If you've experienced nasal or chest congestion, you are well-acquainted with mucus. Mucus is a lubricant found all over the body that lines your esophagus and throat to help you swallow and lines your digestive tract to help you digest food. When you have an infection, such as bronchitis or sinusitis, your body may produce an excess of mucus. Consult a doctor before using remedies to reduce mucus.
Hot Pepper
Add hot pepper to the foods you eat to help clear out mucus in the sinuses, recommends Carol Fleischman, M.D., staff physician at Allegheny University of the Health Sciences MCP-Hahnemann School of Medicine in Philadelphia, in "The Doctors Book of Home Remedies for Women." If your stomach is not upset by spicy foods, sprinkle some red pepper flakes on your meals to help reduce congestion.
Cool Mist Vaporizer
Running a cool mist vaporizer in your bedroom while you sleep may help loosen both chest congestion and nasal congestion. When you fill a vaporizer with water, it releases water vapor into the air, which is absorbed by your body. As the water moistens the mucus, it will loosen it, making breathing easier.
Saline Nasal Spray
Saline nasal sprays will clear mucus from the sinuses without drying out the nasal passages, as other over-the-counter nasal sprays do. You can purchase nasal sprays at the drugstore or grocery store. Otherwise, make your own saline nasal spray by mixing 1/4 tsp. salt in 1/2 cup of lukewarm water and placing the mixture in a clean, empty nasal spray bottle. Spray the liquid up each nostril and then blow your nose to clear out mucus.
To treat nasal congestion in children, place three drops of the saline spray in each nostril with a clean eyedropper, recommends the University of Maryland Medical Center. Wait 60 seconds and then place the child on her stomach and wipe the mucus with a tissue as it drips out of your child's nose.
Blow Your Nose
According to Health Services at Columbia University, blowing your nose will help remove mucus from your sinuses and prevent it from dripping down the back of the throat, which may cause coughing and throat irritation. Instead of sniffing the mucus back into your nose when you feel congestion in your nasal passages, blow it out.
References
- "The Doctors Book of Home Remedies for Women"; Sharon Faelten; 1997
- Mayo Clinic: Nasal Congestion
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Cough
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Nasal Congestion
- Health Services at Columbia: Much Ado About Mucus
