How does it make it seem as though your nose isn’t stuffy anymore? How come I can breathe through one nostril and not the other when I’m congested? How does fixing your positioning (I.e.) putting your head higher help with congestion? 🙂 ur welcome for my 18273729101 questions & ty for ur answers 🙂
In: Biology
When you’re congested, the capillaries in your nose are constricted. Decongestants simply open the capillaries.
When your nose is running, you can take a congestant which will constrict the capillaries.
When you are congested, think of it as your nose becoming more swollen and less air is able to go through the smaller gap.
You can use drops/spray that help make that gap larger, allow easier breathing, by making the swelling go away temporarily.
That’s also what makes decongestants dangerous (coming from life long user who had this explained by ENT specialist). After using decongestant, the swelling will become worse, especially when you use it longer and more often than recommended.
The only alternative after that is a surgery, which can help relieve the swelling, by shrinking/burning the capillaries with laser, for a year or two (or longer if in you’re lucky).
Now, the way I understand it, but this is just my assumption based on experience, the swelling is a kind of allergic reaction, and mucus gets produced as a result (stuffy swollen nose). So decongestant not only reduces swelling but also seems to reduce your reaction to whatever is causing the swelling in the first place. Which probably isn’t that good either, considering it would be bacteria/viruses, which your body is tried to respond to and have them removed.
They constrict blood vessels in your nose. Nasal congestion occurs when the nasal passages are inflamed and the blood vessels dilated. Decongestant sprays cause the vessels to constrict.
Congestion: The tissues in your nose/airways get swollen (usually bc of irritation) and leak a ton of fluid. The blood vessels are usually wide open and send more fluid into the tissue.
Decongestion: Some thing like sudafed (pseudoephedrine) will close up the blood vessels a bit and cause the situation to dry up. But don’t rely on this long term — the effects wane and become more risky as you keep using it.
Holding your head higher and cooling down the area might prevent further swelling in those tissues. Regular neti pot/saline rinses can help draw out the excess fluids while maintaining fluid balance (saline, not plain water). Boosting room humidity can improve skin irritation.
To learn about better over-the-counter options, check Healthline and talk to a professional.
One thing you may not have noticed, but becomes more apparent when you are congested, is that you only breathe through one nostril at a time under normal circumstances. This is called the [nasal cycle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasal_cycle), and your nose switches which nostril you breathe through every few hours.
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