How to rinse your nose with a cold?
Content:
- How to properly rinse your nose with a runny nose?
- Folk remedies for rinsing the nose
- Medications for rinsing the nose
- Contraindications to rinsing the nose
In the cold season, when the number of colds and SARS, accompanied by a runny nose, increases sharply, the problem of eliminating nasal discharge and nasal congestion becomes urgent, since these symptoms make breathing difficult, interfere with normal healthy sleep, and can also cause a lot of complications.
Many people wonder how to rinse your nose with a cold? There are many effective ways to do this, one of which is rinsing the nasal passages with ordinary salt water, which allows you to relieve congestion, ease breathing, and reduce mucus production.
How to properly rinse your nose with a runny nose?
For maximum cleansing of the nasal cavity from mucus and pathogenic microbes that contribute to the development of inflammatory processes and a runny nose, nasal lavage is used. This is not at all a complicated procedure, but it should be carried out correctly so as not to harm your health and not provoke the development of possible complications, for example, otitis media. Any person can correctly perform the necessary actions. To rinse your nose yourself at home, you can use one of the options listed below.
The easy way
The pharmaceutical solution for rinsing the nose or boiled water with salt should be scooped up with your palms or poured into a saucer, bend over and slowly draw in the liquid first with one nostril, pressing the other with your finger, blow your nose and do the same with the other nostril. After that, the liquid that has got into the oral cavity must be spat out and rinsed with plain boiled water to remove the remnants of mucus and the drug. For washing, use only a warm, room temperature solution; while drawing in the liquid, it is recommended to keep the mouth open. With a severe cold, the procedure should be carried out every two hours.
Method with rinsing the nasopharynx
A runny nose, accompanied by purulent processes, that is, sore throat, enlargement of the tonsils, etc. is also effectively treated with nasal lavage, which kills pathogenic flora, removes plaque characteristic of inflammatory diseases of the nasopharynx.
For the procedure you will need:
- Prepare a saline solution at the rate of one third of a teaspoon of salt in a glass of boiled water or buy a ready-made product based on sea salt at a pharmacy;
- Fill a syringe, a medical bulb (always with a soft tip) or a syringe without a needle with rinsing solution;
- Lean at a right angle over some container (bath, basin, etc.), open your mouth, while sticking out your tongue;
- Insert the tip of a pear, syringe or syringe into the nostril and slowly squeeze out their contents so that the liquid, passing through the nasopharynx, pours out of the oral cavity.
After the procedure, you need to blow your nose and do the same with the second nostril. To carry out this operation correctly, you should turn your head to the side and pour the solution into the nostril that turned out to be higher, that is, turning your head to the left, you need to rinse the right half of the nasal cavity, and vice versa. If flushing is done correctly, a small portion of the injected solution will be expelled from the opposite nostril, and the main fluid will be expelled through the mouth.
It is very important to infuse the flushing fluid very slowly, otherwise the pressure of the jet can cause the infection that caused the runny nose to spread to the middle ear area, which is fraught with complications.
After the procedure, the remains of the solution and pathogenic mucus should be removed from the nasopharynx by blowing out. Observing all these simple rules, you can greatly facilitate breathing and get rid of a cold in a few days.
Folk remedies for rinsing the nose
Among the folk remedies for the common cold, there are many recipes for rinsing the nose, which are not only effective, but also safer than medicines, because they cause fewer side effects. Herbal decoctions and infusions for rinsing the nose help to thin and remove mucus, have anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties.
A nasal rinse solution can be prepared using various ingredients:
- Honey;
- Beet juice;
- Luke;
- Chamomile;
- Sage;
- Series;
- Calendula;
- Eucalyptus.
To prepare decoctions or herbal infusions for washing the nose, you need to take one tablespoon of dry raw materials, pour a glass of boiling water and boil for 10-15 minutes, or let it brew for about half an hour. The solution can consist of one ingredient or a mixture of medicinal components, which will only increase its effectiveness. For rinsing the nose, herbal infusions are used several times a day.
For the treatment of severe advanced rhinitis, it is recommended to rinse with beet juice mixed with honey in a 1: 2 ratio. The same amount of boiled water is added to the resulting mixture. With this solution, you need to rinse the nose twice a day, and after two hours after each procedure, rinse with boiled water.
It is important before using folk remedies to make sure that there is no allergy to the ingredients that make up the healing solution.
Medications for rinsing the nose
In addition to traditional medicine recipes, ready-made medications are used for rinsing the nose that help in the fight against congestion and runny nose.
Furacilin for rinsing the nose
Furacilin is one of the main agents that are actively used to wash the nose.
In pharmacies, you can purchase a ready-made solution of furacilin or a drug in tablets, the solution of which is prepared as follows:
- Crush two furacilin tablets;
- Heat 200 ml of boiled water to a temperature of 40 ° C;
- Mix the powder obtained from the tablets with water;
- Strain.
Washing the sinuses with furacilin is carried out three times a day for five to seven days. This simple remedy, which is an excellent antiseptic, is not inferior in effectiveness to expensive drugs.
Saline and preparations based on it
Saline (saline) is widely used in medicine for various procedures - as an antibacterial agent for treating wounds and abrasions, as an anti-inflammatory agent for eye diseases. For the treatment of the common cold, it is used by inhalation with a nebulizer and by flushing the sinuses. It gently sanitizes the nasopharynx and loosens mucus, which contributes to its faster excretion.
Saline is an inexpensive remedy; you can freely buy it at a pharmacy or prepare it yourself. To prepare saline, you need a liter of boiled water and a teaspoon of salt. The components must be mixed well and filtered. Such a tool is not sterile, but it is quite suitable for the washing procedure.
It is not worth violating the cooking recipe, a highly concentrated saline solution can negatively affect the course of the disease and cause complications.
Physiological solution is part of many medicines for the common cold - drops, sprays, rinsing solutions. Among them, the most popular are such as Dolphin, Quicks, Aqualor, Aqua-Maris, Otrivin, etc. But in addition to saline, they contain additional substances that enhance the effectiveness of the drug, for example, extracts and extracts of medicinal plants, which in general affects price.
It is recommended to rinse the nose in children with special products that are sold in pharmacies, since they are equipped with convenient bottles for easy and safe irrigation of the mucous membrane.
Contraindications to rinsing the nose
Any therapeutic effect on the body, and rinsing the nose is no exception, should be carried out on the recommendation of a doctor so as not to complicate the situation. This is due to the fact that even such a simple procedure has some contraindications.
You can not wash the nose when:
- Severe swelling of the nasal cavity, causing obstruction;
- Tumor formations of the nasal mucosa;
- Curvature of the nasal septum;
- Predisposition to nosebleeds;
- Inflammation of the middle ear (otitis media); (read also: causes and symptoms of otitis media, how to treat it?);
- Existing perforation of the tympanic membrane;
- Individual intolerance to the components of the preparation for washing.
Thus, the right choice can be made only after a diagnostic study, which is possible only when contacting a specialist.
The author of the article: Lazarev Oleg Vladimirovich | ENT
Education: In 2009, he received a diploma in the specialty "General Medicine" at the Petrozavodsk State University. After completing an internship at the Murmansk Regional Clinical Hospital, he received a diploma in Otorhinolaryngology (2010)
