Nasal congestion, or commonly known as “stuffy nose” is when your nose becomes stuffed up and tissues within become inflamed. Minor illnesses such as cold, flu or/and sinus infections are the most common causes of nasal congestion and it usually improves within one week.
Nasal congestion can be accompanied by nasal discharge or without. Stuffy nose usually just cause annoyance to older children and adults but can be serious in younger children and infants. It can disturb their sleep or/and causes them to lose their appetite.
In this post, we have listed down some natural remedies that can effectively alleviate nasal congestion for 1 year old and above.
1. Nasal Spray and Olbas Oil (Babies and Children)
Young children are unable to remove the mucus from their nasal passages and external mechanical aids seem to be so important in helping them to recover. Nasal spray also helps to cleanse their nasal passages. We recommend using Sinomarin nasal spray as it is gentler for our young. For softening of the mucus for easy dislodging, you can steam up your bathroom and have your child sit near a hot water bath with olbas oil. Through inhaling the hot vapors of olbas oil, it helps to loosen the mucus effectively and open up their nasal airways to make them feel better and even sleep better. You can also apply nasal spray when your child is in the steam bathroom for more effective results. Let your child have the steam olbas oil therapy two times a day for 20 minutes each session for the first 3 days. Do not leave your child alone in a bathroom so that you can gage the stuffiness of the bathroom yourself too
2. Red Apples-Garlic-Onion (AGC)
Apples are great for lungs and they are so good in maintaining the efficiency of your lungs. Lungs function well if you have foods that are rich sources of antioxidants, Vitamin C, Vitamin E and beta carotene. Apples, not apple juice, contains all of these. Individuals who ate apples regularly have a better lung capacity than those who do not. This is a great reason to have your child eat apples everyday! Garlic and onions are powerhouse of essential vitamins and minerals. They are loaded with health benefiting properties and can come to great help in getting rid of stuffy nose. Steam apples, garlic and onions and this juice is one of the best ways to reduce mucus. You can also boil the apples, garlic and onion and use the water as a base for their porridge or other meals.
3. Homemade Fish Bone Broth with lots of Ginger
When they are having a congested nose, their bodies may be working hard at fighting an underlying infection. To support the immune system, it is important that we reduce or eliminate any form of stress on their bodies with the load of a stressful digestive process, so that all the energy can be used to ward off the infection. Bone broth supports the immune system by giving it a big dose of immune boosting minerals without the burden of a stressful digestive process. The slow cooking process draws all the nutrients out of the bones making it heavily concentrated in immune boosting minerals that is already broken down in a form that is easy for their bodies to absorb and utilize.
Ginger contains a high level of anti-inflammatory elements that is one of the best cures for congested nose and is proven to open up clogged nasal passages.
We recommend using threadfin bones slow cooked with lots of young ginger with a minimum of 2 hours. Unlike chicken bones, fish bones are thinner and the extraction process is much faster. The fish broth is great as a base for their porridge or other meals.
4. The Grain Factory Organic Milk Kefir
When it comes to foods that are highly digestible for their bodies that are fighting an infection, milk kefir is a great option. They can even be considered as a better option than milk. Not only is it loaded with nutrients that are highly absorbable, they are also high in probiotics. These probiotics are able to fend off cold and flu, reducing the frequency of getting congested nose and helping in the recovery process. Our beetroot kefir smoothies contain apples, carrots and beetroot that are great for lungs. It is also advisable to Increase the amount of milk kefir in their diet with the first sign of illness to enhance the recovery speed and prevent the progression of the illness.
By using mechanical aids (nasal spray and hot vapors of olbas oil) and through nutritious and highly digestible meals, they should be better or even fully recovered within a week without the use of medication. As nasal congestion is mostly coupled with loss of appetite, porridge with AGC water or homemade fish broth would always be the best option as it is highly digestible and nutritious. Watercress pork rib soup (with red dates and honey dates), bittergourd pork rib soup (with carrot, red dates and honey dates), and ABC soup (with beetroot) serves as a great option too. We would recommend avoiding butter and red meat and serve mainly fish, pork, tomatoes and vegetables. You can even add fresh huai shan in their porridge and ABC soup as well.
