Having mucus can be so tiring and annoying, and most people will try anything just to get rid of it. No matter if the mucus is in the nose, trachea, or lungs, or all three, it can make you feel bad, disable your breathing, make you cough, and feel nauseated if it flows down towards the esophagus and lingers in the back of your throat.
Even though mucus has a purpose in the respiratory system when it elevated the amount it can point to an infection or allergy, and cause discomfort, hence, we have collected the best tips and practices on how to get rid of it and breathe with your full lung capacity.
Air humidity
It is very interesting that our body responds to different environmental conditions, and when it comes to air humidity, our nose is capable of responding to this. When the air is dry, it dries out our nose; receptors in the nose detect that it is dry and start producing additional mucus in order to protect the inner parts of the respiratory tract from drying out and being damaged. This is why, when there is mucus in your respiratory tract you should avoid dry air. This is where air humidifier comes to the rescue since it will increase the humidity of the air in the house and decrease the natural production of mucus.
If you do not have an air humidifier, you can put a pot onto the stove filled with salt and water bring it to boil and breathe the evaporated water. Of course the temperature of the evaporated water should not burn your face, but just provide the additional humidity to the clogged air ducts. As you lean over and breathe warm, salty evaporate you may experience draining of the clogged air ducts and the mucus may start to run out, which is a point of the whole action. You can repeat this for a few times a day in order to relieve the symptoms and help you breathe. It is good to do this before bedtime in order to have a more pleasant night.
Elevate your head
One of the best advice that we have seen is to elevate the head while sleeping and keep the whole body at an angle of 30 to 45 degrees. In addition to the elevation, try not to sleep on your back, since the head will fall in such a manner that the mucus will flow freely from the nose and sinuses to the lungs making the matter even worse.
Also, the mucus will irritate the throat and trigger coughing reflex making you cough and disrupt your sleep even further as well as damage your throat. Sleeping on your side may prevent irritation of the throat and prevent the heavy flow of mucus towards the lungs.
Cough
Never, ever try to stop coughing. It is essential to use this inborn reflex to eliminate the mucus from the lungs. Removal of mucus through coughing is very important and productive since the body is pushing it all to the surface.
Most people will say that you need to spit this mucus out, and you may, but if it happens that you swallow the mucus do not be alarmed since the mucus will go to the stomach and all possible bugs that can be in the mucus will be killed by the stomach acid and the immune system will get a chance to recognize the pathogens and start making an immune response to it, assisting the body to get the upper hand over the infection.
Saline solution
A good saline solution has a concentration of sodium chloride that is compatible with the mucus in the nose and can be used to rinse the nose and help with the clogged parts. It can be bought in any pharmacy and you can use a syringe in order to clean the nose. How this is done?
Fill in the syringe with the solution, and hold one nostril closed by gently pressing the lower part of it, place the syringe tip in the nostril lightly and push the fluid into the nose. The saline solution will travel through the nose and sinuses and part of it will exit through the mouth. Repeat the same thing with the other nostril. This is unpleasant and it can make some people nauseated, but it will help you feel better and will break down the plugs of mucus you have in your nose.
In addition to this, you can buy nose sprays that are based on saline solution, and have few salts in them; some may include ions like Magnesium or Zink, or panthenol that can help if the inside of the nose is irritated. It is essential not to use it too often since too much usage may disrupt the proper functioning of the nose and increase the production of mucus and this is something that you want to avoid.
Be sure to read the instructions on these saline sprays and do not use them too often. The same goes for the simple saline solution. It is essential to stop using it if you feel pain, discomfort, dryness, and blood. Over drying the inside of the nose can increase the production of mucus and lead to damage. Damaged inside of the nose is prone to being a site of infection, and it will produce mucus to protect itself, which is definitely something you want to avoid.
For even more tips on how to get rid of mucus naturally be sure to check out Clear Revive.
Conclusion
As you can see you can do a lot of things when you have mucus troubling you. In most cases it is not medically too important when it happens, except if it lasts for longer periods of time and disrupts you from your daily routine.
It is essential to seek medical attention in this case. There are some medications that can be used in order to decrease the levels of mucus, and these can be discussed with the medical professional rather than take them on your own.