How To Stop Runny Nose, Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments

TheIndonesia.id - A runny nose is a condition in which your mucus drips or "runs" out of your nose. It can be caused by allergies, colder outdoor temperatures, or flu. "Rhinnorea" is a term used alongside the term "runny nose," which is the thin, mostly clear discharge you might see. 

When bacteria, dust, allergen, or cold virus enters your body, it irritates the lining of your nose and sinuses, the air-filled pockets around the face, making your nose starts to make a lot of clear mucus. The mucus traps the bacteria, viruses, or allergens, and helps flush them out of your nose and sinuses. 

After two or three days, the mucus might change into white or yellowish color. Sometimes, it also turns into greenish color. This condition is normal and doesn't mean you have an infection.

How does your nose work to protect your body?

Your breathing process starts in your nose. It is the place where the air enters your body before it goes through the lungs. The nose helps filter, humidify, and warm, or cold the air, making it clean.

As bacteria, allergens, dust, or other harmful particles come into the nose, the mucus traps them. Mucus contains antibodies, or enzymes, which killed the harmful particles. A special lining of mucosa, or a moist tissue, covers the area inside your nose and consists of many mucus-producing glands. 

The mucosa lining also includes cilia, tiny hair-like structures. The cilia are continually in motion and move the collected harmful particles and the mucus that they are trapped in through your nose into the back of your throat. It is then swallowed and destroyed by the acid in your stomach. Mucus and particles can also be coughed up or sneezed out. 

When the outdoor temperatures turn cold, the pace of this process slows down. Many times, the mucus stays in your nose and then drips or dribbles out. 

Why does a runny nose happen? 

A runny nose may have one or more of several causes. These are the possible causes. 

• Allergies
• Cold temperatures
• Common cold
• Flu
• A gustatory rhinitis is a form of nonallergic rhinitis that causes a runny nose when you eat certain foods

How to stop a runny nose

1. Drink water

Keeping yourself hydrated when you have a runny nose is very important. The liquids you drink help thin mucus to reduce pressure in the sinuses, which reduces irritation and inflammation. Not only by drinking water, you can also get fluid intake by drinking juice or eating soup. Choose warm drinks rather than cold ones. 

2. Inhale hot steam

Inhaling hot steam has been proven to help with a runny nose. A study from the Journal of Dental and Medical Sciences concluded that steam inhalation is quite effective for common cold patients. This reduces recovery time by about one week compared to not inhaling steam at all.

Using a humidifier in your room can also help relieve a runny nose. The machine turns water into water vapor which slowly fills the air. When inhaled, this will thin the mucus and help empty the excess fluid in your nose so that breathing returns to normal.

3. Using salt spray

Making a saline solution can increase the moisture in your nose and thin the mucus, so it's good for a runny nose. However, you will need advice and instructions from your doctor to make this saline spray. This spray should not be used for more than three days and used in conjunction with other medications.

How to make salt spray:

• Prepare an airtight container
• Mix three teaspoons of diode-free salt and one teaspoon of baking soda.
• Sterilized ripe berries not tap or distilled water
• Transfer the solution to the neti pot
• First, tilt your head slightly to one side, and place the snout of the neti pot in one nostril. Let the saline solution enter the nostril and exit the other nostril.

4. Clean the nose properly

Instead of you sucking back your snot which keeps coming out and bringing additional bacteria from the air you breathe, it's better to spit it out. However, make sure you do it the right way. The key to blowing your nose properly is to do it slowly.

5. Take the medicine

One way to get rid of a stuffy nose is to use help decongestants or antihistamines.

These two drugs, which can be purchased without a doctor's prescription, help reduce nasal congestion and excess mucus that accumulates.

Decongestants, such as pseudoephedrine, can shrink dilated blood vessels in the inflamed lining of the nose. The narrowing of these blood vessels reduces the amount of mucus produced. Meanwhile, antihistamines are suitable for those of you who often experience allergies because these drugs can inhibit allergic reactions in the body.