Where's the snot go when medicated?

[Robbnn]

You have a bad cold. Nose and sinuses stuff with the green stuff. You take Sudafed TM or somesuch.... the nose clears, the sinuses open....

Where'd the snot go?

[aha]

has to be absorbed by the body eh?

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"Ward, You're upsetting the beaver."
Barbara Billingsley

[Jinx]

The mucous membranes working overtime are allowed to hault snot production, and the residuals drain to the stomach or indirectly into the lymph system.

[pluto]

When your body is invaded by a cold virus it generates histamines as part of its defense mechanism. Histamines stimulate mucous production. When you take an anti-histamine (get it?) the histamines retreat and mucous production approaches normal levels. So the snot doesn't go anywhere, it just never gets started.

You will note from the foregoing that cold medication does not affect the cold virus itself, merely your body's reaction to it. Lewis Thomas discusses this phenomenon of the body's defense mechanisms being worse than the invading organism in The Lives of a Cell.



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My Child Is An Honour Student At Hogwarts

[smilingjaws]

Hey, if you want to avoid taking those antibiotics you can irrigate your sinuses with warm salt water (1/2 tsp per cup of water + pinch of baking soday) Use a baby nasal aspirator and suck the water up your nose--it'll either come back out your nose or out of your mouth along with the nasty snot. Do it 2-3 times a day when you're stuffy and you will breath much easier and you won't get an infection.

[SoulFrost]

Be careful about adding just the right amount of salt, though. Too much, and your nose will get that nasty dry-yet-sticky feeling. Too little, and the treatment will do no good.

Me? Having chronic sinus problems myself, I usually just NyQuil myself into a coma until the weather changes....

-David

[Surgoshan]

Pluto, your kid goes to Hogwarts? What year? Can I get in? Does he know Harry? Can he show me some tricks? How about smuggling me a wand? And some robes?

Oh, um, question, um, I dunno.

[psycat90]

Where else? They go out and boogie!

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so you found a girl who thinks really deep thoughts. what's so amazing about really deep thoughts? Tori Amos