Everything You Need To Know About Nasal Obstruction
Nasal obstruction can cause you an inconvenience that can snowball into a life-altering condition. You need to learn the signs of nasal obstruction because it may dramatically improve your life. Read on to find out everything you need to know about nasal obstruction.
Nasal Obstruction
You may confuse nasal obstruction with a disease. It’s a symptom of underlying problems that obstructs your nasal passages. For your children, the common culprits are nasal allergies and enlarged adenoids. A less common cause for nasal obstruction is nasal tumors, polyps, and congenital malformations of their nose.
Symptoms
- Nasal drainage
- Nasally voice
- Mouth breathing
- Difficulty breathing through one or both sides of the nose
- Recurrent or chronic sinus infections
Causes
Nasal Obstruction occurs when your nose becomes inflamed and stuffy. Many minor illnesses can cause you to experience nasal obstruction. Illnesses such as a cold, sinus infection, and the flu can cause your nose to develop obstruction. Obstructions in your nose usually improve within a week. If there is no improvements after a week, that usually means you are experiencing underlying health issues.
The usual suspects for your prolonged nasal obstruction are the following:
- Hay fever
- Allergies
- Nasal polyps
- Environmental irritants
- Chemical exposure
- Long-lasting sinus infection
- Deviated septum
You may also experience nasal congestion at the end of your first trimester of pregnancy. The hormonal fluctuations and increase in your blood supply may cause nasal obstruction.
Nasal Obstruction Self Care
There are a few items you can use if you experience nasal obstruction.
Humidifiers add moisture to your air to help break the mucus gathered in your nose. It can also soothe your inflamed nasal passages. You must check with a doctor first if you have asthma before using a humidifier.
You can also prop up your head to encourage your mucus to flow out of your nose.
Saline sprays and salt water irrigations are a mainstay of treatment.
When should you visit your doctor?
There are times when remedies and rest do not work, which means it’s time to see your doctor. In cases where nothing works, it usually means you have underlying anatomic obstruction.
You will need medical treatment to treat your symptoms to get you back to a 100%.
Visit your doctor if you manifest any of the following:
- Your congestion lasts longer than 10 days
- A high fever accompanies your congestion for more than three days
- Green discharge from your nose accompanied by fever and sinus pain
- Your immune system is compromised
- Asthma or emphysema
- A head injury may cause you to discharge blood or a constant flow of clear discharge.
All of these symptoms should be taken seriously because they may indicate other serious issues in your body.
Children
Nasal obstruction is very threatening to infants when compared to adults. The nasal obstruction can hamper feedings and may also cause fatal breathing problems. In this state, your child can also experience impediments to their speech and hearing development.
You must contact your child’s pediatrician right away if they have nasal congestion. The pediatrician can then give you treatment options for your child.
Treatment
Once your doctor finds the cause of your chronic nasal obstruction, they can come up with a treatment plan. Your treatment plan can include over-the-counter and prescription medication to help relieve your symptoms.
Here is a list of common medicines to relieve congestion:
- Oral antihistamines such as Claritin and Zyrtec can treat your allergies.
- Nasal sprays like azelastine contain antihistamines to help relieve your symptoms.
- Nasal steroids such as Mometasone or Flonase (Fluticasone)
- Antibiotics
- Decongestants
You may also need surgery if you have tumors or nasal polyps.
Please note that these are all just possibilities for your treatment.
In conclusion, nasal obstruction can be a major impediment if not taken seriously. Dr. Kelley has a wealth of experience and tools available to help you.