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]

Originally Posted by mrlmd1

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]

Originally Posted by dhgeyer

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]

Originally Posted by Easy Rider

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?