How To Sleep With A Stuffy Nose
Wool PillowsHow to sleep with a stuffy nose? Start by preparing yourself before bed.
- Keep your nasal passages moist: Create a steam bath by filling a bowl with boiling water. Put a towel over your head and breath in the steam for 5-15 minutes. Add eucalyptus or peppermint oil to the water to help soothe and open up your nasal passages to make sleeping with a blocked nose that little bit easier.
TOP TIP
- Blow your nose gently before bed: Try not to blow repeatedly and aggressively, as you will find it irritates the nasal passages and can make the problem worse.
- Drink plenty of water: Staying hydrated can reduce the discomfort of having your nose blocked at night by helping to stop the mucus from becoming too thick.
- Tackle allergies: One of the most common reasons for sinusitis and other kinds of sinus pain is a dust mite allergy, or sensitivity to other microbes or fungal spores, especially during the winter months. These allergens like to live in your bedding, mattress and other soft furnishings, causing a stuffy nose and breathing issues when youre shut in a room with them overnight.
Sleep Soundly Again With Help From Ent Experts
Your brain and body rely on good sleep to function well. Our experts know how to diagnose and treat the sinus and allergy issues at the source of your sleeping problems, so you can find your way back to restful sleep. Dont settle for feeling tired and stressed during the day because of your trouble sleeping at night. Get help from the specialists at Advanced ENT & Allergy Center to get a good full nights sleep.
Dos: What To Do When You Have A Sinus Infection
When you have sinusitis there are specific things you can do to reduce inflammation and pain, and to recover faster. Our doctors at Detroit Sinus Center recommend the following:
- Stay hydrated: be proactive about drinking fluids. Your body needs to be fully hydrated in order to recover from a sinus infection. Also, drinking hot liquids like tea or soup can help break down the stuffiness and mucus in your nasal cavities.
- Use a humidifier: the cool mist of a humidifier can help you feel less stuffy and release some of the built up mucus and pressure. Make sure you always use clean water and you routinely clean your humidifier to avoid further infection.
- Use a warm compress: applying a warm compress like a washcloth to your face and allowing it to sit for 10-15 minutes can also help break up the mucus and alleviate the pressure when you have a sinus infection.
- Sleep: make sure you are getting plenty of sleep when you are fighting sinusitis. Your body needs to be well rested in order to fight the infection and recover properly.
- Rinse your sinuses: using a neti pot or nasal spray can help clean out your nasal cavities and alleviate the pressure build up. Remember to always use distilled, sterile, or boiled water to cleanse your sinuses.
- Over The counter drugs: if you have mild pain or pressure, over the counter drugs can help with this. We recommend acetaminophen or ibuprofen for pain.
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Treat Yourself At Home And As Prescribed By Your Physician
If you are diagnosed with a sinus infection, your ENT specialist will offer medicinal and home treatment options. For bacterial sinus infections, you may be given a regimen of antibiotics to work on the source . Steroids may also be prescribed to reduce swelling.
At home, you have quite a few options to make symptoms more manageable. Ibuprofen and NSAIDs may help with inflammation and headaches. Dr. FP Langford, a CEENTA otolaryngologist at our Concord office, has some additional home remedies to consider. Placing a warm compress over your face can provide relief, and staying hydrated and relying on nasal irrigation with neti pots can pay dividends for mucus build-up.
You’ve Got A Sinus Infection
Plagued by morning congestion along with facial pain or tenderness, thick green or yellow snot and bad breath? Chances are, a sinus infection is the culprit. These infections, which often develop from a common cold or allergies, happen when bacteria, viruses, or fungi irritate the sinuses, causing them to swell and become blocked, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Fix it: Most sinus infections will clear up on their own within seven to 10 days, says Minyoung Jang, MD, assistant professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Columbia University Medical Center in New York. In the meantime, you can find relief with natural remedies for sinus infections like a nasal saline rinse.
“While it does not cure the problem, it helps clear out any irritants inside the nose or sinuses, preventing buildup that can exacerbate symptoms,” Dr. Jang says.
But if you’re still dealing with symptoms after a week or two, call your doctor. You may have a bacterial sinus infection that needs to be treated with antibiotics.
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Eat Chicken Noodle Soup
Your grandmothers cold remedy might have something to it. Research suggests that chicken soup may have medicinal benefits, including a mild anti-inflammatory effect.
While the results arent conclusive, chicken soup doescontain important nutrients and improves hydration. In other words, having a bowl of chicken soup in the evening cant hurt.
Can Sleep Position Cause Snoring Or Sleep Apnea
Your sleep position can contribute to nasal congestion and the overall flow of air while you sleep. When the nasal passages are clogged or congested, it could cause disruptions in sleep and proper breathing. Speak with an ear, nose, and throat specialist to determine how your sleep position can be modified to help improve your sleep and avoid snoring and sleep apnea.
If you are suffering from the effects of bad sleep posture, the first step is to consult with a sleep health expert. Ear, nose, and throat specialists at eos sleep have extensive experience in treating ear, nose, and throat conditions as well as sleep-related problems. Call today or fill out the form on this page to schedule an appointment or to learn more about eos sleep treatment options.
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Pain Or Pressure In Your Sinuses
Facial pain is a common symptom of sinusitis. You have several different sinuses above and below your eyes, as well as behind your nose. Any of these air-filled cavities can hurt when you have a sinus infection.
Inflammation and swelling can cause your sinuses to ache with dull pressure. This is because inflammation may alter the typical path of mucus from the nose to the back of the throat.
You may feel pain in:
- your forehead
- on either side of your nose
- in your upper jaws and teeth
- between your eyes
This may lead to a headache. Headaches caused by sinus infections can occur where the sinuses are or in other places.
Sleeping With Sinus Issues & Allergies In Denver
Getting good sleep is essential. When sinus issues and allergies cause difficulty sleeping, your health and daily life suffer. Our sinus and allergy experts will get to the bottom of your sleeping troubles, so you can get back to quality sleep with no disturbances.
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What Is Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that results in interrupted sleep, caused by breathing problems.
When you are diagnosed with one of the three types of sleep apnea, it means that your upper airway is blocked when you are asleep. The blockage can be slight or complete and can leave you gasping for air. When this happens, your brain should receive the message to breathe, but instead, you stop breathing while sleeping.
Most of the time, you wake up after not breathing for a certain period of time and regain your breathing pattern. However, this disrupts your sleep and prevents it from reaching the critical deep sleep stage. The result is youll feel tired and irritable during the day because you never reached that crucial deep state of sleep.
In the short-term, it may feel like this chronic lack of sleep is manageable if you are in a stressful period in your personal or professional life , but in the long run, that daytime fogginess and fatigue that makes you more irritable can lead to a whole host of more serious health problems. If untreated, chronic lack of sleep and accompanying stress may lead to high blood pressure, heart attacks, obesity, high cholesterol, and diabetes.
Reasons For Increased Congestion And Sinus Problems At Night
Why are my sinuses worse at night? The reasons are various and interrelated, but they are far from impossible to manage. A good place to start is to ask yourself which of the following sinus-related problems or household circumstances you experience.
Before you do, however, its worth mentioning that your sinus problems may worsen at night because youre less distracted and paying more attention to how you feel .
While this idea may be true to some extent, paying attention doesnt cause sinus symptoms, sinus problems cause sinus symptoms its wiser to address the latter than worry about the former.
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When To Contact A Medical Professional
- Your symptoms last longer than 10 to 14 days or you have a cold that gets worse after 7 days.
- You have a severe headache that is not relieved by over-the-counter pain medicine.
- You have a fever.
- You still have symptoms after taking all of your antibiotics properly.
- You have any changes in your vision during a sinus infection.
A green or yellow discharge does not mean that you definitely have a sinus infection or need antibiotics.
Cpap And Sinus Infections
One of the more common complaints from CPAP users is that they are prone to sinus infections. Typically, they deal with it using saline irrigation, decongestants, and sometimes even go to their doctor for antibiotics. As a result, people suspect contamination or infection from their equipment, especially the mask, tubing or even the machine itself. Other suspects include molds, allergies or even sensitivity to their masks.
I had an experience today with a patient that makes me rethink how CPAP may aggravate nasal or sinus infections. This patient was unable to use CPAP after 4-5 days because his nose and sinuses would burn. He interpreted this as an infection. His numbers and other compliance parameters were perfect. While performing nasal endoscopy he commented that the sensation was identical to the feeling that he experienced when he used CPAP.
That got me thinking about how most cases of sinus headaches and pain have been shown to be a variation of a migraine. This is a neurologic reaction to any sort of irritation or stimulation. If you were to undergo a CAT scan during an episode, youll see that in most cases, itll be completely normal. Unfortunately, too many people end up being given oral antibiotics.
Do you get recurrent sinus infections when you use your CPAP?
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Can Sinus Issues Cause Difficulty Sleeping
We all know sinus issues and symptoms can cause discomfort, but they can also lead to difficulty sleeping, or even serious insomnia. Nasal congestion, usually a stuffy or runny nose due to excessive mucus production, can be caused by various sinus issues including nasal polyps, enlarged turbinates and deviated septum. Laying down flat and sleeping naturally relaxes the muscles in your throat and causes mucus to pool in the nasal cavities, leading to which congestion can lead to coughing, trouble breathing, snoring, or even more serious sleep apnea.
When the inflammation and irritation in the sinus airways become a troublesome infection, this is termed Sinusitis. Sinusitis is caused and worsened by swelling in the nasal air passages, often leading to pain or pressure around the nose, eyes, cheeks or forehead. These symptoms of sinus issues and swelling can make getting a restful nights sleep nearly impossible.
If you are having difficulty sleeping along with symptoms of a sinus issue or sinusitis infection, you may also experience the following:
- Nasal or facial pressure
Tips To Sleeping Well
Once you have addressed any underlying medical condition, there are four easy steps to take to get a good nights sleep.
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Getting Sleep With Chronic Sinusitis & Sleep Apnea
If you have chronic sinusitis, getting a good nights sleep is a crucial part of your recovery. Thats why having chronic sinusitis and sleep apnea is such an exhausting predicament.
Whether your sleep apnea is brought on by a nasal obstruction worsened or caused by sinusitis, or you struggle with sleep apnea even when your sinuses are under control, these tips and treatments may help you find some relief.
Why Should I Seek An Evaluation For My Sinusitis And Sleep Apnea
When the sinus cavities have difficulty draining, it can lead to sinusitis thats chronic or recurrent . This could be an indication of an underlying anatomical issue. This same issue could be whats causing your airway to become partially or completely blocked during sleep, leading to sleep apnea.
In cases where sinusitis is caused by allergies or a common cold, medication and nasal sprays can often effectively treat the problem.
However, if an anatomical problem is the cause of your symptoms, conservative treatments such as medication will rarely provide much relief. Some of the most common anatomical issues include nasal polyps, blocked or narrow sinus openings, or a deviated septum.
If an anatomical issue is at the root of your symptoms, a minimally invasive procedure can often correct the underlying issue and thus resolve your symptoms. This can provide substantial relief and reduce your chances of developing long-term chronic health issues that have been associated with sleep apnea, such as heart disease and high blood pressure.
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How To Treat A Sinus Infection
In the case of sinus infections, pain medication is rarely prescribed. Patients will be encouraged to try a sinus rinse using a Neti Pot before moving on to more serious interventions.
In cases of acute sinusitis, patients may also experience cold-like symptoms. If these symptoms dont get better or appear to get worse after 5-7 days, your doctor may decide to treat the sinus infection with antibiotics along with nasal decongestant, nasal sprays, and saline solution.
In severe cases of sinus infections, your doctor may decide to prescribe steroids.
Theres only one thing worse than suffering from a sinus infection or an ear infection: suffering from both at the same time. Unfortunately, anything that causes nasal swelling can cause swelling of the middle ear space because the nose is congested. So cases in which you have a sinus infection and ear infection at the same time can be especially painful.
When it comes to different infections in the ear, nose, and throat, its easy to get your wires crossed and find that you arent quite sure whats going on in your body.
Nasal Irrigation A Practice Of Washing Out The Nasal Passages May Reduce Sinus Drainage By Clearing Excess Mucus And Debris From The Nose And Sinus Passages
Best way to sleep to avoid sinus drainage. Use nasal spray to thin nasal congestion and a humidifier to thin secretions deeper in the sinus cavities. Remembering the role of food in prevention and drainage control keeping your sinuses clear at all times thus keeping sinus pressure out and helping to prevent sinus infection Sleeping on your side is the best position for anyone suffering from postnasal drip.
However, it is important that you choose a side and maintain it throughout the night for optimal sleep. Avoid sinus pressure from becoming a chronic condition Best way to sleep to avoid sinus drainage.
When you have a stuffy nose, the best sleep position is on your back, with your head propped up on pillows. Medline plus suggests sleeping with your head elevated to lessen head congestion and ease one of its side effects, tinnitus. Sleep with your head elevated.
Keep humidifiers clean and free of bacteria and mold. Another way to treat sinus drainage at night involves thinning the mucus so that it continues to drip but does not irritate the throat or cause sleep disruptions. This allows gravity to do its work and naturally drains your sinuses.
Keep your nasal passages moist: Find out how to clear a stuffy nose while sleeping with our top tips: Dehydration can cause mucus to get thick and sticky, causing the sinus drainage to become.
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