How to Cure a Stuffy Nose in 1 Minute

[williamkwan]

So I've had a sensitive nose all my life, and I've tried all the typical remedies (nasal irrigation, anti-inflammatories, acupuncture, etc). A few months ago, while surfing the net, I came across the most awesome way to relieve nasal congestion. I wanted to share it with you guys and see if it works as well for other people as it does for me.

The premise is simple. When we breathe too much, we exhale too much carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is an important vasodilator, meaning that if we don't have enough, inflammation starts to occur. Therefore, curing nasal congestion simply requires us to increase the level carbon dioxide in our blood.

This is the simple exercise that has helped me so very much. If anyone here happens to have a stuffy nose, please try it out share how well it worked.

1. Breathe out. Hold your nose and close your mouth.
2. Hold your breath until it starts getting a bit uncomfortable. It’s faster if you walk around a bit. Nodding your head back and forth works too.
3. Keep your back straight and unplug your nose, keeping your mouth closed. Breathe as slowly as possible. You should feel your nose gently clearing out.

The concept of breathing less to increase carbon dioxide levels is known as the Buteyko method. I wrote a blog post on it here, if you’re interested to know more about it.

[kinghtalexis]

Thanks for sharing such a great info, it seemed to simple at first, but when i tried, It really worked. For a second i thought that you were about to mention about having smokes cause you said carbon dioxide, lol. I had just quit smoking and i didnt want to go back again.

[Horizons]

Thanks for this. May be just what I need.

I have non allergic rhinitis. I went to two doctors a couple of weeks ago. One wanted to do surgery to reduce the size of my swollen turbinates. My second opinion put me on steroid nasal spray and I've been using this for around two weeks. Although its helped, I'm still blocked (but can take weeks to take full effect). Also, its hardly ideal using this for the rest of my life although in theory it can be used for long term without sides.

It really effects all areas of my life. Sleep, energy levels, concentration ect. Also, I have trouble meditating when my breath is forced or non existent.

Really don't want to have surgery.

I'll report back on how I go with this.

[firenexx]

This is crazy, it works quite nicely. Nice suggestion.


2 other techniques that I have found work very well:
Neti pot (nasal irrigation)
Cayenne pepper (Spicy food clears you up right quick! If you don't like spicy food, better start liking it because cayenne is pretty darn good for you)

[Horizons]

Seems to work!

Just ordered the DVD off Amazon.

How long do you do step 3 for?

Thanks for bringing this to my attention!

[votoshka]

Awesome! I will try this next time I get a blocked nose. I usually get to the point where I require nose spray, and then the nose gets "addicted" to the spray and when I stop using it my nose gets even more blocked (I can't handle a completely blocked nose... it literally makes me vomit...go figure).

[williamkwan]

Glad you guys liked it! I was pretty mind-blown too when I first found out about this.

firenexx,
Spicy food definitely works. I'm partial to wasabi, that stuff really goes up your nose.

Horizons,
There's no real rule. The concept is that our noses get stuffy when breathe too much, so we want to be breathing slowly throughout the day. However, this takes some mental "reprogramming" so to speak, since we can't possibly voluntarily control our breathing rate all the time. The goal is to make slow breathing a habit, which takes a lot of practice, but for instant relief, this exercise does wonders.

[Razia]

AWESOME its really very informative keep it up.

[Rickison]

Hi,
Go for steaming, which gives you instant relief form stuffy nose. And after that, if you want to get rid of this cold, take one piece of ginger and grind it well, to take the juice of it. Now add one spoon of honey with one spoon for ginger juice. and drink it. you will get a relief from cold.