Nasal congestion is not always just a harmless unpleasant symptom of a cold. Quite often, such a condition is a signal of the body about other, more serious human diseases. In addition, the symptom itself can cause headaches, insomnia, fatigue and other reactions due to insufficient oxygen supply to the brain. This condition in children can even lead to impaired intellectual development. Long-term illness becomes chronic and contributes to the development of laryngitis, tonsillitis, pharyngitis, otitis media, bronchitis and other respiratory problems. Stuffy nose? What to do at home? We will talk about this in our article.
Causes of Nasal Congestion
The most common cause of nasal congestion is runny nose or infectious rhinitis. In other words, a person is attacked by SARS or the flu. Additional symptoms accompany a runny nose in the form of fever, headaches, weakness, cough. In order to cope with the nasal congestion of an infectious nature, you need to fight the disease that caused it. For this, drugs and folk remedies are used.
If the nose is stuffed up, the causes may be in allergic reactions, for example, to dust, household cleaners, plants, pets. The person usually sneezes often; he is bothered by an itchy nose. For treatment, first of all, you need to identify the allergen and minimize its effect on the body. Then take antihistamines, such as Loratadin, rinse your nose, getting rid of dust and residual irritant.
A type of allergic rhinitis is nasal congestion from drugs. Medical agents for normalizing blood pressure and vasoconstrictive drops from a runny nose can provoke a complication. In this case, patients often complain that their nose is stuffy and their ears are blocked.
A rare manifestation of the common cold is atrophic rhinitis, in which the nasal mucosa becomes thin. It is characterized by an unpleasant odor and secretions with dried green peels.
If a child has a stuffy nose for a month, doctors have the right to make a diagnosis of chronic nasal congestion. This condition is difficult to cure without taking medications. Depending on the cause of the pathological condition, the doctor may prescribe antibiotics or surgery.
Nasal congestion without a runny nose: causes
It is difficult to breathe through the nose without the formation of mucous secretions. What may be associated with this condition:
- Allergic rhinitis in some cases goes away without a runny nose.
- Congenital or traumatic acquired distortion of the nasal septum. In this case, surgical intervention is necessary.
- Sinusitis often becomes a complication after acute respiratory viral infections.
- Inflammation of adenoids due to the proliferation of tissue closes the nasal lumen, which leads to respiratory complications. With this disease, children receive complaints from their parents that their nose is stuffy and the child is snoring.
- Polyps are a benign tumor on the nasal mucosa. They, like inflamed adenoids, lead to mechanical impairment of air intake.
- In children, the cause of an "incomprehensible" runny nose is a foreign body entering the nasal passage. It is accompanied by mucous discharge from one nostril. The condition requires urgent medical attention.
- Autoimmune diseases and thyroid problems can cause a cold.
Physiological runny nose in children
If the temperature is disturbing, the child’s nose is blocked, other symptoms are noticed, then this condition is a reason for seeking help from a doctor. On the one hand, a runny nose in an infant is not a cause for concern, it is a reaction of the body to environmental stimuli. Thus, the baby's nasal mucosa gets used to bacteria and odors. Often accompanied by sneezing. Doctors call this condition "children's physiological rhinitis." In such a situation, you can’t treat the nose in any way - you only slow down the process of adapting the airways of the crumbs to the surrounding atmosphere. On the other hand, untimely treatment by a pediatrician and the lack of treatment for a cold, which is not physiological, can lead to serious complications.
If the nose is stuffed up, what to do at home without harming the health of the child? Observe preventive measures, carry out rinsing and aspiration of the nose, use traditional medicine.
Preventative measures
Strongly stuffy nose ... What to do? To begin with, take care of cleanliness and comfortable conditions for recovery:
- Remove potential allergens from the room: flowers, carpets, soft toys, pillows, long-haired animals.
- Ventilate the room regularly.
- Carry out wet cleaning.
- Keep the temperature in the room within 23 degrees.
- Humidify the air. To do this, you can purchase special humidifiers or use the old method that has been tested for decades: put wet rags on batteries, put cans of water. But adding aromatic oils is undesirable - in this case, they can only aggravate the condition, causing irritation of the nasal mucosa.
These measures need to be carried out not only when the disease has already made itself felt, but also for preventive purposes. If a small child is in the house, these instructions must be followed daily.
Nasal Wash Solutions
If the nose is stuffed up, what to do at home? First of all, rinse it with an antiseptic solution. Both children and adults can use such solutions for washing the nose:
- saline solution;
- Aquamaris, Salin, and Humer preparations are available in various dosages and types depending on age;
- decoctions of herbs, such as chamomile, sage, calendula, eucalyptus;
- sea salt solution (dissolve half a teaspoon of salt in a glass of warm purified water).
Aspirator for the treatment of nasal congestion in children
Does the child have a stuffy nose and do not blow his nose? An aspirator will help. This device must be present in the family medicine cabinet. Since children under 3 years old do not know how to blow their nose, even a slight runny nose brings a lot of trouble: refusal to eat, poor sleep, moodiness, the development of inflammatory processes, chronic nasal congestion. The aspirator will clean the baby's nose with an antiseptic solution that will protect against the spread of infection, reduce swelling of the mucous membrane, and remove mucus. The procedure is absolutely safe, it can be carried out even for preventive purposes during epidemics of respiratory infections and flowering plants.
Types of Aspirators
Before use, you need to clean your nose with special solutions, which are described in more detail above. Using an aspirator is quite simple, depending on the type of apparatus. There are the following types:
- Syringes, or rubber "pears". They are cheap, but ineffective.
- Mechanical, or "tubules". They will help if the nose is not too stuffy. What to do: insert a thick tube into the baby’s nostril, and on the other hand suck out the mucus.
- An electronic aspirator will effectively cope with a runny nose. To do this, just insert the device into the nose and press the start button. Some models are equipped with an additional function of washing the mucosa with an aerosol.
- Vacuum suction is used even in very difficult cases of nasal congestion. At home, it is used infrequently, since it has a high cost and cumbersome.
Rinse nose
You or your child has a stuffy nose, what should I do? At home, you can carry out the washing procedure, known since ancient times. In India, to this day, this procedure is a daily ritual along with brushing your teeth, it flushes out germs, mucus, pus and allergens, relieves swelling and reduces inflammation.
To wash the nose of a child using a Dolphin shower, which can be purchased at a pharmacy. In the kit there is already a special antiseptic solution based on sea and edible salt with the addition of a rosehip and licorice broth. The procedure will be especially useful for those patients who have a stuffy nose and stuffy ears.
For adults use a special Indian porcelain or metal kettle. If there is none, then you can use a plastic water bottle with a "sports" nose.
Instructions for the procedure for washing the nose
The procedure for washing the nose is as follows:
- Pour the nasal lavage solution into the appliance or kettle. The composition should be at room temperature.
- Press the neck of the vessel to the nostril.
- Lean over a basin or sink. Pour the solution slowly into the passage so that it flows from the opposite nasal opening.
- Blow your nose and dry your baby’s nostrils with a cotton swab.
- Repeat the procedure on the other side.
Traditional medicine for nasal congestion
Vasoconstrictive drops are addictive, which leads to complication: as a result, the nose is even more stuffy. What to do at home? Traditional medicine has been improved for centuries. Simple recipes are sometimes more effective than expensive medications. Here are some effective folk recipes:
- Stuffy nose? Folk remedies in the form of various inhalations will cope with the disease! With a runny nose, apply garlic inhalation, with essential oils, from decoctions of medicinal plants, soda, in pairs of boiled potatoes. You can not conduct a steam procedure at elevated temperatures, blood pressure spikes, diseases of the cardiovascular system. Hot inhalation is also not recommended for children under 3 years of age, since the procedure can provoke bronchospasm or burns of the respiratory tract. For babies, the use of special children's nebulizers will be an effective alternative to inhalation. You can even use them to treat babies.
- A proven method for treating nasal congestion at home is to warm a boiled egg. Just boil a hard boiled chicken egg and roll along the nasal folds.
- You can independently prepare drops for the nose:
- squeeze the juice from an aloe leaf, drip into the nose a few drops three times a day;
- onion and garlic possess powerful antibacterial properties - use plant juice diluted in water in the form of drops;
- babies will be helped by mother's breast milk instilled in the nose;
- Kalanchoe juice has antimicrobial and antiseptic properties;
- drops for carrot juice are suitable for children - it has an antiviral property;
- honey is a natural antibiotic, dilute it with water and instill in the nose.
Runny nose massage
If the nose is blocked and does not blow out, acupuncture self-massage will help. There are points whose stimulation leads to recovery. In this case, they are located on the wings of the nose, nose, and temples. Start massaging the wings of the nose with the index fingers and thumbs of both hands in a circular motion, go to the tip of the nose, the underlayer fold. Then massage the temple, moving smoothly to the eyebrows and nose bridge. Perform the procedure daily for 15–20 minutes.
Drawing conclusions, it can be noted that the causes of nasal congestion are very different, which means that the treatment must be made individually. All home procedures have a number of contraindications and adverse reactions. Do not self-medicate - consult a specialist if you experience an ailment.