In this round, we are taking a look at the Turbine from Rhinomed, which is designed to increase the airflow level in all athletes, from recreational up through professional. When this little gadget showed up on our gear review desk, everyone wanted to try it and many were dubious. I got the nod to take it for a spin because as far back as I can remember I’ve had some level of difficulty breathing through my nose. I’ve had pollen allergies/hay fever for the last 20+ years that I take a bunch of junk for with somewhat limited response. I’m a mouth breather when I sleep due to a medically diagnosed mid-grade deviated septum. It doesn’t stop me from going for it, but any additional airflow I can create in my nasal passage is a plus. Thus my experience with a little piece of medically designed yellow polymer begins.
What’s in the Package and Trying it On
The first thing they tell you to do is get a Turbine Starter Kit and I highly recommend doing before trying to figure out the size on your own. When you receive it and open it up, you will be greeted by 3 little pockets; small, medium, and large units. You pick the size you think is the closest (medium for me) and pull it out of the package. The first thing you’ll notice is that the product feels medically designed. In this, I mean its not designed by a sporting good company looking to capitalize on a craze of some sort and this makes sense because it was created by physicians and this immediately made me feel more hopeful that it would work.
The applicator itself is very easy to use and I would recommend trying the various sizes to see which one fits best even if you think your first pick was right. It’s not rocket science to try it on and get it to fit properly. You basically position it correctly, opening the left and right sides to whatever fits properly in your nostril and then you just work it up in there until the bridge is flush with your nose. It sounds silly and my wife definitely gave me some jabs for it, but really all that is visible is a little small bit of yellow under your nose. There’s not much going on the outside and visibly your nose doesn’t look any different when it’s in. Each one is only good for ten uses and then you can order refills in higher quantities, but you’ll know your size so it becomes more cost effective after this first run.
Use During Exercise
I first tested it out while running and have now probably taken more than two weeks of runs of various lengths using it. I will say the change in airflow is noticeable from the moment you have the appliance inserted properly. The one struggle I have is that I learned over the years to become dependent on breathing through my mouth. This means, while I’m exercising I typically I have my mouth open, so using something like this made me really focus on breathing through my nose which felt awkward at first. I then developed a little game for myself while running, where I consciously focus on keeping my mouth shut tightly and hone in on breathing through my nose. This works pretty well and it’s training me to not be so dependent on my mouth. Also, according to many coaches you need to learn to breathe effectively both ways.
Shots below show it up close and how awkward my face is and then from distance where you can see how little you can tell its in there.
Some little things I noticed during use is that if there’s a lot of jostling in your activity, say during a very long run or during sprints/fartlek work, then you need to open up the left and right sides a bit more to create a tighter seal. If not, then it can work itself around which just results in you having to push it back in there repeatedly. With shorter runs or slower/less impactful runs, I never experienced this at all. During cycling, I never noticed this issue at all probably because there wasn’t a lot of impact moments that would lead to this. On the cycling side, I found it very effective when increasing airflow. I brought back my little game, but also found it calming so when I was on the flats I would focus on smooth and even nose breathing and then during hill climbs and sprints I could open the mouth a bit more and increase the overall flow. So this I definitely liked.
I don’t know if it went up by the advertised 38%, but it definitely opened me more and allowed me to breath easier through the runs and rides. I’ll take whatever extra I can get.
The Verdict
Throughout the years I’ve tried every strip and gadget that has come along and even debated surgery so I come from a place of both necessity and experience. I am not sure after several weeks with the Turbine if I am seeing the level improvements others have or even what is advertised partially because I’m not using a VO2 system and instead going with my gut. I will say I do notice a very dramatic difference in my breathing and my approach to it now though. I am definitely seeing increased airflow (that’s immediate) and I am focused more on my breathing pattern and its helping me learn to be more efficient when it comes to the way I breathe while exercising.
I plan to keep using it personally as I think it can offer me some real benefits and if folks like Chris Froome and Luke Bell are using it and evangelizing it, then I think its safe to say there is something to it. Is it for everyone? That is a tough question to answer, but I would say its definitely worth a try and at only $14.95 for a starter kit if it returns even a small amount on its promise, then its worth it.
