How to Get Rid of a Stuffy Nose: Tips & Home Remedies | TYLENOL® (2024)

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How to Get Rid of a Stuffy Nose: Tips & Home Remedies | TYLENOL®? ›

Use a Humidifier as a Fast Stuffy Nose Remedy

Humidifiers and electric steamers can also be used to bring moisture into the air around you. You can choose from either a warm-mist or cool-mist humidifier for your stuffy nose, as both are effective in relieving sinus congestion and pain.

Use a Humidifier as a Fast Stuffy Nose Remedy

Humidifiers and electric steamers can also be used to bring moisture into the air around you. You can choose from either a warm-mist or cool-mist humidifier for your stuffy nose, as both are effective in relieving sinus congestion and pain.

Using your index and middle fingers, apply pressure near your nose between your cheekbones and jaw. Move your fingers in a circular motion toward your ears. You can use your thumbs instead of your fingers for a deeper massage. This should take 30 seconds to a minute.

Vicks VapoRub doesn't clear up congestion in the nose. But its strong menthol odor may trick your brain. So you might feel like you're breathing through an unclogged nose. Vicks VapoRub is an ointment that's rubbed on the throat and chest to relieve a cough.

Breathe in Steam

Steam thins mucus and soothes irritated nasal passages. Taking long showers can also help with muscle aches and mild fatigue, which are symptoms that sometimes accompany a stuffy nose. You can also fill a bowl with hot (but not boiling) water and lean over it.

If you have a stuffy nose, using VVR may make you feel as though you can breathe better. However, it does not relieve nasal congestion. You can apply VVR to the chest and throat area in a thick layer. But to relieve a stuffy nose, you may find more success with other remedies.

You can also try gentler solutions, like a Neti pot, saline irrigation, saline nasal drops, using a vaporizer or humidifier when you sleep, and drinking plenty of fluids such as hot tea or chicken soup. A stuffy nose will usually go away in about a week.

Clear congestion: The best medicines for a stuffy nose are decongestants. They help open nasal passageways by reducing swelling. Active ingredients to look for include pseudoephedrine (in pills or liquid), phenylephrine (in nasal sprays) and oxymetazoline (in nasal sprays).

What clears a blocked nose fast? ›

Whether it's from a hot shower or piping hot cup of tea, steam can thin mucus and help it drain from your nose. For faster relief, pour boiling water into a large bowl. Cover your head with a towel, lean over the bowl, and breathe in the steam. You can do this three to four times a day.

Use your index fingers to gently press either side of your nose, at the base of your nostrils. Circle under your cheekbones, toward your ears, and up to your temples, above your eyebrows and down the sides of your nose. You'll make a full circle, starting back where you started. Try it the other direction, too.