This thread is a long time coming. For years now, most nights out of the week, I wake up in the middle of the night with one nostril completely stopped up. It doesn’t feel like there’s any mucus in my nose, it feels literally like the nostril itself has constricted.
Now, I think it happens most during the summer, and I’m almost certain it has something to do with drafts. For instance, if there is a fan blowing on me, it’s almost certain to happen. Yet, while trying to minimize drafts helps, it doesn’t prevent it.
Does anyone have any idea what this is, and what I can do to help?
It happens to me every night of the year, sometimes it’s worse and sometimes it’s better. I met a nose doctor who said there is a little piece of cartilage in the bridge of my nose that is too soft (or too thin). It is supposed to hold the airway on each side of my nose open but is not quite up to spec, that’s why this problem is usually only noticeable when I’m breathing very heavily (i.e. distance running) or lying on my side.
I have had this happen to me ever since I can remember. I few years back I went to an ENT for persistent sinus infections. I had a deviated septum which was fixed. The infections stopped, but the one-nostril-breathing-during-the-night STILL continued.
What’s strange about my issue with it is that if I turn over, it will eventually plug up the opposite nostril. I usually go through the night having both of my nostrils alternately plugged up a few times each night. On days when my allergies are acting up it tends to be worse.
I always thought it was just mucous from allergies way up in your sinuses. If you lay on your left ear everything should flow to the left of your head and clog your left nasal passage. If you switch to laying on your right ear everything should slowly flow back to the right side of your head and block your right nasal passage.
There was a thread around here somewhere where this came up. To my recollection, the answer ended up being that it’s not mucous, but rather, just a swelling of some membrane or other due to bloodflow.
I used to have that issue - which ever side I was sleeping on would get plugged. My issue was persistent sinus infections due to blocked sinuses which was caused by polyps - I went to an ENT and they took them out, and now I have no problems.
While you should consult a physician if it causes you discomfort, you should also be aware that it can be normal for the airflow through one nostril (they alternate) to be limited at any given time, especially during sleep. If you sleep on one side, the nostril on the side you are lying on will usually have less airflow – or at least the cycle will start on that side. You may be able to observe this yourself as you settle in for your next nap. Try it on both sides. (Back off, Boss, this is science! Hold my calls.)
I haven’t read any literature on this in decades (and precious little then), but based on my informal observations the timing, magnitude and exacerbating circumstances vary a fair amount between individuals, and may be partly a matter of (unconscious) personal habit or genetics.
My issue was chronic perennial rhinitis due to allergies and I often had the same symptom, although it would often get worse and plug up both nostrils. I take an antihistamine every night and use Flonase.
Hi Im new to Straight Dope. And I tell you I have been searching for the answer to why my nose stops up at night on the side that Im laying on and when I turn over to the other side it will stop up , when the one that was stopped up clears. I have been dealing with this for years and it is kind of annoying. I snore really bad because of this. Do anyone have any remedies?
I find that high humidity helps loosen it up enough that you can blow it out. While you’re awake, put a big pot of water on the stove (make sure to turn it off before you go to bed), and drink lots of hot liquids.
Yep, this is what I was going to say. I had the exact same symptoms, and I was diagnosed with a deviated septum. I decided to have outpatient surgery to correct the problem. Unfortunately, I was headbutted (the only time in my life) just after the surgery right in my nose, and now my septum is more deviated than it was prior to the surgery.
If the stuffed nostril shifts depending on which side of your head is on the mattress, the cause is blood flow…meaning that more blood is going to the down side, and causing the mucus membranes to swell and limiting blood flow. You can flip your head so that the clogged side is up and it will open up as the down side now blocks off.
As an additional note, normally your nostrils go through a blood flow cycle regardless of your position; as I recall, the cycle takes about 20 minutes. So more blood flows to one side for a while, and then the increased flow switches to the other side. When you are standing you don’t normally notice (unless you have a compromised nasal passage like a deviated septum). This keeps your mucus membranes in both left and right passages moist as fluid leaves the blood vessels and seeps through the mucus membrane. As the mucus dries, it forms “boogers”
Among other things mucus is necessary for maintaining healthy membranes and sinuses, trapping germs and other material, and carrying it to either the back of your nasal passages to be swallowed, or to the front. This flow is created by ciliated cells in the mucus membrane, and is known as the “Mucus Train”
Odor molecules also get trapped in the mucus membrane, and those that are in the patch of sensory organ react with the nerve endings and allow you to sense odors.
Ahhh, mucus.
Don’t even get me started on how it is needed in the reproductive tract, or a number of other places in the body.
As sunstone and other posters have noted, it’s a matter of blood flow to the mucosa of the nasal passages. There may be some excess mucus production, but mostly it is due to engorged nasal mucosa on the down side of your head. Switch sides, and the plugged side clears and the other side starts to fill up. I have had this problem for many years. It can be treated with nasal steroid sprays, like Flonase, or oral antihistamines or decongestants, or, as a last resort, nasal spray decongestants like oxymetazoline or phenylephrine, but beware: they are notorious for rebound congestion.
The mucus of your respiratory tract, both in the nasal mucosa and in the lung, is composed of two layers: a thin layer in which the cilia of the mucosal cells whip, and a sticky layer at the surface. The sticky layer traps particles from the atmosphere. The cilia move the layer of mucus in an orad direction - towards the mouth. So the mucosa in your nose moves back towards the throat and the mucus of the lungs moves toward the glottis, and from there your throat, so it all gets swallowed eventually. This is called the mucociliary escalator. What fun.
As some have mentioned, your problem is either deviated septum, or congestion because of swollen nasal tissue, or (most likely) a combination of both.
These areas of nasal tissue, called turbinates, fill with blood and swell up. For some people there is too much tissue there so that it swells up too much when they lay down.
When you are standing, your head has lower blood pressure because of its height over the rest of your body. As your head gets lower with respect to the rest of your body the blood pressure in your nasal tissues increases and swell, which cause congestion.
If your congestion is always one sided, then a deviated septum is likely also in play. This means that the bone that goes down the center of your nose sticks out too far on one side, causing it to be too cloggy.
There are surgeries to fix both of these, turbinate reduction and septoplasty, but look at other options first.
As others have mentioned, seasonal allergies can make things worse, so see an ENT. They may be able to fix it with some prescription nose sprays.
On the non-prescription side, there are pills with pseudaphedrine (Sudafed and others that you have to buy from behind the pharmacy counter). These are non-addictive, and work well, but they keep some people up at night (they are a stimulant).
There are also non-prescription nose sprays that work really well, but these can only be used for a few days as they are very addictive. After the spray wears off, you get what is called “rebound,” where you will get congested again because of the nose spray use. This makes you want to use the spray again, and after that you get rebound, and….around and around you go until you get addicted. If you get addicted to them, then your nose will always be stopped up. Bad Stuff.
As always, see a doctor (ENT) and he/she will be able to help you with treatment options.
The 12-hour nasal sprays are the absolute worst for rebound effect. The very first 12 hours are really the only uncongested time span you’ll ever know. Most people will just give the nose another squirt when the congestion returns. Pretty soon, though, you’ll find you’ve got the nasal spray bottle in one hand all the time, squirting that stuff up your nose.
The ONLY thing you can do at that point is to STOP, cold turkey. No nasal spray, no drops, no NOTHING. You can TRY to use plain saline spray, but your nose is so congested, the saline will just run down your face.
Sleeping that first night after quitting nasal spray is AGONY. Honestly, it feels like all your sinus tissue has swollen up, and poked out of your nose, and is hanging in front of your face like demented saddle bags. You might have two or more nights of strangling while trying to sleep.
If I’m really, truly desperate to unblock my nose so I can get to sleep, I have a large bottle of saline nose spray that I’ve added a half-dropperful of 1% Neo-Synepherine nose drops to. It’s a very, very weak solution, and I will only use it one time.
Diluting the Neo-Synepherine and only using it once or twice a month helps me to avoid the rebound effect of nasal sprays. And I refuse to use the 12-hour sprays any longer.
I’ve had to quit cold turkey far too many times, and I won’t go through that again!
~VOW
