hey guys you're probably here because
you want to know all about those
horrible
congested blocked noses and how to
unclog
and block those horrible congested
blocked noses well i'm going to answer
that question
in this week's responding to your
comments when we look at fun questions
we look at science-based questions but
most importantly
we always look at the evidence so this
week's response comments topic comes
from jazzy j
this is from the how to stop a runny
nose and the comment is
i always have the worst blocked nose
whenever i get a cold
can you please do a video on this topic
jazzy j
i'm gonna do a video on this topic your
comment got my attention
i like this comment so i'm gonna do my
best to give you all the information i
can
and anyone else is watching i really
hope you find this information helpful
so let's begin so first let's begin with
a little science so the blocked nose the
nightmare of a block knows we've all had
it before
most commonly it's because of a common
cold similar to the comment from jazzy j
and the good news is that they do
resolve on their own within a couple of
days
but there are various other reasons for
a blocked nose as well
and this video is going to be really
really long if we go through all those
different reasons
so i am going to leave a full list in
the description below and advise
everyone to give it a quick read
now another very common reason for a
blocked nose is sometimes due to
allergies as well so i just want to
touch up on this as well
sometimes certain things such as
allergens get into your system
and it causes us to create histamines
which causes this inflammatory response
to try and get them out of your system
so it causes the nasal congestion it
causes the runny nose it causes the
itching
all the symptoms are associated with an
allergy an allergic response now it's
important to remember that each
individual can react differently to
different allergens this is normal this
is what makes us human
so if you want more information on these
allergens i'm going to leave more
information
in the description below but also if
you're someone who suffers from things
like hay fever for example
i have made a video about this in the
past which you might find helpful
so feel free to check that out at the
end of this video i will leave a link to
it up there
and in the description below now let's
get on to
how to fix that congested nose let's fix
that blocked nose and help you start
breathing again
but first thing i'm going to say is
before we go through any tips or
treatments
it's super important that you do speak
to your healthcare professional first
to find out what is the cause of this
blocked nose that's the most important
thing
and once you've checked out with them
and everything's fine it might be a
common cold
then let's start these treatments now
let's begin okay so let's begin with tip
number one
a really really easy way to keep the
moisture in the nose and to help with
that congestion to help with that
blocked nose
is by using a saline spray or just a
saline
rinse that you make at home it's really
easy to make you can pick up a saline
spray from any chemist but if you don't
have
you know the time to go and pick one up
or it's a bit difficult for you to do
that you can make a saline rinse at home
super easy all you do is you get a
teaspoon of salt
a teaspoon of bicarbonate soda and you
put it in a pint of boiling water you
mix it in
and then you let that boiling water cool
this is really important
do not do anything with them so it cools
to around body temperature okay so now
that you've made your saline solution
and the temperature has come down to
around body temperature and we're no
longer worried about burning ourselves
you're going to go to your bathroom
you're going to stand in front of your
sink because this stage is quite messy
so what you're going to do is you're
going to get the palm of your hand
you're going to get your saline solution
you're going to pour a bit into the palm
and then you're going to sniff it up one
nostril at a time do it slowly because
it can be a bit of a weird sensation to
begin with
you're going to do it in each nostril
until the nostril feels comfortable and
that congestion has eased
and it's a bit unblocked and then you
can stop doing it now
when you do this when you're doing the
saline rinse you might get something
that goes into the back of your throat
you might taste it in your mouth this is
completely normal
you don't need to be worried about it
try and spit it out don't swallow it
just spit it out it's completely normal
you're over the sink
that's the most important thing because
it is quite messy it does take a bit of
trial and error until you get used to it
but i promise you once you're used to it
it's really easy and fast to do okay so
moving on to tip number two
again i'm trying to keep these first few
tips things that you can do at home
things that we all have access to to
make your life easier
so tip number two is all about steam
inhalation this can actually be really
helpful with a blood congested nose
all you need to do is boil the kettle
get that boiling water pour it in a bowl
and then get yourself a towel put it
behind your head so it's covering your
head
and the ball leave at least 30
centimeters between your face and the
ball
leave more if you find that's more
comfortable for you and then slowly
breathe in and out make sure your eyes
are closed and just relax this is really
relaxing
just be careful you don't fall asleep
but do it for about 10 to 15 minutes per
session
also this is only advice for adults this
is not advice for children
so please be aware of that so as i
mentioned earlier please be extremely
careful when you're doing this you don't
want to burn or scold yourself we're
talking about steam here we're talking
about boiling water
so there's lots that can go wrong so be
very careful
make sure you're leaving a good distance
of minimum 30 centimetres between your
face
and the boiling water and the bowl leave
more if that's that's okay to do as well
you just don't want to burn or score
yourself and as i mentioned keep your
eyes closed
and this is not advised for children
only adults should do this
but i guess for children a similar
concept would be if you run the shower
and make the bathroom very steamy and
then put the child can go in there and
breathe in and out in the bathroom i
think that would be a good
safe useful option that you can bear in
mind now moving on to tip number three
humidifiers these can be really useful
at making the mucus in your sinuses and
in your nose
a lot more liquidy and easy to flow to
help with that blocked congested nose
you can buy them online they're
relatively inexpensive now to buy
but if you are asthmatic or you have
copd or any lung condition
please do speak to your doctor or
healthcare professional first just to
make sure that they're happy for you to
get this
moving on to tip number four a hot
compress these can be really useful at
helping to unclog and unblock that
congested nose and helping to open up
that nasal passage
it's very simple to do all you need to
do is get a flannel or a small towel
put in some hot water wring it out make
sure that it's not too hot that you burn
yourself and then place it over the
bridge of your nose
and just relax leave it there until it
cools and then you can reapply again
until you start to feel some relief so i
hope you're finding this information
useful so far so so far i've been giving
you useful
home tips and remedies that everyone can
do at home really
but i think the next step is to talk
about medical treatments medicines that
you can actually take
so before we go on to these it's super
important if you are thinking of trying
any of these medicines
please speak to your healthcare
professional first speak to your
pharmacist speak to your doctor speak to
your nurse speak to any of your
healthcare professionals
just to make sure you're safe and
suitable to use it
and always read the information leaflet
that comes with that medicine before
you're taking it because again
just to make sure that you're safe and
suitable to take it that is the most
important thing
i'm not going to keep saying this after
each medicine that i talk about
i've now told you it so i'm reassured
i'm going to trust you that you will
check
okay now let's begin okay so the first
medicine i want to talk about is
antihistamines
remember earlier when we spoke about
histamines and the inflammatory response
that it can cause
so anti-histamines can be quite useful
for reducing that inflammatory response
in reducing the congestion and then
reducing a runny nose as well
okay they come as tablets they also come
as a nasal spray as well they do work
quite fast so they usually work after
about 60 minutes of taking them
and they can give 24 hour relief after
taking them so for example
an actual moon like loratadine i find
works quite
well for these kinds of symptoms it is a
non-drowsy pill as well
so most patients most people that take
them don't feel drowsy but there are the
exceptions as well
that will feel drowsy after taking it
but like i said as well special
healthcare freshener before
trying any medication and if you do want
more information on these antihistamines
and on allergies and on hay fever like i
said earlier
i'd start the video i have made a video
on this topic before which you might
find helpful
so again i'll leave it up there and in
the description below so feel free to
check it out at the end now another
treatment option are decongestants these
work
really well and really quick at helping
to unclog and unblock that congested
nose
they usually work within 15 to 30
minutes they come as a nasal spray they
come as tablets
so there's many different options
available so again do speak to your
pharmacist first before taking these
because
there's many different interactions with
this medicine and side effects
potentially as well
so double check with them before taking
this medicine please
also please do remember not to use
decongestants
for a long time so it's only usually
advised to use them for five to seven
days
okay because the way that they work is
they reduce that swelling of the blood
vessels around the nasal area they stop
that
which helps with the congestion but if
you use it for more than five to seven
days
the opposite effect happens it's called
rebound congestion
that can happen where you're actually
causing congestion by taking the
decongestant
i hope that made sense but overall to
summarize just remember
do not take a decongestant for more than
five to seven days
now another option would be a steroid
nasal spray such as beclometasone it
works really well at helping to reduce
the congestion to help unblock the nose
but please do remember they can take up
to several days for them to work
so usually it's best to start them if
you know you're going to start getting a
blocked nose to start them a few days
beforehand
just so you have the full effect sooner
now if you do want more information on
how to use a nasal spray
because actually using it is one of the
most important things sorry using it
properly
is one of the most important things
because a lot of patients don't use them
properly
and you end up just wasting doses and it
goes in the wrong area and you're going
to get
no real considerable effect from it so
if you are interested in learning how to
use a nasal spray properly i have made a
video on it before
loads of people have found it helpful i
will leave it up here and in the
description below
i would highly recommend everyone
watches it whoever goes out and buys a
nasal spray
please do watch it and learn how to use
it properly just so you can get the full
effect from it
and you're not wasting your money by by
wasting the medicine essentially
so jazzy j and anyone else is watching
this with a blot
congested nose right now i really hope
this information helps you
please do remember though if you're
congested blocked nose
does not relieve or stop after 10 days
you need to seek medical advice for it
this is super important so speak to your
healthcare professional
if the symptoms last for more than 10
days also there are a few other symptoms
i want to make you
aware of on when you should seek medical
advice and i'm going to leave them all
in the description below
so please do read it and find out when
you should seek medical advice sooner
because your health is the most
important thing so jazzy j and anyone
else who's watching this video i
really hope you find this information
helpful you now know everything there is
to fixing
a congested blocked nose and how to
unblock it and how to open up those
nasal passages
and help you breathe better you're now a
nasal congestion pro
so tell your friends tell your family
tell your loved ones tell everyone so it
looks like we've run out of time again
and this week's responding to your
comments if i didn't get back to your
comment if i didn't get back to your
question i am really sorry
we are getting so many comments these
days it's really hard to fit everyone's
in
so the best advice i can give all of you
just say in every single episode
is keep on leaving those comments keep
leaving a comment in this video leave a
comment on the next video
leave a comment watch every video you
see and eventually i will see and i'll
add it to the list
and do a responding to comments video on
it thank you for watching
i really hope you found this information
helpful it's been a pleasure
always remember you're awesome and i
will see you next week
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