Itchy Nose

[alanmcorcoran]

When I am riding, especially in hot weather with my full face helmet, my nose and the area around it starts to itch. I try to avoid touching it, as it tends to just make it itch more, but eventually it drives me nuts. It is partiularly bad in the area where the nostrils meet the face. Anybody else have this problem? I tried a cortizone thing when I did the recent California tour, and maybe it was less, but it still itched. (It was a generally hot ride both days.) My nose does not itch that much, or I don't notice it, when I am not riding the bike.

[bonehead]

Can't say that I have. My biggest problem is sneezing and dragonflies hitting me in the face. I don't care how much of a man you are, catch one of those on the end of your nose and it will produce a tear.

[dhgeyer]

I have various itches under my helmet sometimes. Sneezing fits are the worst. I have seasonal allergies, and can sneeze for 20 minutes straight sometimes. Once in a while it feels like a bug is crawling around somewhere in the vicinity of my ear, but if I stop to check it out, there's nothing there. When it's hot and I'm riding the Concours (big fairing and windshield) I wear a 3/4 helmet, and then it's not a problem. The windshield keeps the bugs off in all but very rare cases, and there's no issue with wind. But the lack of a full face helmet increases risk, and then there is the occasional large bug that gets through, OUCH!

In the MSF course they teach everyone to lay their helmets on the ground, and not place or hang them on the bikes. I did that religiously for years until one time I did that and a few minutes later I definitely felt something crawling around in there, and it was a deer tick. Now I hang or place the helmet on the bike. Sorry MSF.

We don't have a helmet law in NH (for adults anyway), and a lot of people ride without them. More of them get killed or turned into vegetables, but their heads don't itch or feel creepy, and they don't have that weight on their necks.

If there isn't a big windshield a full face helmet is much more comfortable for anything but a very short ride, even taking into account the slight discomforts it causes. The wind blast gets old after a while, and impairs both vision and hearing.

I can avoid all these issues, and a raft of other ones, and just take the Damn car. No thanks!

Trade offs.

[mrlmd1]

The itchy feeling may be coming from air lightly blowing over your face in that area. Try to open, or close the front vents if you have any, try to just crack open the visor to let in a little more air - play with it and see if you can make a difference and make the itch go away.

[Easy Rider]

The itchy feeling may be coming from air lightly blowing over your face

CAUTION: Indelicate information coming.........

I have an itchy nose that plagues me most in the dentists chair and on the bike.
Part is due to vibration......and has been much worse on the GZ and Shadow than my former I-4 bikes. The other part is due....mmmmm.....to flapping nose hair. O_o

For the latter, a thorough trim solves the problem.....for a while.
I haven't found a solution for the vibration yet but, unlike you, mine does respond to some rubbing (tricky under a full-face).

I have considered getting a "swim clip" to pinch mine (mostly) closed but haven't actually tried that yet. In your case, somthing with menthol might help: Vicks. (yuck!)

[Easy Rider]

Sneezing fits are the worst. I have seasonal allergies, and can sneeze for 20 minutes straight sometimes.

Not wanting to stick my nose into your medical problems but.........

Have you tried either of the new anti-histamines that recently became avaliable over-the-counter ? Claratin and Zyrtec (and generics). I've suffered with severe pollen allergy for most of my life and Zyrtec has been a miracle drug for me.

[New GZ250]

Same thing happens to me! Found if I close the vents on my helmet it mostly stops the problem. Seems to happen at all speeds. Drives me nuts!

[Moedad]

(Raising my hand) Happens to me too. I think sometimes it's a factor of heat and humidity doing something to the hairs of my mustache, but other times it feels like a vibration induced itch, except IF there is any vibration of my olfactory organ occurring, it's at a scale that's not noticable any other way except intermittent itching.

[dhgeyer]

Have you tried either of the new anti-histamines that recently became avaliable over-the-counter ? Claratin and Zyrtec (and generics).

Yes, but thanks for the suggestion. :)

[mrlmd1]

So where's AC? Scratching his nose somewhere? Asks a question and doesn't want to hear all our educated answers?

[alanmcorcoran]

Thanks for the info guys. The air blowing over the skin sounds like a likely prospect as the culprit. It was over 100 on many of the "itchier" stretches, so closing the vent is definitely counter intuitive. I will experiment next time I'm out.

[alanmcorcoran]

Had the "itch" again this weekend on my 4-day, 3 night, 0 hotel ride. I chekced out advrider forum and I think it's a combination of the airflow, the heat and the vibration. I didn't have it when I rode to Santa Inez (cooler, wetter near the ocean.) I had it in spades this morning (hot high desert at Palomar.) Really irritating, but fortunately only rode about 100 miles today. (Not counting the trip down to the dealer this afternoon.)

[Water Warrior 2]

Just a thought Alan. Have you considered a face cream/moisterizer applied to the itchy spots before riding.

[Viirin]

Sounds like hay-fever to me - tried an anti-histamine?

[burkbuilds]

I've had that sensation before and it is extremely annoying. I've found that it only happens with some of my helmets, (I wear about 5 different helmets depending on the weather). The only one that it has NEVER happened to me while wearing is the skull cap model I got a few months ago when the temps started getting into the mid and upper 90's around here. So far, no nose itch with that particular helmet. So, maybe try a different style of helmet or face shield and see if the itching stops.

[Easy Rider]

I've had that sensation before and it is extremely annoying.

Mine's more of a tickle than an itch and I get the same thing in the dentist's chair.

Sometimes it's nose hairs flapping in the wind but when I eliminate that with a good trim sometimes it's still there so I think it's vibrations. I seem to have it worse on the V-twin than I had on the GZ.

I had it once last week so bad that I came back home and was looking in the medicine cabinet for some "itch cream", something with anesthetic in it. The closest thing I had was sore throat spray. A little on a finger then applied to the nostrils worked pretty good (but smelled funny!).
Next time by a drug store I'm gonna get a tube of Lanacain or similar topical anasthetic.

[emory70]

just one of those things i call the "assumed level of discomfort" involved in riding a motorcycle. the first two days i had my bike i had just a 3/4 helmet. glasses wiggled everywhere. then on the third day i went high fashion and dug out my old (from desert shield) air force desert goggles. those made it better for my eyes, but i sure looked silly. the next day i found a 3/4 helmet with a full shield on the clearance rack at my local dealer for $50 while getting my flat fixed. now i am invincible. if i get an itch, i can kinda scratch, but it takes finesse. but when i have to wipe the bug guts off the shield, my face thanks me.

of course i could get a windshield, but my 61 year old mother (whose dream bike is a v-max) says that windshields are for sissies. can't have my mom call me a sissy.

[Viirin]

windshields are for sissies. can't have my mom call me a sissy.

You most certainly cannot sir

[5th_bike]

I read an article today about itchy skin, it could just be a skin fungus. The article was about iodine as a cheap and effective fungus killer, but it leaves temporary brown spots.

[alanmcorcoran]

I read a bunch of stuff on another site (advrider maybe?) and the most common "claimed" culprit was nose hair. As I mentioned above, I don't think this applies in my case because 1) mine generally is restricted to when it is hot and 2) I do not "wear" my nose hair long. (More like a buzz cut. I still have a job and all.) For the record, the itch is on the outside, mostly the top of the tip, so to speak, but it migrates around the sides.

There was another interesting theory about vibration and buffeting that I though might have merit, but, again, the itchiness I get is mostly when it is hot dry air. But it is also when going at speed. So maybe the vibration and buffeting is a contributor. Ultimately, I think that mrmld's explanation of the dry air going over the nose is doing it is probably the most logical, but, I've tried vent on, vent off, face shield open, etc. and nothing seems to work. Also Cortisone/alcohol based rub-on sticks (the sort of thing you can apply while going down the road) provide only the most temporary of relief. I am guessing that if I continue to do longer rides that The Bicycling Theory of Physical Annoyances will kick in: After a while something else will bother me more (right now it is my neck muscle) and the itchy nose won't seem like my biggest issue.

I have become more adept at working the faceshield and riding one handed.

[Sarris]

Have you tried changing your windshield angle slightly? It could be that you're getting a "backside swirl" in your face and under your face shield.

As you know, I wear a half helmet and shades without any type of face shield. I have no problems.

You could cut off your nose to spite your....... no I guess not.

:whistle: :lol:

[alanmcorcoran]

Thanks for idea sarris. I'm not sure I can eff with the windshield on the Strat. I'll try riding a bit with the face shield up or off when I go out next weekend.

[Moedad]

Hey Alan, did your new helmet affect your itchy nose effect?

[alanmcorcoran]

I'm not 100% sure but it defintley seemed to be better (less itchy.) Part of that could be due to less time spent in the heat, but I did have a relatively long hot run Saturday. It still got occasionally itchy, but overall not as bad as before. The Arai has a lot more vents - a few of which I did not discover until I get back! The itch effect seems to be limited to highway and heat and I suspect it is a combo of buffeting (vibration) and dryness. Plus I have a huge nose.

[Water Warrior 2]

Well there you go. Get a smaller nose. :whistle: