
My guess is that's it's a placebo thing for workouts - similar to guys who paint black stripes under their eyes.
Since I've never used them, it's possible I don't know what the heck I'm talking about !

marqueemoon

The clear ones suck.

I don't use them for riding but they are AWESOME for colds/congestion. I can't stress this enough.

Psimet2001 

I too have to use them as my poor man's cure for sleep apnea.

The adhesives just don't work if you don't really clean the area well. That said if you clean then I have found that all but the cheapest strips will hold well.

On days that I commute by bike into work I will have slept all night with the strip on and I keep it on for the 24 miles in to work. It stays on just fine. I usually find I have to peel it off in the shower because it is while I am washing my face that I realize it is still there.

Even then....even drenched...it's still like pulling off an old band-aid.

I prefer the clear ones and I get great performance from them, but I wear a size L and they are sometimes hard to find in clear.

The tan ones do seem to adhere even better though.

arterture

Umm from what I've heard, the black paint is supposed to keep sun light from deflecting off your face and into your eyes. I wouldn't call that, nor the nose strips a placebo effect. But then again I've never tried either of them so I don't really have any idea how well they work...

slyjackson

From what I'm told, one should breath through the nose as much as possible. Breathing properly during exertion helps reduce your heart rate, improve your cardio-respiratory efficiency and can boost your performance.When exercising, breathing through your nose is more energy efficient.This has to do with maintaining the correct balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in our blood. When we breathe through our mouth we usually inhale and exhale air quickly in large volumes.

This can lead to hyperventilation (breathing excessively fast for the actual conditions in which we find ourselves). It is important to recognize that it is the amount of carbon dioxide in our blood that generally regulates our breathing. If we release carbon dioxide too quickly, the arteries and vessels carrying blood to our cells constrict and the oxygen in our blood is unable to reach the cells in sufficient quantity. This includes the carotid arteries, which carry blood (and oxygen) to the brain. The lack of sufficient oxygen going to the cells of the brain can turn on our sympathetic nervous system, our "fight or flight" response.

I have noticed that when i do get these things to stick which opens up my nasal passage more and i am able to take in large amounts of air through my nose instead of my mouth, I feel a lot better and i do ride better, almost like walking and breathing once my second wind kicks in (I can't think of a better way to describe it). I personally have never got a second wind huffing and puffing through my mouth as I ride, nor am I riding at my best when doing so. Of course in a sprint one would most likely have a need to open up and use the mouth, but I would never try and do a whole ride breathing through my mouth.

Homebrew01

Come on some of our rides. You will be breathing through your mouth, and not a lot of talking either !

operator

+1 to all this and then read:

https://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=5644

slyjackson

Good read!

pagliaci

Ridiculous waste of money. Even partially obstructed orifices allow more passage of air than you'll ever need for exercise.

These strips may work as a sleep or snore aid but that's a whole different physiology.

merlinextraligh

+1. The amount of air you can suck through your nostrils is not the limiter to your aerobic performance.
(in fact when you do a V02 max test in the lab, it's done with your nose clothespinned shut.)

Anybody have any data, (not funded by the manufacturer) that actually shows any imrpovement.

Or any analysis, based on physiology, not transcendental meditation, that would explain how pulling your nostrils open would increase performance?

However, there is data that they won't help athletic performance:

https://sportsci.org/traintech/breatheright/fch.htm


Now, can we bring back the threads on lung training devices where you breath into the little kazoo device?

Psimet2001 

I've never noticed a difference while riding. I can't breathe through my nose while riding with or without a nasal strip.

They rocked my world when it came to sleeping though.

I guess I just left them on because I already had them on when I go to do my commute. I figured - what can it hurt - other than by making me look more fredly while commuting (if that's possible).

merlinextraligh

^ In fact the commentators quoted on the site I linked suggest that the strips can be helpful for athletes, to the extent it helps them sleep better.

eb314

Don't you guys breathe through your mouth AND nose at the same time while exercising? If not...why not?

LVRider

I used to use them...and found the colored ones stuck better than the clear ones. I had my deviated septum repaired two years ago (long story, it sucked, but was well worth the benefits) and now I can breathe really well through my nose and don't need them anymore.

krazyderek

I rode with them for quite a bit over the past couple years, and i sleep with them too, i've never had a problem with them coming off, i just splash my face with water and dry, then imidiately put on a clear strip and i've never ever had one come off, and i've only ever used the clear.

Cycling really does rely on the larger path of air, your mouth, for breathing, but i've found that having the nose strip for races, and hard rides, especialy climbing, helps me get just that little bit more air, and feel like i can breath just a little easier when i'm doing hard efforts and near max HR levels.

They also give me CRAZY dreams if i don't use them for sleeping for a while then put one on out of the blue before i go to bed.