How To Treat Stuffy Nose Due To Allergies

What Is Allergic Rhinitis

Allergic rhinitis is the medical term for hay fever or allergies. You have an allergy when your body overreacts to things that dont cause problems for most people. These things are called allergens. Your bodys overreaction to the allergens is what causes symptoms.

There are 2 forms of allergic rhinitis:

• Seasonal : Caused by an allergy to pollen and/or mold spores in the air. Pollen is the fine powder that comes from flowering plants. It can be carried through the air and is easily inhaled. Symptoms are seasonal and usually occur in spring, late summer, and fall.
• Perennial: Caused by other allergens such as dust mites, pet hair or dander, or mold. Symptoms occur year-round.

Hay fever is the most common form of allergy. Symptoms of hay fever are seasonal. You will feel worse when the pollens that affect you are at their highest levels.

Eucalyptus Or Peppermint Oil

While these essential oils wont necessarily improve your congestion, their vapors provide a cooling sensation, and when they get into your nose, they can trick your brain into thinking its easier to breathe.

Try using the oils in a diffuser or mixing them in a carrier oil coconut oil and rubbing the mixture on your neck and chest. Experts do not recommend applying the oils directly to the nose.

Peppermint Oil: .

Nasal Congestion: How To Get Rid Of A Stuffy Nose

If youve ever struggled to breathe from your nose or laid awake at night due to stuffiness, you know how difficult congestion can be.

Caused by irritation and inflammation in the nasal passages, a stuffy nose commonly occurs with illnesses like influenza and the common cold, or with seasonal and environmental allergies. Other medical conditions and external factors like smoke and strong smells can also contribute to nasal congestion.

Fortunately, there are a number of medications and at-home remedies that can ease your symptoms. Keep in mind that its also important to address the underlying cause of your stuffy nose.

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Treatment And Relief For Stuffy Nose

Wondering how to get rid of a stuffy nose? Figuring out the cause of a stuffy nose is the first step to alleviating congestion. Take comfort in knowing that it wont last forever. If your stuffy nose is associated with a viral illness like the common cold, you can expect it to let up within 7-10 days.

Once you work with your doctor to identify whats causing your stuffy nose, you can treat the symptoms. Commonly, doctors recommend over-the-counter decongestants for patients with stuffy noses.

These medications work by reducing the swelling in the nose to ease pressure and ultimately reduce congestion. Consider any of the following decongestants for a stuffy nose:

• Nasal sprays like naphazoline , oxymetazoline , or phenylephrine .

Before you take a decongestant, talk with a doctor. Its important not to use a decongestant spray in your nose for more than three daysotherwise, it can prolong or worsen your congestion.

Other Causes Of Nasal Congestion

Swollen adenoid glands may cause nasal congestion, particularly in children. Adenoid glands are fleshy bits of tissue which hang down from the back of the nose. If they shrink naturally, often nothing needs to be done. However, if they are causing problems they can be removed by an operation. For more details, see the leaflet called What do tonsils do?

If the dividing tissue between your two nostrils is not straight , this can cause nasal congestion. It can be the result of injury or just the shape into which your nose has grown since you were born.

Children may get objects such as beads or peas stuck up their noses. Rarely, a tumour in the airways around the nose or sinuses may cause congestion.

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Who Is At Risk For Rhinitis

People with asthma are at a higher risk for rhinitis. Allergic rhinitis is a common problem that may be linked to asthma. However, this link is not fully understood. Experts think that since rhinitis makes it hard to breathe through the nose, it is harder for the nose to work normally. Breathing through the mouth does not warm, filter, or humidify the air before it enters the lungs. This can make asthma symptoms worse.

Controlling allergic rhinitis may help control asthma in some people.

Solve Chronic Stuffy Nose With Intense Cooling

Do you feel like you are constantly reaching for a tissue because of a persistent dripping or stuffy nose? You don’t need to live with this annoyance anymore. A new targeted treatment is available called nasal cryotherapy. This treatment uses intense cooling to help people with chronic rhinitis.

Chronic rhinitis

Chronic rhinitis is persistent nasal congestion, runny nose and postnasal drip with no apparent cause. While the exact cause is unknown, it’s believed that overactive or out-of-balance nerves in the nose and sinuses send more signals than necessary to your brain. This causes your body to produce too much mucus, leading to runny or dripping nose. And your nasal and sinus tissues become inflamed, causing congestion.

Symptoms are similar to allergies but with none of the usual evidence of an allergic reaction. Usually chronic rhinitis doesn’t cause itchy nose, eyes or throat, as those symptoms are associated with allergies. When left untreated, rhinitis can be disruptive and annoying. It also increases your chances of developing inflammation or an infection of your sinuses.

It is more common after age 20, and can be triggered by weather changes, odors or irritants in the air or certain foods. A diagnosis of chronic rhinitis is often made after an allergic cause is ruled out. This may require allergy skin or blood tests.

Nasal cryotherapy treatment

Results to expect

Learn more about issues that can cause nasal irritation:

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Hydrate Yourself From The Inside

It may be easy to forget about hydrating yourself when you can think about how you cannot breathe. There are different types of liquids that you can take.

Water is still the best option, but if you want to drink other liquids, this will be fine too. You can take sports drinks, juices, and even clear soups.

Through the fluids, the mucus will be removed from your nose. The less pressure there is, the less inflamed your sinuses are going to be. Remember that if you are also experiencing a sore throat and your stuffy nose, you should take only warm fluids to soothe the irritation.

Living With Allergic Rhinitis

Living with the symptoms of allergic rhinitis can affect your daily life. Nasal symptoms can be worse when lying down. This can disturb your ability to sleep well. Fatigue and headaches can affect your ability to function at school and work. There are many medicines and treatments that can help you manage your symptoms. Talk to your doctor as soon as you feel that your symptoms are getting worse or are not easy to control. He or she can help you come up with the right plan to control them so they dont affect your ability to live your normal life.

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Visit A Sinus Specialist In Detroit

If all else fails, schedule an appointment with your local sinus specialist or ENT doctor. Detroit Sinus Center offers a variety of sinus treatments ranging from prescription medications to non-invasive surgeries. Well help you through allergy season so you can breathe easy once again. Contact us today to schedule your appointment with our sinus specialists in Detroit!

When To Call A Doctor

Most of the time, a stuffy nose will clear up on its own within a week. Nasal congestion that lasts longer may be a sign of a serious sinus infection in need of treatment. You may also want to see a doctor if the symptoms are interfering with sleep or your ability to function normally.

A stuffy nose may require medical attention if:

• You have a high fever.
• Your symptoms last longer than two weeks.
• Your nasal passages are completely blocked.
• Your skin or lips develop a bluish tinge .
• Your breathing rate is very rapid.
• You have difficulty breathing or catching your breath.

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What Is The Treatment For Nasal Congestion

Where possible, the cause of the nasal congestion will be treated. However, the most common causes get better on their own. Either way, there are a number of treatments which improve a blocked or stuffy or runny nose, and make you feel better. These all tend to work for a short period of time and need repeating until the cause has gone away.

How To Get Rid Of A Stuffy Nose Fast According To Doctors

These remedies will have you breathing easy in no time.

Dealing with a stuffy nose isnt exactly funespecially if it leaves you struggling to sleep or constantly reaching for a tissue. And although its much more common during the colder months, sinus congestion is an all-year problem, thanks to colds, allergies, weather, and COVID-19. Is there any foolproof way to get rid of a stuffy nose?

Regardless of the season, allergens, bacteria, and viruses can inflame the blood vessels in the nose, leaving the nasal passages swollen and obstructed, explains Judy Tung, M.D., an internist at NewYork-Presbyterian. Plenty of over-the-counter medications and natural remedies can help you breathe freely again, she saysand choosing the right fix all depends on your symptoms.

If mucus is dripping like a sink that wont stop running, you should reach for a solution that will turn down that faucet, Dr. Tung recommends. But if your sinuses are at a standstill and the mucus in your nose wont budge, you require something with the power to clear your nasal passageways like a clogged drain.

Always remove or alleviate the trigger of your stuffiness, explains Purvi Parikh, M.D., an allergist with NYU Langone Health and a spokesperson for Allergy & Asthma Networkand see a doctor if your sinuses just wont unclog. You could require antibiotics for a bacterial infection, for example, she says.

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Cleaning Your Nasal Passages

Regularly cleaning your nasal passages with a salt water solution known as nasal douching or irrigation can also help by keeping your nose free of irritants.

You can do this either by using a homemade solution or a solution made with sachets of ingredients bought from a pharmacy.

Small syringes or pots that often look like small horns or teapots are also available to help flush the solution around the inside of your nose.

To make the solution at home, mix half a teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda into a pint of boiled water thats been left to cool to around body temperature do not attempt to rinse your nose while the water is still hot.

To rinse your nose:

• stand over a sink, cup the palm of one hand and pour a small amount of the solution into it
• sniff the water into one nostril at a time
• repeat this until your nose feels comfortable you may not need to use all of the solution

While you do this, some solution may pass into your throat through the back of your nose. The solution is harmless if swallowed, but try to spit out as much of it as possible.

Nasal irrigation can be carried out as often as necessary, but a fresh solution should be made each time.

More Tips To Get Rid Of A Stuffy Nose

Avoiding a stuffy nose at night can begin with prevention during the day. In general, to clear a stuffy nose, the overall best daily practices include:

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How To Treat Nasal Congestion And Sinus Pressure Permanently

Nasal congestion, commonly known as the stuffy nose is a condition where excessive fluid accumulates in the nasal and adjacent tissues, leading to the swelling of blood vessels. This mucus that builds up in the sinuses also causes sinus pressure along with nasal congestion. This condition results in either a stuffy or runny nose, and one may also experience pressure around the cheeks and other facial areas.

The condition is extremely common in kids and people of elderly age. Few common causes of Nasal Congestion and Sinus Pressure apart from Chronic Sinusitis include:

• Minor illness
• Development of Benign tumors in the nasal passage.
• Irritants present in the environment

Having understood the common causes behind the contraction of chronic sinusitis, that causes both of these conditions, one can take certain measures to prevent it. Further in this article, we will talk about Nasal Congestion Treatment, Sinus Pressure Treatment, and their symptoms.

Preventive Measures To Avoid Stuffy Nose

The following tips will help you to prevent stuffy nose.

• Use saline drops to keep the nasal passage moist.
• Use cool mist humidifiers.
• If you have air conditioning or central heat, then change air intake filter, every month.
• Wash your bed linens regularly.
• Dust mites and germs can also cause a stuffy nose. So, use disinfectant spray to keep them at bay.

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Whats The Difference Between Allergies And Sinusitis

Its sometimes difficult to distinguish between allergies and sinusitis because their symptoms overlap. The following are some of the ways to tell the difference.

Allergies

Along with a stuffy nose, other symptoms of allergies include:

• Sneezing

In addition to stuffy nose, sinusitis can also cause:

• Thick mucus/drainage that is not clear
• Headache/feeling of pressure behind forehead, cheeks, and/or eyes
• Cough

Tips To Relieve Your Runny Nose Or Nasal Congestion

Got a case of the sniffles? Chances are that your nose is running faster than a waterfall. Or maybe your nose feels all stuffed up, forcing you to breathe out of your mouth. Or worse-both. A runny nose and nasal congestion are both uncomfortable upper respiratory symptoms with their own underlying causes. But once they start, you want relief, fast.

A runny nose is a discharge of mucus from the nostrils. Itâs the result of excess nasal mucus production. The excess nasal mucus leads to watery nasal secretions that flow out of your nostrils or drip down into your throat.

Nasal congestion is due to the inflammation of the linings of the nasal cavity. Swollen nasal passages constrict air flow, making it harder to breathe through your nose. The inflammation also makes it harder to get mucus out of your nose, so you may also have a build-up of thick, dry mucus, as well. It causes you to feel stuffed up, which is why itâs also referred to as a stuffy nose.

The common cold and the flu are often the culprits of a runny nose and/or nasal congestion,1 but they can both also be caused by allergies.

These are not the only symptom of the cold or flu. You may also experience other associated symptoms, like sneezing, coughing, chest congestion, a sore throat, headaches, and body aches.

Find out how to relieve your upper-respiratory symptoms like nasal congestion and runny nose so you can feel better fast.

Drink plenty of fluids.

Avoid liquids like caffeine that can cause dehydration.

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Look Into Alternative Treatments

Some allergy sufferers swear by alternative home remedies for seasonal allergies. These include butterbur , acupuncture, spirulina , stinging nettle, eucalyptus oil, and bromelain . There isnt too much evidence on these treatments, so its best to conduct your own research and consult a doctor with any questions.

Causes Of Stuffy Nose / Congested Nose / Blocked Nose

Infection

• Sinusitis Acute and chronic

Allergies Health Conditions

• Vasomotor rhinitis The congestion or stuffiness in the nose results from causes other than allergies or infection. Sudden sneezing bouts and the resulting congestion are sometimes caused by alcohol, spicy food, air pollution, extreme emotions or a dry climate

• Churg-Strauss syndrome This condition is characterized by inflamed blood vessels

• Use of nasal sprays for more than 3 days

• Deviation in the nasal septum The nasal septum or the thin wall dividing the nose is pushed to one side due to a fall or a fight thus, causing narrowing of one side of the nasal passage. This results in breathing difficulty.

• Polyps in the nose Inflamed outgrowths of the tissues that line the nose.

• Glare and brightness of lights

• Cyclical or cluster headaches Such headaches occur together frequently and are very painful.

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