Nasal Sprays

Thumb tibes you ged a plugged nose.

It happens to the best of us, regardless of the measures we take to reduce exposure to allergens. You'll wake up in the morning with a dry mouth and throat with your nostrils completely or partially closed. You try to gently blow your nose, but that only makes things worse. You try to apply air pressure by plugging your nostrils and blowing, but that only opens them up for a moment. That's when you strike!

There are generally going to be one or more of three active ingredients in your average nasal spray:

Saline: salt-water can often help to alleviate the symptom of dryness and can help to flush your nose of some of the schmutz that can build up. It's very helpful and doesn't contain anything close to processed chemicals. This would be the best for low to moderate congestion and dryness.

Antihistamine: You had to see this one coming. When you apply a spray-antihistamine to the inside of your nose, you're introducing a local which can compete with histamines for receptors, reducing the allergic reaction.

Decongestants: This is your atom bomb in the situation. If you can't breathe out of your nose at all, you can apply the pressure above and then apply something like Afrin to each nostril. The chemicals constrict blood vessels in the nose, forcing the swelling in the lining of the nose down. Please note, however, that nasal decongestants are only intended to be used short-term. Long-term use of nasal decongestants can do damage to the mucous membranes of the nose, causing more permanent congestion symptoms. You don't want that, so please use nasal decongestants as ordered by your doctor.

Personally, the best nasal spray I've ever used is Afrin "Extra Moisturizing", which likely has more of a saline solution than other types of Afrin. I've never used it more than two days in a row and I only use it a few times during the fall when my nasal congestion is at its worst, but it's been highly successful in treating my symptoms.