Many who went to the hospital, or visited relatives in the hospital, were faced with the need to acquire physiological saline for intravenous injection through a dropper (it is prescribed in very many cases). And with intramuscular injections, some drugs also require saline (usually in ampoules) to dilute the active substance of the main drug before administration.
So what is this clear liquid in 200 ml pharmacy bottles or ampoules called saline and why is it called that?
Most often, when it comes to saline, the simplest 0.9 percent aqueous physiological solution of sodium chloride (NaCl) is assumed, that is, a weak solution of well-known common salt, since this solution is isotonic to human blood plasma. In simple terms, the solution is called physiological due to the fact that it is a medium that can be used to maintain normal (physiological) activity of living cells. This name is very conditional, since the simplest saline solution does not contain many other components. However, depending on the field of application (in biology, medicine, and veterinary medicine), physiological solutions also include many other, more complex compounds.
We are used to the fact that saline is used to detoxify the body in a hospital setting, and in extremely severe cases, its administration is indicated even as a blood substitute. But did you know that saline is successfully used in inhalations, and it is also indicated for washing the nose when a runny nose and cough are overcome? Indeed, procedures with saline solution cleanse the airways well, promote the elimination of mucus, and wash off pathogenic microorganisms.
Breathe over the steam, as we used to, bending over a pot of boiled potatoes and covered with a towel, do not have to. It is best to purchase an inhaler or nebulizer and use a physiological solution for inhalation, prepared on the basis of an antibacterial or antimicrobial drug that your doctor will prescribe. Dilute the initial drug with saline in the proportions specified in the instructions for this drug, and breathe.
If you or your child has a runny nose, then you can take a clean saline solution, and if a cough has already joined, then the same saline solution is often prescribed along with Lazolvan. For inhalation with the medicine, saline is taken in a ratio of 1: 1 (say, 2 milliliters of one and the other substance) and placed in a nebulizer (it is especially good for children, since it has a mask, and the whole procedure goes, as a rule, without vagaries).
Saline solution for inhalation is also mixed with essential oils (such as eucalyptus), Kalanchoe juice. Then a regular steam inhaler is quite suitable.
For washing the nose, you can prepare a physiological solution and yourself - take a teaspoon of table salt (only not dirty, purified) and dissolve in a liter of boiled water. Next, take a syringe 10-20 ml (of course, without a needle), collect the prepared saline solution (it should be slightly warm or at room temperature) and, bending the head parallel to the floor, turn it to its side so that when pouring liquid into one nostril, it spills out through the other . If this does not work out, then you can use a baby rubber bulb and inject physiological saline from it, and then blow your nose thoroughly. However, be careful when washing the nose, especially in young children - try to do everything carefully so that the liquid does not accidentally penetrate the auditory tubes.