Contents:
- Medical Video: Ear & Sinus Problems : How to Stop a Runny Nose
- Actually, why can you get snot when you're sick?
- How to clean snot
- Overcoming runny nose
- 1. Drink water
- 2. Steam inhalation
- 3. Make a salt spray
- 4. Sleep with a higher pillow
- 5. Eat spicy food
Medical Video: Ear & Sinus Problems : How to Stop a Runny Nose
Runny nose or runny nose is very annoying. You have difficulty breathing because snot always comes out of your nose. You have to wipe it many times with a tissue or go back and forth to the bathroom to clean it. Don't worry, the following ways can relieve a runny nose.
Actually, why can you get snot when you're sick?
Snot originates from mucus produced by mucous membranes that should trap bacteria and allergens (allergens, such as dust) instead of being infected. When infected, mucus becomes more productive, thicker, changes color, and collects in your nose. Some diseases that cause your nose runny are colds, flu, allergies, or sinusitis.
How to clean snot
Instead of you sucking back your snot that keeps coming out and carrying extra bacteria from the air you breathe, it's better to get it out. However, make sure you do it the right way. Press one finger on the side of the nostril, then gently remove the snot, do the opposite to clean the other nostril.
Overcoming runny nose
There are some easy tips that you can do at home to reduce your runny nose like the following.
1. Drink water
Keeping your body hydrated when a runny nose is an easy way to do it. The liquid you drink helps thin the mucus to reduce pressure on the sinuses, so that irritation and inflammation decrease. Not only by drinking water, you can get fluid intake by drinking juice or eating soup.
Choosing a warm drink is better than cold. Hot herbal teas from a mixture of ginger, chamomile, mint leaves, or nettle can be your choice. Because this tea has a mild decongestant and if you breathe in steam from this drink it helps to relieve your nasal congestion.
2. Steam inhalation
Reporting from Healthline, breathing hot steam has been proven to help overcome runny nose. A study conducted in 2015 concluded that steam inhalation is quite effective for ordinary flu patients. This reduces the recovery time of the disease by about one week faster than by not breathing steam at all.
In addition to sipping warm drinks, you can breathe steam from the warm water that you put in a container. You can add a few drops of decongestant essential oil so that steam works better over your runny nose.
Using a humidifier in the room also helps relieve your runny nose. The machine converts water into water vapor which slowly fills the air. When inhaled, this will thin the mucus and help empty the excess fluid in your nose so that breathing returns to normal.
Bathing with hot water has the same effect as breathing hot steam. It can even help your breathing return to normal even temporarily. The way is to set the appropriate temperature for hot water, place a towel over your head when the water flows. Then, take a deep breath. However, do not bathe too long because it can make the body shiver and dry skin.
3. Make a salt spray
Some types of salt are included in decongestant drugs. Making salt solutions can increase the nose's moisture and thin mucus. However, you need advice and instructions from your doctor to make this salt spray. This spray should not be used for more than three days and used together with other drugs.
How to make salt spray:
- Prepare an airtight container
- Mix three teaspoons of idiomatic free salt and one teaspoon of baking soda.
- Give a sterile ripe instead of tap water or distilled water
- Move the solution to the neti pot
First, tilt your head slightly to one side, the neti muzzle section is placed in the wrong nostril. Leave the salt solution from the nasal cavity and out of the other nostrils.
4. Sleep with a higher pillow
At night, using extra pillows for your head can relieve your blocked nasal passages. However, make sure that the pillows are not too high so you stay comfortable.
5. Eat spicy food
Sometimes a runny nose makes your nose runny. Spicy foods can make your nose runny and reduce a blocked nose. If you are not used to spicy food, try a little to relieve a cold.
