Why does getting water up your nose hurt?

Answer 1

Basically there's very sensitive tissue in the deeper areas of your nose. That coupled with the fact that the skin up there has a very high density of blood vessels which warms the air going into your lungs. It's so warm that the water is like an ice bath for your poor little nose.

Answer 2

Getting water up your nose can be painful because the sensitive nasal passages and sinuses are not designed to handle the sudden influx of water. The force of the water entering the nose can cause irritation and discomfort, leading to a stinging or burning sensation. Additionally, water entering the nasal passages can disrupt the natural balance of mucus and create a feeling of pressure or discomfort.

Answer 3

This is due to the pressure and/or temperature, and/or position from which a fluid is entering the nose.

The sinus was not designed to take in fluid really, so it gets irritated and causes than nasty disorienting pain that runs up your head and dissolves a while after.

If the water is cold or just lower than your body temperature this may occur.

If you are used to swimming face down and then you decide to swim with your face up, water travels deeper down the sinus cavity in areas that are not so used to that pressure, thus causing pain.

You may improve on this, by leaning how to relax your face and nose while swimming (this may take some time) as well as certain types of breath control (try humming while breathing through your nose).

If you swim regularly enough you will be able to draw in the water into your nose from any position and will even forget what that pain was (because you wont get it anymore). You will also gain more awareness of your sinus (you have an idea of it like any other body part and can control it somewhat).

If you don't want to bother to let your body adapt by the processes mentioned you can prevent this pain by buying a nose clip.