Nasal Congestion: What helps, especially at night?

@lisalucier
Regarding the using purified/distilled water for rinses. I learned this years ago with Mayo ENT wanted me to do a steroid rinse mixed with NeilMed Sinus Rinse. She stressed using purified or distilled water as using tap water would be putting germs, and bacteria up into sinuses.

You can buy gallon water bottles of purified water or distilled water. That is what I use. I used the saline rinse at room temp and then one day said I think it would feel better if warm. So I warmed up the solution(used a glass container okay for microwave) in Microwave, felt great. Don't get to hot though needs to be just warm.

Now I read on the bottle of NeilMed on front says, "Use warm solution, Squeeze gently." It also has visual direction on how to use. So much for thinking using warm water was my idea.

You can use the Microwave to disinfect the bottle of NeilMed if that is what you use. Just follow the directions. If you use something else to put saline in have to follow how to disinfect that particular device.

I think doing saline rinses is to do them slowly bent over a sink and ensure is going in one nostril and coming out the other. Then trying to make sure stay bent over sink to let water drain out before you stand up.

I do the nasal rinse in streaks, honestly, @jc76 and @tc7231. I'll get really into it for a while, then kind of phase out. But I honestly think I'd feel better with my allergies every day if I did it regularly.

It makes sense to use any nasal spray/inhaler after the rinse to start with a clean slate and not lose it, jc76.

Someone told me they just used tap water in their bathroom for their nasal rinses, as it's too much hassle to go across the house to boil some water. I thought that was a good idea for me when I started up nasal rinsing again recently. However, I read about some potentially infectious organisms you can be exposed to if the water is unboiled and cooled, or distilled. Here's an example of the kind of information I read from the FDA:

- Is Rinsing Your Sinuses With Neti Pots Safe? https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/rinsing-your-sinuses-neti-pots-safe

The thought of in-taking infectious organisms "scared me straight." I've used my husband's CPAP distilled water lately, however, which is room temperature. But it sounds like you suggest warm water for the best effect. Any other "must-do's" for the best outcome with nasal rinses?

@tc7231
I echo your comments.

No one mentioned to me before I started doing the nasal saline rinses with doing them with warm water. I first started off with regular room temperature purified water. For some reason I heated up the water one day in microwave and it seemed to relax and open my nasal passages better.

I did check with my ENT and said nothing wrong with doing that. I take an inhaler each day called XHANCE and another one as needed. What ENT told me the nasal rinses were excellent just don't do the nasal rinses after using any nasal inhaler as will remove it.

Thank you. I appreciate your response. Not sure what to do at this point.

Drop back and punt.

I also have severe nasal congestion and tried the various pills and sprays which didn’t help much. The only thing that helped was rinsing the nasal passages with a warm salt/baking soda solution (Neil-Med Sinus Rinse Kit, sold everywhere) 2 to 3times a day. It’s amazing the crud that comes out.

Is your pillow raised? It Has to be to help with gerd.
Follow up with the ENT. Follow up with an allergist maybe also. Sorry I cannot give you better answers.

Thanks for your reply. I never knew. Maybe the ENT folks know of which they speak. It's just that after four months, I was hoping to feel a little better. Any thoughts as to the timeline for feeling better? Or. could there be something else going on?

Losing your voice is a symptom of acid reflux. The acid can get into your throat all the way to your sinuses. Not everyone gets heartburn . It is called silent gerd. Try a wedge to sleep on. No fluid or food 3 hours before bed. Sleep only on back and left side. The other positions allow the stomach to release the acid. You can have silent gerd for years and not realize it. The symptoms can vary.

I have posted about so many things(neuropathy, mainly) that I hesitate to ask another question. About four or five months ago, I began to have serious nasal congestion. Flonase helped a little but was very short-lasting. After a while my voice began to become very muddled, not even sounding like me. Sometimes, it was very difficult to even speak. Early on I had some inner ear pain that eventually subsided. I went to local ENT and was given a look-see up through my nose. I was put on Pantoprazole, Azelastine HCl, 0.1%. Plus, keep up the Flonase. These have not helped significantly. Just short term relief. The Pantoprazole is for supposed acid reflux, although I have never had any expected symptoms. Do I just continue on, squirting all this stuff up my nose and taking another questionable drug? I wanted them to dig deeper, but my ten minutes was up. So frustrating. Any thoughts?

I had previously found that Blexten works to some degree, but isn't covered by our health care. I've since found that Dymista is better than anything I've used before.