Stuffy nose or nasal congestion can cause discomfort or may affect your daily life activities. You may consider too much mucus in the nasal passages as a stuffy nose, but it’s not true. But the stuffy nose is the result of inflamed blood vessels in the sinuses.
Different conditions may lead to inflamed blood vessels, such as influenza, sinus infection, and allergies. But once you learn how to open a blocked nose, it will help you to ease the discomfort and help in breathing.
Let’s explore
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Home Remedies – How To Open Blocked Nose
A stuffy nose can also affect your breathing process, keep you awake at night, cause headaches, and lead to cough.
When an allergen stimulates the nose, it boosts the blood flow into the large vessel network that lines in the nasal cavity. Such a condition causes other complications like nasal passage swelling that make it more difficult to breathe.
But you can feel calm with the following tips:
1. Take a Shower
My experience of working with a stuffy nose was very scary as this condition made it impossible to breathe. But I remember my mom always asked me to take a hot shower.
Well, it always did work.
Since then, I have always suggested everyone take a hot shower when they have nasal congestion. During a hot shower, steam relaxes the muscles and reduces inflammation. Steam also thins the mucus in your nose that eases breathing.
Not for long but for a little while!
If you are not in the mood for a shower, get help through steam therapy.
- Get the hot water in a small tub
- Place a towel over your head
- Take deep breaths
Be careful while taking the steam as you can burn your skin if you get too close.
2. Try a Humidifier
Sinus pain along with nasal congestion can leave you miserable, but you can control it by using a humidifier. Our best ENT doctors suggest using the humidifier, as it reduces the pain in the sinus and aids in nasal congestion release. The humidifier works by converting the water into moisture and fills the air.
It increases the level of the humidity in the room that you breathe in to soothe irritated tissues. This moist air also helps swollen blood vessels in your nose and sinuses.
It does not matter if you are sitting in your office or house, turn on the humidifier to moist the air.
3. Set Up Your Fluid Intake
It might be possible that you have inflamed blood vessels inside your nasal due to flu, or it is the result of sinus allergy. But fluid intake can help in thinning the mucus in the nasal passages.
Dr. Ayesha Shafi who is one of the best ENT surgeons in Pakistan says that when you maintain hydration level, it pushes mucus off your nose and reduces the sinus pressure.
When there is less pressure in the sinus, it will reduce inflammation and irritation.
Warm liquids also reduce other symptoms like a sore throat. It will also help to reduce the cough.
4. Try a Warm Compress
A warm compress helps to reduce inflammation, and this remedy has been used since old times. When you apply a warm compress, it will alleviate the nasal congestion symptoms.
How to Take Warm Compress:
- The first step is to soak a towel in warm water
- Squeeze the water out of the towel
- Apply towel on your nose and forehead
A warm compress gives you relief for a while and eases your breathing. It eases the pain by reducing the inflammation of the nostrils.
5. Drain Sinuses
A neti pot is a good solution to clean out the clogged nostrils. The nasal passages contain mucus and fluids that you can flush out using a neti pot.
You should not use tap water as it may lead to other complications.
The following steps can help to use a neti pot:
- Stand over a sink
- Place the spout in one nostril
- Lean the neti pot till the water goes to nasal passages
It will help to flush out all the mucus and other fluids through the other nostril. You should ask your doctor before its use.
6. Try a Natural Decongestant
You can shorten the period of cold and flu by easing its symptoms, but it does not directly affect congestion. If the congestion is due to the cold, you can get help from vitamin C, which overcomes the symptoms of a cold.
Ginger is also rich in beneficial properties like an anti-inflammatory that eases the stuffy nose due to allergies. It also contains anti-allergic properties that relieve allergy symptoms.
Ginger tea is also a good option if you want to relieve cold symptoms. It is one of the best immune-boosting foods that help to fight off many health conditions.
7. Change your Sleep Position
Nasal congestion or stuffy nose can appear worse at night. Lying on your bed flat leads to mucus back up due to gravity. It often causes coughing and makes it difficult to breathe.
To ease the condition, you can use extra pillows and put them under your head. This position will help to drain the mucus, but you can combine this practice with a humidifier for more effective results.
Such tips can help you to sleep with a stuffy nose.
8. Try Salt Water Solution
Staying hydrated is the first step that you should take every time you have inflamed blood vessels. Additionally, you can get help from a saline spray, which means saltwater solution. Some saline sprays contain decongestant medications that help to relieve mucus, but you should ask your doctor.
9. Eat Spicy Foods
When you eat spices, they thin your mucus and help to flush it out. There is a compound in the capsaicin in chili pepper that provides temporary relief from nasal congestion. This chemical makes your nose runnier by stimulating mucus secretion.
10. Do Not Drink Caffeine After 2 p.m.
Caffeine boosts your energy level and allows you to focus more on your work. But its intake can also lead to dehydration which thickens your mucus. Well, you should not mix caffeine and sleep, because it can disrupt your sleep pattern and cause dehydration.
But you can try ginger tea that will provide mucus relief.
What Experts Suggest!
Before you go to sleep, turn on a humidifier to add moisture to the air that helps you to fall asleep faster. If you experience severe symptoms of nasal congestion, you should consult with the doctor before using any medication.
