I’ve had this miserable cold or flu or the plaque or something. I thought I was finally getting better yesterday, but not so much this morning. My nose is so full of sores, I can barely breath through it. Are there any home remedies to help ease the pain and inflammation?
And as long as we’re talking, what can I take to help with the sticky gooey disgusting greenish shit that is coming out of my lungs? Anything?
My husband swears by vitamin C. Does that really help?
I use a neti bottle (it’s by NeilMed and is called Sinus Rinse). I suffer from allergies and sinus issues and have a horse so every night I use this and it flushes gunk out. Won’t necessarily cure a cold or sinus infection, but it does clean the nasal passages. During the day I periodically put a dab of generic Neosporin in each nostril. It moisturizes the tissues and helps heal the owies that bleed.
I’ve done the neosporin thing. Some people say it will cure a sinus infection, but I don’t want to shove that much up my nose. I use a saline spray throughout the winter to combat dryness.
Every time I get a cold or similar runny nose type illness, the skin in and around my nose gets really chapped and painful. What I do is put Blistex brand medicated lip balm on it. Another lip balm might also work, but this is the one I know works for me.
It works as a preventative or as a treatment. I put it on as soon as I feel any soreness of the skin rather than wait till it’s horrible, but it works either way.
Now if the soreness is way up inside your nose as in your sinuses, this is not a solution. But if it’s just around the nose or inside the bottom of the nostril it might help.
I’ve used various brands, and they pretty much all work. Even the A&D ointment will work. The thing is, the skin around the nostrils is getting abraded several times an hour, and is drying out.
Take a nice steamy bath or shower, gently exfoliate the dead skin around the nostrils, and when you get out, apply the lip balm or ointment while the skin is still somewhat damp. If you need to reapply during the day, it’s best to rinse off the skin, damp dry it, and then reapply. If you can steam your nostrils, that’s great, but you can’t always do that.
You’d really have to shove it way up there to treat a sinus infection!! It might help wipe out anything colonizing the exterior part of the nose; I’ve heard that people who have a lot of trouble with eczema often have a particular bacteria colonizing the nose (the theory is that these microbes find their way to the skin and cause secondary infections).
A&D or even maybe just plain Vaseline might help localized soreness. A neti pit or saline spray will help wash out gunk but that doesn’t sound like what the OP is complaining about.
Re chest gunkitude: drink lots of fluid (something with flavor is easier to drink tons of, than just plain water), steamy showers, guaifenesin (Mucinex and maybe generics, also found as an ingredient in plain Robitussin and generics). You want to thin that stuff out so you can get rid of it.
To help cough it up: I’ve found that it works best to: sit up, maybe lean forward slightly, and breathe as deeply in and out as I can while forcing myself to NOT cough (which can be challenging). Several such deep breaths, and then I let myself go with a couple of very sincere hacks - much more productive than if I don’t do the deep breathing first.
And as always, if that’s not getting better after a reasonable period of time, it’s worth seeing a doctor; you may need bronchodilators (inhalers), or steroids to reduce the inflammation, or even antibiotics for a secondary infection. Doesn’t sound like you think you’re at that point yet though.