Nasal congestion and sinus pressure have many causes: colds, the flu, and allergies to name a few. Whatever your triggers are, the symptoms can get to you.
What’s actually causing that stuffed-up feeling? When you’ve got a cold or allergies, the membranes lining your nasal passages become inflamed and irritated. They begin to make more mucus to flush out whatever causes the irritation, such as an allergen.
Use these tips to feel better and breathe easier.
Home Treatments
When you’re stuffed up, focus on keeping your nasal passages and sinuses moist. Although people sometimes think that dry air might help clear up a runny nose, it actually has the opposite effect. Drying out the membranes will irritate them further.
To keep your nasal passages moist, you can:
- Use a humidifier or vaporizer.
- Take long showers or breathe in steam from a pot of warm (but not too hot) water.
- Drink lots of fluids. This will thin out your mucus, which could help prevent blocked sinuses.
- Use a nasal saline spray. It’s salt water, and it will help keep your nasal passages from drying out.
- Try a Neti pot, nasal irrigator, or bulb syringe. Use distilled, sterile water or H2O that’s been boiled and cooled to make up the irrigation solution. Rinse the irrigation device after each use and let it air dry.
- Place a warm, wet towel on your face. It may relieve discomfort and open your nasal passages.
- Prop yourself up. At night, lie on a couple of pillows. Keeping your head elevated may make breathing more comfortable.
- Avoid chlorinated pools. They can irritate your nasal passages.
Blow your nose the right way: gently, so you don’t force mucus into your ears or other parts of your sinuses, into a disposable tissue so you don’t spread germs. Wash your hands afterward.
