Here’s how to fight a runny nose in winter.
- To combat a runny nose, you must blow your nose regularly and not sniff.
- Blowing your nose helps clear the mucus present in the nasal passages.
- It is also recommended to hydrate well and ventilate your home regularly.
A runny nose, also called rhinorrhea, is common in winter… According to the MSD Manualcommon causes of rhinorrhea and nasal congestion (two phenomena that often occur together, but can also occur in isolation) are viral infections of the upper respiratory tract, i.e. colds or the allergies.
Blow your nose regularly to avoid a runny nose
This advice may seem basic, but the first thing to do is to blow your nose as soon as the need arises and, above all, not to sniff. “When you have secretions in your nose, sniffing brings the mucus up into your sinuses and congests them again, explains Jean-Marc Juvanon, ENT in Nemours, in the daily newspaper The Dispatch. They must therefore be evacuated, this is ideal. For that, there’s nothing like blowing your nose..” To blow your nose, the University of Queenslandin Australia, reminds us to blow gently into the handkerchief, one nostril after the other.
To combat rhinorrhea, you can also wash your nose with physiological serum. “Cleaning with a spray is not sufficient to clear the nasal mucosa, because it is a mist, indicates Wissame El Bakkouri, ENT doctor and head and neck surgeon at the Adolphe de Rothschild Foundation hospital, at Women’s Journal. However, it is not enough to moisten the mucous membranes, they must be cleaned with a nasal shower. An adult needs 60 ml of physiological saline per nostril, flushed with high flow. Thus, the nose is ready to receive any local treatment prescribed by the doctor, generally corticosteroids.”
However, you should not overuse this type of washing. As indicates the Bordeaux University Hospital“the use [de sérums physiologiques] proves in the medium and long term to be irritating or even toxic for the nasal respiratory cell. If these can be used for short periods (colds). (…) Our work has shown in particular that physiological serum slows down the functioning of the nasal cell and significantly reduces its healing capacity, which can even lead to cell death.”
Ventilate your home every hour to avoid a runny nose
Final advice, in case of a runny nose: hydrate well – that is to say, drink between 1.5 and 2 liters of water per day – and ventilate your home well. To reduce the viral load in your home or office, health insurance recommends “toventilate each room for a few minutes every hour if possible.”
The MSD Manual also lists less common causes of rhinorrhea and nasal congestion, such as sinusitis, vasomotor rhinitis, excessive use of decongestant sprays, or the presence (especially in children) of a foreign body in the nose. nose. So, if the runny nose lasts and is accompanied by other symptoms, it is better to consult your general practitioner to establish the diagnosis.
