Technique that clears up my blocked nose rapidly

[PracticingAcceptance]

I've been prone to a stuffy blocked nose my whole life whenever I get the slightest cold.

Since I've had ME, it seems that I have a near-constant cold.

When my nose is blocked, I don't sleep well at night. Breathing through my mouth at night makes me wake up - maybe it's because my mouth starts to get dry so I start to get thirsty. I learnt as a teen the only way to get sleep when I have a cold is to clear my nose as best as I can before I sleep.

But this hasn't been enough. Since I've had ME, the nights where I wake up from a blocked nose are much more frequent. Disrupting my sleep has a knock on effect to other symptoms.

Things I tried:
The nasal spray I was on wasn't helping in the short term. (But I think discontinuing using it may have made things worse in the long term.)
I tried a saline nasal spray which did clear me out but only for an hour.
I found that if I wake up in the night, sitting up or standing up clears my nose so I can breathe almost instantly, but it means that I properly wake up and can't get back to sleep for an hour.
I drink loads of water anyway, and this doesn't make things better.
Downward dog in yoga before bed makes things worse.

What has been a revolutionary technique for me:
Breathing slowly and shallowly through my nose.

I found it on a forum in the middle of a night of desperation but I can't remember where it was.

As a long-term asthma sufferer I find this technique scary to do because it involves not taking in very much air. But it's only for a few breaths. Somehow, it opens me up. I don't know why it works, but it does. (If you know why, please tell me!)

Now when I wake up, I breathe slowly and shallowly through the tiny gap in one nostril for maybe 10 breaths, and gradually, quickly, in just under a minute, my airways open and I can breath almost fully through my nose. It means I can get back to sleep quickly.

This has been a game-changer for me. So I really want to share it with anyone else that struggles with this. It's pretty torturous to not be able to breathe through one's nose and lose sleep regularly because of it. I really hope this technique works for other people too.

I only discovered it a few days ago and my sleep is already better.

All my life I've relied on medicines and products to solve my problems. It didn't occur to me that a breathing technique could possibly make THE difference.

(Incidentally this week I've also discovered that a silk pillowcase makes a bigger difference to how frizzy my hair gets than any hair product has done, ever. Time for me to start exploring techniques that help beyond lotions and potions!)

Please let me know if you also have struggled with this, and if it works for you

 

[TenuousGrip]

Two things I do have made a big difference for me:

1) Use a NeilMed bottle daily;

2) Run a humidifier in the master bedroom, particularly in the winter when heating tends to dry out the indoor air. I also take great pains to maintain the humidifier appropriately (to avoid microbial growth).

Glad you're finding something that works for you

 

[BadBadBear]

@lior I have congestion and a cold, and had no luck with the nostril breathing idea. Was hoping it would clear that inflammation. I don't understand how the inflammation can suddenly shift from one side to the other, or quickly resolve. It is frustrating.

 

[perchance dreamer]

Run a humidifier in the master bedroom, particularly in the winter when heating tends to dry out the indoor air. I also take great pains to maintain the humidifier appropriately (to avoid microbial growth).

@TenuousGrip, I have an incredibly dry nose and sinuses and have wondered about a humidifier in the bedroom for when I sleep, but I'm scared to death of introducing a mold problem in my house. Are you confident that doing the recommended maintenance on your humidifier will prevent mold? How do you maintain yours?

 

[jesse's mom]

I have the same stopped up nose issue. i will try the short breath technique probably tonight!
i sleep on a satin pillow, but I really need a shower chair because i have long frizzy curly hair. I really so not like to wash my hair, but I love it long...

One other thing that tends to make me have excess mucus is eating and drinking dairy. I love cheese, but it does not love me.

 

[TenuousGrip]

I have an incredibly dry nose and sinuses and have wondered about a humidifier in the bedroom for when I sleep, but I'm scared to death of introducing a mold problem in my house. Are you confident that doing the recommended maintenance on your humidifier will prevent mold? How do you maintain yours?

It's all a very delicate balance, partly because -- as you mentioned -- there's maintenance of the humidifier itself and then there's avoiding mold in the building structure.

Once a week I run a dilute mixture of white vinegar and water (either according to the humidifier's instruction manual or just using online information as a reference) through the humidifier (to remove mineral deposits), followed by a dilute mixture of bleach and water (to kill microbes). Then I just rinse the whole thing with fresh water and refill the tank.

Easy-peasy.

I've seen zero evidence of anything ever growing anywhere on my humidifier with this practice.

As to the structure (the house), the max RH (relative humidity) the bedroom reaches is just about 50% but it takes eight hours for it to get there with our little humidifier. It doesn't stay at that level because we open the bedroom door in the morning, and then shut off the humidifier. The humidity creeps back down in pretty short order.

We have a whole-house humidifier that keeps the entire house at about 40%.

If you stay (usually meaning average*) under about 50% you should be okay. You could bring that number down to be on the safe side. You could also never exceed that number (instead of using an average) if you wanted to.

--

*By 'average' I mean that -- theoretically -- you should be able to keep the RH at 60% for 12 hours and 40% for 12 hours (average = 50%) and be okay ... but you'd have to decide if the extra humidity is important to you.

 

[Shoshana]

@lior I will try it, thanks for sharing, and I am very glad it helps YOU!

@perchance dreamer I thoroughly wet a clean washcloth, and hold it over my nose and mouth, and breathe thru it. After several breaths, it helps me.

That info from Tenuous grip sounds good too, but for those of us who cannot or will not get a humidifier, someone might like to try my "home made" type.

 

[Wishful]

@lior I have congestion and a cold, and had no luck with the nostril breathing idea. Was hoping it would clear that inflammation. I don't understand how the inflammation can suddenly shift from one side to the other, or quickly resolve. It is frustrating.

I think you're confusing inflammation with build-up of mucus in the sinuses. If you lay on your side, the mucus builds up in the upper side. Flip over, and it drains from that side and builds up in the other. Just an annoying aspect of how our bodies are constructed.

 

[Runner5]

My nose is always stuffed up, no idea why. It's really annoying. I have noticed that the worse my symptoms are the worse my nose will be. I'll try your method out!

 

[PracticingAcceptance]

@BadBadBear I'm SO sorry it didn't work for you maybe that's why I'd never heard of the technique before - maybe it only works for some people.

@TenuousGrip thanks for those recommendations! The NeilMed bottle looks like it does the same thing as a neti pot, which I've also heard recommended many times. The idea of draining like that creeps me out. I have to get over that squeamishness before trying it!

I cut down on cheese too @jesse's mom when I get a cold.

I like the damp clean washcloth idea @Shoshana . Sounds like it could be part of a pampering session, if it was warm.

 

[BadBadBear]

I think you're confusing inflammation with build-up of mucus in the sinuses. If you lay on your side, the mucus builds up in the upper side. Flip over, and it drains from that side and builds up in the other. Just an annoying aspect of how our bodies are constructed.

I don't think I'm confused. Last night I slept on my left side and at first the right side was clear, then it shifted and the left side (lower side) was clear. It was not mucus sloshing around, it felt like inflammation. I turned over for a while, and eventually the upper side got inflamed and the lower side cleared.

I had that cycle repeat all night. I don't have much mucous. I am super hydrated and what little I have is like water, not thick or viscous.

 

[Shoshana]

I hadn't done it very recently and was having a hard time remembering the temp of the very wet washcloth, @lior

But I do think I started it out, each time, with hot water, thorough soaked, and breathing through it, I was surprised, but after a few minutes of it, it did help both my throat and my nasal and breathing passages.

I cant remember where I read this idea, which is a shame. But I must have, because I don't think I thought of it by myself. Sorry I cannot give the source, since I cannot remember, however, I do not follow any blogs, or any advice given by random tweeter, etc, I am not on facebook either
so, it would have been some educational , researched and credible source.

 

[Runner5]

@BadBadBear and others -- is this what you all are talking about?

"Today I found out, Why Most People Only Breath Through One Nostril at a Time"

 

[BadBadBear]

@BadBadBear I'm SO sorry it didn't work for you maybe that's why I'd never heard of the technique before - maybe it only works for some people.
war.

Oh, I was happy to try it ☺ . Yesterday I found where @Hip had a list of recommedations, and I tried a dissolved NAC nasal wash and that worked once really well, but not again.☺ . I picked up some GSE and xylitol wash to try later today when I get stuffy.

At the moment I am on extended acting Sudafed and its working.

I will try your suggestion again tonight, maybe as the cold lets up it will work. Always worth a try! Hope you feel better.

 

[jesse's mom]

I also use the little stick from Vicks it gives me some relief, but yes, this feels more like inflammation than a build up of "snot".

 

[PracticingAcceptance]

@Runner5 that was such an interesting video! I didn't know we had erectile tissue in our noses! I'll be telling everyone those facts.
I do breathe out my right nostril quite a lot. (I read the way to tell which nostril you are breathing out of is to put the back of your hand under one nostril, then the other, and see which side seems to have more air coming out.) So I'm at risk of diabetes! Sheesh. I'm going to try lying on my right side more.

 

[Shoshana]

Mine feels like.... "ALL of the ABOVE "



(Thinking of those options that @jesse's mom mentioned, in particular. And the others, as well. )

 

[perchance dreamer]

When I'm extremely congested, I deeply inhale Nutribiotic Nasal Spray, lie on my back with my head slightly off the edge so the spray can really get into my sinuses, and wait about 5 minutes before blowing my nose. Lots of stuff comes out.

https://www.amazon.com/Nutribiotic-...92492&sr=8-1&keywords=nutribiotic+nasal+spray

 

[Stretched]

For extreme sinus congestion on occasion I use Afrin, OTC. It will immediately unblock the most stubborn blockages. I understand it’s addictive so minimal or sporadic use is best.

 

[bjl218]

Strangely, I feel that I breathe through my nose more easily when my nasal passages are drier. I use a CPAP machine with a nasal pillow mask and when I turned on its humidification setting, my nose gets stuffed up. When I disable that feature, I breathe much better through my nose. This is reported to be the case by many people on CPAP forums I've visited.