Home remedies for a stuffy nose

Home remedies for a stuffy nose /

The best home remedies for clogged noses

A stuffy nose is usually quite uncomfortable. Especially at night is disturbed by the disabled nasal breathing of sleep, the mucous membranes in the mouth and throat dry out and the morning starts uneaten with a dry throat and any dysphagia. The most common cause of nasal obstruction is cold, cold or allergy. Here, home remedies can quickly provide relief by helping to liquefy the mucus, make it decongestant and thereby facilitate breathing.

Effective home remedies for a stuffy nose are for example:

  • Inhalations with salt
  • nasal irrigation
  • Drink a lot
  • Hot soup
  • Smelling a cut onion
  • eucalyptus oil
  • herbal tea
  • horseradish edition
  • Manuka honey

contents

  • The best home remedies for clogged noses
  • Enough drinking
  • Inhale
  • Nasal spray based on sea salt
  • Essential oils
  • olive oil
  • nasal irrigation
  • Humidify room air
  • acupressure
  • Smelling an onion
  • Hot soups
  • Mustard foot bath
  • Horseradish requirements
  • herbal tea
  • Manuka honey
  • If nothing helps

Enough drinking

Our nose has the task to clean the inhalation air. It has a very special mucosal surface. If cold air or foreign bodies penetrate, it can increase its surface by swelling and produce more fluid and mucus. In this case, however, the supply of liquid is very important. Thus, in drinking cold enough drinking is announced in the form of still water or herbal tea. The more the mucous membrane swells, the more fluid has to be "refilled". As a result, the mucus is liquefied, can dissolve better and the nose is free again.

Nasal spray is often the drug of choice for a nasal congestion, but many other home remedies can help as well. (Image: Dan Race / fotolia.com)

Inhale

Inhaling a stuffy nose is a simple but effective home remedy. For this purpose, a salt water is best used. Salt has a disinfectant effect, mucus liquefying and moisturizing the mucous membrane. So that this can fully develop its effect and reach the nasal mucous membranes, the use of a special inhaler (nebulizer) is recommended. In this, the salt solution is atomized into the finest vapor particles (aerosol), which are then inhaled through a mask.

If no steam inhaler is available, the traditional variant of inhaling over the cooking pot or above a bowl can also be used in the case of a stuffy nose. For this, use simple table salt, Himalayan or sea salt and mix this with boiling water in a bowl.
If the water is no longer too hot, the head is bent over the vessel and placed over it a towel, so that the steam remains under the cloth. Inhalation should be carried out for five to ten minutes. If you feel unwell, the process is aborted immediately. After application, calm and warmth are important.

Important: In this form of inhalation, the salt has only a very limited effect because it has a much higher boiling point than water. As a result, only the steam is inhaled over the vessel with hot salt water, while the salt remains in the bowl. Salt solutions must be atomized or atomized in order to be effective.

Nonetheless, classic inhalation can be very helpful, especially with a cold, because the inhaled water vapor provides soothing warmth, moisturizes and cleanses the mucous membranes and promotes their blood circulation.

For effective inhalation of salt solutions, a special nebulizer is necessary. (Image: aletia2011 / fotolia.com)

Nasal spray based on sea salt

Sea salt based nasal sprays can be used daily over a longer period of time without the risk of the mucous membranes drying out and becoming addictive. Especially dry mucous membranes are a breeding ground for pathogens. Moist mucous membranes, on the other hand, can purify themselves and protect themselves against intruders. A sea salt spray heals, moisturizes and liquefies the mucus and is therefore a recommended home remedy with a blocked nose.

Essential oils

Essential oils, applied correctly, are effective home remedies. A few drops

  • eucalyptus,
  • cajeput
  • or tea tree

Evaporated in the aroma lamp, not only smell good, but can also bring relief with a blocked nose. It is important to pay attention to good quality of the oils.

On the way, the smell helps with a handkerchief, which is drizzled with one or two drops of the desired oil. A cloth prepared with essential oil next to the pillow can also provide a good night's breathing. This is not suitable for small children. Only from the school age these oils may be used.

olive oil

Olive oil nourishes and protects the nasal mucosa. Enriched with a drop of high-quality peppermint oil, this can make breathing easier. Twenty milliliters of extra virgin olive oil are mixed with a drop of peppermint essential oil and placed in a small brown glass vial. It is recommended to give a small amount of the mixture to the nostrils.

Attention: Less helps here more. Olive oil, without additives, but can also be used. Above all, this has a healing and nourishing effect on the nasal mucous membranes. Twice a day a little olive oil on the finger and rubbed the nasal walls - this probably does and also protects against allergens. The olive oil puts a protective film on the nasal mucosa and thus fends off the tiny invaders.

nasal irrigation

Nasal rinsing is one of the simple, easy to use but effective home remedies for clogged noses. It is used for a 0.9% saline solution (9 grams of sodium chloride - 1 liter of water). For this, a nasal rinsing can is needed and you're ready to go. With the head slightly oblique above the sink, the nasal rinse solution should flow into one nostril and then out through the other.

It is important to open the mouth wide, so that the salty mixture does not run into the throat. Then the pages are changed. The tight mucus dissolves and also bark or other deposits are removed from the nose. Finished sets are available on the market, which include both a nasal douche and the final rinse solution, as well as detailed instructions.

Nasal rinsing is a well proven home remedy that also helps against a stuffy nose. (Image: Dan Race / fotolia.com)

Humidify room air

Even dry air can lead to a stuffy nose. This is even worse with a cold. Therefore, the room air should be moistened with suitable methods. It helps to hang wet wipes or a special room humidifier. Room wells not only look pretty, but also air-condition and provide a pleasant indoor climate. On some models, the addition of essential oils is possible, which can still support the effect. Which oils are suitable, see "Essential Oils".

acupressure

The acupressure is easy and especially everywhere, without any aids, perform. With a blocked nose, five points are important:

  • The fold between the two eyebrows is compressed with forefinger and thumb for twenty seconds.
  • Two more points are there, left and right on the nose, where usually the glasses sit. The points are massaged with the index fingers, as well for twenty seconds.
  • There are two important acupressure points left and right next to the nostrils.
  • The application can be repeated several times a day.

Smelling an onion

The onion has both anti-aging and decaying properties. To smell a sliced ​​onion several times a day can help. Another option is to place an onion next to the pillow at night. Although this is not really pleasant from the smell, it makes breathing easier.

Hot soups

Those who suffer from a stuffy nose should eat hot soups as often as possible. What kind of soup is not so important, the main thing nice and hot. An ancient home remedy among the soups is the chicken soup. This helps with all colds and can be strengthened by the addition of chili and ginger even in their effect.

A footbath with mustard flour frees the nose. (Image: Birgit Kutzera / fotolia.com)

Mustard foot bath

The mustard meal foot bath helps with chronic sinusitis, but also in acute colds. This frees the airways.

The Preparation and use of a footbath with mustard flour is relatively straightforward:

  • Stir 100 grams of freshly ground mustard flour with half a liter of lukewarm water.
  • Fill a small tub to the calf with 36 to 37 ° C warm water.
  • The stirred mustard flour is squeezed through a cloth and the mustard flour water is added to the bath water.
  • So that the mustard smell does not irritate the nose too much, the tub is covered with a towel.
  • The bath temperature is between five and fifteen minutes, depending on the skin compatibility.

After bathing, lower leg and feet should be rinsed lukewarm and then creamed with olive or almond oil. The mustard flour bath is an excellent home remedy, but should be done very carefully and only once a day. As long as redness is still present, no repetition may follow. The mustard flour bath is suitable for older children and adults.

Horseradish requirements

When the nose is stuffy, horseradish is recommended, both internally and externally as a condition. However, care should be taken here as well as when using mustard flour.

Instructions for Horseradish Edition:

  • Rub a fresh piece of horseradish root and place the grater on a thin cotton cloth.
  • Firmly grasp the cloth from all sides and knock vigorously with the back of the knife.
  • The horseradish is laid on the forehead.
  • The eyes should be kept closed or covered with a damp cloth.

Danger: The first time, the application must never last longer than four minutes. If the skin turns red, the packet is removed immediately. After application, the skin must be cared for with a good olive or almond oil. The next application may only be made when the skin has completely recovered. Horseradish is not for small children.

herbal tea

Tea, made from elder or lime blossom or even from both, helps with colds and fever. They are sweaty, fever-reducing and liquefy the mucus. Accordingly, both teas are good home remedies with a blocked nose.

Recipe for herbal tea for stuffy nose:

  • Put one teaspoon of elderberry or lime blossom, single or mixed, in a cup.
  • Pour 250 milliliters of boiling water over it.
  • The infusion should draw for eight to ten minutes, then the flowers are strained.
  • The tea is drunk three times a day, sip by sip.
  • If necessary, it can be refined with a teaspoon of honey.

Manuka honey

The bees collect the South Sea myrtle, from which finally the Manuka honey is made. This is not a "normal" honey, but something very special. It contains essential oils that have anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. Applying some manuka honey to the inner nasal walls at bedtime sounds a bit strange, but it has a very positive effect on the nasal mucosa.

If nothing helps

If all mentioned home remedies do not help after a few days and the nasal breathing has been obstructed for some time, you should seek help from the doctor or alternative practitioner. Because even a harmless cold can cause a chronic symptoms and this should be avoided in any case.

In addition, a disabled nasal breathing comes, for example, in a

  • Sinusitis,
  • Curvature of the nasal septum,
  • Dust or other irritants,
  • frequently using a nasal spray,
  • Nasal polyps or
  • Injuries in the nose and nasal tumors.

Accordingly, a long-term discomfort should be a precise clarification of the cause. (sw, nr, last updated)