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Nasal mucus refers to a type of secretion that typically occurs when the body is in a weakened state. This often happens in the winter months or when dealing with allergies, constant sneezing, or a runny nose, causing discomfort and wasting a lot of tissues for nose blowing. There are a few simple tips you can follow to prevent further mucus production, but first, ensure that you're not interfering too much with your body's natural functions or worsening the symptoms.
Steps
Prevent Nasal Mucus with Home Remedies
Rest. If you happen to be dealing with an infectious illness, resting will help your body recover. While you may still have responsibilities to attend to, try not to overexert yourself.
- If you're suffering from bacterial sinusitis, antibiotics and mucoactive substances are necessary to prevent further mucus formation in the nasal passages.
Drink plenty of water. Drinking enough water every day will help reduce the buildup of mucus and aid in clearing your nasal passages.
- A caffeine-free tea or a bowl of soup are effective remedies for a cold in this case.
- Try sipping on peppermint tea or eating a few slices of pineapple. The essential oils in peppermint and the enzymes in pineapple can help alleviate coughs with phlegm.
- However, beverages containing caffeine or alcohol can have the opposite effect, increasing mucus production and dehydrating the body.
Use a warm compress. Wet a clean cloth with warm water, wring it out, and then place it over your nose and both cheeks. The warmth from the cloth will help loosen mucus and relieve the pain caused by nasal congestion.
- The heat helps to loosen mucus (which is mostly in a solid state), making it easier to expel when you blow your nose.
Take a hot shower. The steam from the shower will help open your nasal passages, allowing mucus to be released more easily. A warm shower also prevents further mucus buildup because the warmth of the water clears the nasal passages. During nasal congestion, your nasal passages may be completely blocked, and the steam helps thin the mucus, making it easier to clear.
- Inhaling steam is also beneficial – boil a kettle of water, use a blanket or any cloth to cover your head and the steaming kettle. The steam helps loosen mucus. Be careful not to burn yourself; keep at least 30 cm away from the hot water. You can also add a few drops of essential oils like tea tree, peppermint, or eucalyptus to help clear the sinuses.
- A humidifier can also help reduce symptoms.
Reduce mucus with over-the-counter medication
Use cautiously. Over-the-counter medications like oral tablets and nasal sprays are effective when you have a lot of mucus in your nose but still need to go to work or school. However, these should not be used for more than 3 days.
- Using them for more than 3 days can backfire, leading to a significant increase in mucus production.
- Many oral medications also have side effects like raising blood pressure and increasing heart rate.
Use nasal decongestants to relieve nasal congestion. Nasal decongestants reduce congestion by shrinking the swollen nasal tissues inside your nose. The mucus becomes drier in your lungs, allowing the airways to open up. This enables air to pass through the mucus more easily, preventing further buildup.
- Over-the-counter nasal decongestants are effective for 12 to 24 hours.
- These medications come in various forms, including pills, liquids, or sprays.
- Always read the label and check the ingredients before use.
- If you have high blood pressure, consult with a healthcare professional before using any decongestants that contain phenylephrine or pseudoephedrine, as they may raise blood pressure.
Take cough syrup and bronchitis medication. Cough syrups like dextromethorphan work by suppressing coughing and reducing the stickiness and surface tension of mucus, allowing it to be cleared from the body more easily, which helps relieve chest pain from excessive coughing and eliminates mucus from the upper and lower respiratory tracts.
- You may experience side effects such as nausea, vomiting, dizziness, or headaches.
- Expectorants can loosen mucus more quickly and easily through the airways and are typically used for productive coughs with phlegm.
Use corticosteroid nasal sprays. This method involves spraying medication directly into your nasal passages. Nasal sprays constrict blood vessels in the nose, causing the nasal tissues to shrink and reducing inflammation inside the nose and sinuses. They help prevent further mucus buildup and clear the nasal passages, making it easier to breathe and reducing mucus quickly.
- You will need a prescription from a doctor for nasal sprays like Flonase to treat rhinitis.
Take antihistamines. Antihistamines help treat cold symptoms by blocking histamine, the substance that causes allergic reactions and leads to swelling of nasal tissues and mucus formation. Common antihistamines, such as Benadryl and Loratadine, prevent mucus formation.
- Antihistamines should be taken once before bedtime.
- Note that antihistamines can cause drowsiness, so avoid using them if you need to drive or operate heavy machinery.
- Be cautious of other side effects, such as headaches, dizziness, and dry mouth.
- Do not combine antihistamines with expectorants.
- If you have severe or prolonged allergies, consult your doctor for advice.
Rinse your nasal passages. Nasal irrigation involves using water to flush out mucus from your nasal passages manually. The process involves pouring saline solution into one nostril and allowing it to flow out through the other nostril, helping to clean the nasal passages.
- You can use a neti pot or a syringe for this method.
- Make sure to use sterile, distilled, or boiled water to prevent bacteria from entering the nose.
- Always clean and dry your irrigation device after each use.
- Avoid excessive nasal rinsing, as frequent rinsing may remove beneficial natural substances that help prevent infections in the nose.
- Gargling with saline water can provide similar benefits.
Understand the causes of mucus formation
Mucus helps keep the lungs clean. While you may not notice it, your body constantly produces mucus, sometimes more than a liter per day. Even when you feel perfectly healthy, specialized cells in the nose and mouth, called "goblet cells," continuously synthesize water, proteins, and polysaccharides to create mucus, giving it its characteristic sticky texture.
- There is an important reason for the production of mucus: its sticky properties trap small, irritating, or harmful particles before they can enter the lungs.
- Without mucus, these tiny particles, which you can often see when blowing your nose, would enter your body.
Pay attention to your body's responses. When you're sick, your body produces more mucus to block harmful pathogens, which could be viruses or bacteria.
- This is why you often notice mucus when you're ill. Typically, you can swallow the mucus back into your body, where it was originally produced, but sometimes mucus is produced so quickly and in such quantities that it fills the sinuses, causing a stuffy nose.
- Mucus combines with saliva and white blood cells to form phlegm.
- The increased mucus production can also be triggered by food, environmental factors, allergens, smoke, chemicals, and perfumes.
- When mucus production increases, the nasal passages can become blocked, leading to bacterial growth and possible nasal cavity infections.
Don't focus too much on the color. Many people believe that the color of mucus can tell them what illness they have. While there is some usefulness in observing the color of mucus, doctors don't typically use it to diagnose diseases or decide on treatments.
- Generally, mucus should be cleared away.
- If your mucus is white or cloudy, you may have a cold.
- Yellow or green mucus could indicate a bacterial infection.
- If you're wondering whether you have a cold or sinusitis, the best way to differentiate is by the duration of your symptoms. A cold typically results in a runny nose after nasal congestion, lasting around 2 to 3 days, while sinusitis can last for a week or longer.
Warning
- Think carefully before asking your doctor for an antibiotic prescription. Your symptoms are more likely due to a viral infection than a bacterial one, and antibiotics are ineffective against viruses. Moreover, overusing antibiotics can lead to resistance. However, if your symptoms persist or worsen, you should consult your doctor immediately. Bacterial sinusitis can lead to complications if left untreated.
