Colds are especially active in the fall season, when the virus enters the body, weakening the immune system. In addition to medical treatment, the scheme of which only a doctor has the right to prescribe, inhalation is an excellent supporting procedure. You can buy a device for inhaling therapeutic vapors at any pharmacy or store selling medical equipment, but it would be better to make an inhaler with your own hands.
Most Available Options
If you do not want to trouble yourself with the manufacture of the device, you can use the most common techniques that will have the effect of inhalation. The easiest option is to heat the water in a bowl and add a few drops of essential oils, preferably conifers.
An alternative to these substances can be ordinary baking soda at the rate of two tablespoons of tablespoons per half liter of hot water. After dissolution, you should bend over the resulting solution, covered with a towel, and inhale the vapors until the liquid in the container cools down.
You can make an inhaler with your own hands using an ordinary kettle, in which you should preheat the water, and then add a mixture of essential oils or the drug Pinosol to it. Inhale the vapors of the kettle-inhaler with a paper tube, which should be held directly above the spout. Do not forget about the safety rules. After all, inhalation of vapors should only be over hot liquid, which can be burned. An analog of a teapot can be an ordinary watering can for indoor plants.
Do not forget about the old "grandmother" method, with which you can also get a real homemade inhaler with your own hands. You can make it using a pot of freshly cooked potatoes, the vapors of which should be inhaled, covered with a towel or blanket.
Bottle use
Using the simple algorithm presented below, you can build an inhaler from a bottle with your own hands. The following materials will be required for this process:
- a small plastic bottle, preferably 0.5 l;
- plastic tube (you can use a tube for a cocktail);
- scissors or a knife;
- Scotch.
Approximately in the middle of the bottle, make a hole with a knife and insert a tube there, part of which will remain outside. The lid should be removed from the bottle, because inhalation should be inhaled through the neck.
Hot water is poured into the bottom of the bottle, in which soda or drops of a mixture of essential oils dissolve. To seal the device, tape the place where the tube was attached to the bottle with tape.
Using such a device is very simple - a long breath is taken through the neck of the device, which should last at least seven seconds. Air passing through warm water is saturated with essential oils and has a positive effect on the mucosa, removing bacteria.
Inhalation options
The home procedure for saturating the body with healing air can be carried out with a variety of fillers.
- A solution of soda and water. It is the most common option, a tablespoon of soda is used per liter of boiling water. With this composition, sputum is softened and excreted. If you make an inhaler with your own hands, most often this particular filler is used for it.
- The use of mineral water. Here, additional components are not required, but gases should first be released.
- Coniferous oils. Suitable for any type of cough. A liter of water should use a couple of drops of any ether composition or mixture.
- Herbal Inhalation. In this case, medicinal herbs, such as chamomile and coltsfoot, or ready-made pharmacy fees should be boiled in boiling water first. It is necessary to inhale a pair of hot broth.
- Use of onions and garlic. The gruel from these components should be squeezed through cheesecloth, thus obtaining juice, which is added to the liquid for inhalation.
Rules and contraindications
Regardless of whether the inhaler was made with your own hands or purchased in finished form, there is a certain rule, following which the procedure will give the desired result. If nasal congestion is present, then the healing composition should be inhaled through the nostrils without holding your breath. In case of a disease of the pharynx, bronchus or lungs, inhalation is done through the mouth, while holding the breath for several seconds will be important.
Despite all the positive properties of inhalations at home, there are certain contraindications to this procedure that should be taken into account. The main ones are listed below:
- binge eating;
- fever;
- hypertension;
- heart and vascular diseases;
- pathological diseases of the lungs;
- frequent nosebleeds due to vascular weakness.
During pregnancy, home inhalations are not contraindicated, but they can only be carried out with the permission of a doctor, observing all caution.