Saline solution for runny nose for children and adults: inhalation and rinsing

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Shutofedova Ksenia Yurievna

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In order to cope with the symptoms of a runny nose, it is not at all necessary to buy expensive nasal drops, which have many contraindications and do not always bring the desired therapeutic effect. A good alternative to nasal drops is saline solution, which is widely used in various areas of medicine, including the treatment of runny nose in adults and children.

Saline solution or saline solution (sodium chlorine) is a saline solution containing 9 g/l. salt. This product is completely safe for use, which allows it to be used by children of any age, including newborns. You can use saline solution for a runny nose in children for therapeutic and preventive purposes. They can be instilled into the nasal mucosa, used for inhalation or rinsing of the nasal sinuses. The value of saline solution lies in the fact that it has no contraindications, interacts well with other medications, and can be used for any type of rhinitis. Using saline solution to treat a runny nose, you can relieve inflammation and swelling, reduce the need for taking other medications, and free the nasal mucosa from mucous secretions.

Saline solution - properties for a runny nose

On the pharmacological market, saline solution is available in several forms: powder, solvent, nasal spray. In practice, a 9% solution is most often used, which is absolutely harmless even for the smallest. Saline solution can be considered a universal remedy, since it can be used for all types of rhinitis, without worrying about overdose or the development of contraindications. After the solution penetrates the nasal mucosa, it allows you to cleanse it of viruses, bacteria and allergens, and activate the natural forces of the body. The use of sodium chloride in the treatment of runny nose allows:

relieve inflammation;
destroy and suppress bacteria;
restore microflora in the nasal mucosa;
clear the nasal passages of accumulated mucus;
reduce the amount of mucous secretions;
relieve nasal congestion.

The advantage of saline solution is its complete safety, as well as the ability to use it with other groups of medications.

Features of the procedure for washing with saline solution for newborns and infants

Correct position when instilling saline solution in a newborn

Experienced pediatricians advise mothers to use 0.9 percent sodium chloride to rinse the nasal passages of children from the moment of their birth. In this case, you must be careful, do everything slowly and carefully, so as not to harm the baby.

Infants have very weak, unformed immunity. They are joined by infection through the respiratory tract, which leads to illness. If you use saline solution and rinse your nose with it, the accumulated microorganisms will disappear.
In addition to protecting against infections, saline solution can flush out the allergen from the nasal passages. This could be pollen or dust that got into the child’s nose while walking and triggered an allergic attack.
In infants, not all airways are open until they reach six months. The solution can clear mucus buildup from them. It can also be used for rhinitis, inflammation of the maxillary sinuses and inflammation of the adenoids.

If your baby’s problem with nasal congestion does not go away with prolonged use of saline solution, you should contact your pediatrician with a complaint. Breathing problems can be associated not only with the accumulation of mucus in the respiratory tract, but also due to a deviated nasal septum or other anatomical pathology.

For what kind of runny nose is saline used?

You can use saline solution at any stage of a runny nose, regardless of its nature. Indications for use are:

Cold runny nose after hypothermia.
Vasomotor rhinitis.
Viral rhinitis.
Runny nose of a bacterial nature.
Allergic rhinitis.
Sinusitis.
Sinusitis.

The solution will be beneficial when the nasal mucosa dries out, as well as the presence of dry crusts.

Useful - Aminocaproic acid for runny nose for children.

Saline solution for nasal instillation

You can use saline solution for nasal instillation in infants and older children, and the frequency of instillation can reach up to 5 times a day. For the procedure, it is enough to use a pipette to introduce 2 - 3 drops into each nostril. After instilling the drops, there may be a slight burning sensation that will subside within a few minutes. Before the procedure, it is recommended to clear the nasal passages of dry crusts or mucus.

How to rinse the nose with saline solution for a child (2 years and younger)?

If you are the parent of a baby or young children, rinsing the nasal passages can be a serious problem. Turn the process into a game. Make sure that the baby is not afraid of the upcoming manipulations.

Take a pipette and drop two drops of sodium chloride 9% into each nostril. This dosage is recommended for children under one year of age. If your baby has crossed the 12-month mark, then you can pour five drops of saline into each nasal passage. After this, wait a while (up to one minute) and thoroughly clean your nose using an aspirator. In this case, the tip of the device must be rotated in different directions. In this way you will collect mucus from all the walls.

Inhalations

Inhalation procedures using 9% sodium chloride are especially popular in the treatment of runny nose in children. Inhalations can be carried out either with a pure solution or combined with other medications. Most often, inhalation through a nebulizer is used to treat rhinitis. Any medicine used for inhalation through a nebulizer must be diluted with saline in proportions of 1:2 or 1:3, where the second part is 9% sodium chloride.

The amount of saline solution for inhalation for a child depends on the age of the baby. For infants, it is recommended to use 3–4 ml of solution per procedure. For children over 5 years old, it is recommended to use 4 to 5 ml per inhalation. The duration of inhalation can take from 5 to 7 minutes. It is not recommended to eat food 30 minutes before and after inhalation. During the inhalation process, the child should inhale the steam from the nebulizer calmly, breathing should be even. If the body temperature is elevated, inhalation should be avoided.

Saline solution for a runny nose in Children, Treatment of a runny nose in a child with saline solution

For children with a runny nose, saline solution is also indicated, starting from the first days of life, regardless of the cause of the disease. It can be used either in a pharmacy or made at home. If you use homemade, be sure to cook in a clean container and filter so that no other microparticles enter the respiratory tract and damage the integrity of the mucous membrane.

A small child cannot yet breathe through his mouth, so it is advisable to eliminate sniffles promptly. Since the rinsing procedure is not carried out for infants, it is necessary to drip saline solution into the nose using a pipette or a small syringe.

· You will need to read: 5 minutes

A physiological (isotonic) aqueous solution can be purchased at any pharmacy kiosk. The product is produced industrially using special technology. It is used as a means for diluting other drugs in injections, as well as in infusion therapy for dehydration of the body.

Doctors have proven that saline solution is effective for runny noses in children as a moisturizing and safe agent that moisturizes the nasopharyngeal mucosa.

The use of the drug in the treatment of a runny nose in an infant helps rid the child’s nose of excess mucus and waste products of harmful pathogenic microorganisms.

Children's pediatricians advise using saline solution in the treatment of children's runny nose, starting from the first day of its manifestation, and using drugs with more serious effects in exceptional cases.

The solution is prepared by mixing distilled water with sodium chloride (ordinary kitchen salt). In specialized industrial conditions, manufacturing technology and dosage of components are strictly observed. How does a regular salt solution help treat a runny nose?

The peculiarity of this therapy lies in the effect of salt on the mucous membrane of the nasopharynx, namely:

Stagnant sputum disappears faster due to the fact that salt promotes new secretion production.
Salt destroys pathogenic bacteria that have “settled” in the nose.
The product helps reduce inflammatory processes.

All these actions bring relief to both adults and children, so treating a runny nose with saline is considered effective and useful.

In case of severe rhinitis, there is no need to stop at this method of therapy; it is more advisable to seek help from an otolaryngologist.

Isotonic solution effectively treats rhinitis caused by:

ARVI disease;
enlarged adenoids;
allergic reactions;
sinusitis;
dry air.

It is strictly not recommended to treat a runny nose with saline solution when the child has:

secretion from the nose mixed with pus;
signs of otitis;
nosebleeds;
high body temperature;
disorders in water-salt balance;
heart diseases.

The doctor claims that in case of heavy and liquid nasal discharge, instillation of the product into the nostrils is not required, since the pharmacological effect of the solution is to extract mucus or muconasal secretion from the child’s nasopharynx.

If the baby’s body copes with the disease on its own, then artificially helping him is not necessary, and even undesirable.

Treatment of a runny nose in children according to Komarovsky using saline is not only getting rid of snot from the nose, but also a way to moisturize the mucous membrane. Therefore, it should be used when:

The child has thick discharge and crusts form in the nasal passages.
The dosage and purpose of the drug are prescribed exclusively by a doctor.
Before use, the saline solution should be slightly warmed up, at least to body temperature. And only after this, instill no more than 2 drops into the nose (in each nostril) up to 4 times a day.
If the child’s mucus output increases, then Komarovsky recommends administering the drug nasally every hour, about half a pipette.
If a child cannot fall asleep at night due to severely flowing snot, then at night you can drip the nose with vasoconstrictor children's medications. It is better and safer to use Nazivin drops. You cannot use it for a long time - the medicine is addictive.
The secretion coming out of the nose is designed to protect the inflamed mucous membrane from drying out. It is prohibited to remove it with a rubber bulb. Such actions will not bring any benefit, and they may well cause additional swelling.

For a runny nose in infants, saline solution should be instilled very carefully so that the baby does not choke due to the drug getting into the respiratory tract or Eustachian tube.

There are many ways to relieve the symptoms of a runny nose with saline. Each of them is effective, each has its own characteristics and requirements.

Can be used at any age, including infancy. Here, a few drops of the drug should be added to each nostril. The frequency of instillation should be on average up to 4 times a day. If necessary, the number of instillations can be increased.

We recommend reading: How to properly rinse a child’s nose?

You can rinse your nasal passages with:

Syringes
Pipettes
Syringe
Special teapot

Flow rinsing is done for adults with a runny nose or for teenage children. For young children, rinsing is done with a syringe.

Performing the procedure to treat blockages in the nasal passages caused by drying out of the mucous membranes is strictly prohibited. This can be done by careful mechanical removal to avoid injury to the mucous membrane.

Rinsing the nose with saline solution

Saline solution has found wide application in rinsing the nasal mucosa. The procedure can be used before the administration of other medications or as an independent method of treatment. For such procedures, you can use a syringe or syringe. For children under 4 years of age, nasal rinsing is not recommended, since if done incorrectly, the solution may penetrate into the ear canal, which increases the risk of developing otitis media.

To properly rinse the nose, the child’s head is tilted to the side so that when pouring the solution into one nostril, it pours out of the second nasal passage. During the rinsing process, it is important that the pressure of the solution from the syringe is not strong.

Good to know: How to rinse a child’s nose for a runny nose at home?

Rinsing the nose with saline is a hygienic procedure that allows you to cleanse the nasal mucosa of various viruses, bacteria, and allergens. This procedure ideally relieves nasal congestion and restores nasal breathing. You need to wash it 2-3 times a day. For one rinse you will need 100-150 ml of warm solution. Sodium chlorine can be used both for the treatment of rhinitis and for preventive purposes during the epidemic of acute respiratory viral infections and acute respiratory infections.

Nasal rinsing - harm or benefit?

The healing properties of therapeutic irrigation have long been proven. It is successfully used in Eastern medicine, it is loved in our country and in the West. But many scientists say that overuse of rinsing can lead to undesirable consequences. Carrying out the procedure frequently can lead to addiction and the inability to do without it.

To avoid side effects, it is important not to rinse your nose with saline if there are contraindications, use liquids with optimal concentrations, and after treatment, irrigate no more than a couple of times a week. Get even more useful information on the topic by watching the video:

Get even more useful information on the topic by watching the video:

How to prepare saline solution at home?

Saline solution can be bought at any pharmacy at a low cost, but if you don’t have it on hand, you can prepare the medicine yourself, the main thing is to observe the proportions of the ingredients used.

You might be interested in the article - How to do inhalations with saline during pregnancy?

To prepare saline solution you will need 1 liter of boiled water, 9 grams of table salt (1 tbsp). The salt must be mixed until it is completely diluted, after which it can be used for rinsing. The prepared saline solution should be stored in the refrigerator for no more than 24 hours. In its properties, such a solution is no different from a pharmaceutical composition, but can only be used for washing or instilling the mucous membrane.

Contraindications

The use of saline solution for a runny nose for children is a completely safe procedure, but still in some situations, the solution must be used with extreme caution:

Purulent discharge from the nose.
Otitis.
Frequent nosebleeds.
Increased body temperature.
Violation of water-salt balance.
Severe heart pathologies.

Washing with saline solution is not recommended for children under 4 years of age. An alternative may be instillation of the solution into the nasal cavity.

Methods for treating rhinitis with saline solution

There are many ways to relieve the symptoms of a runny nose with saline. Each of them is effective, each has its own characteristics and requirements.

Instillation into the nostrils

We recommend reading: How to properly rinse a child’s nose?

Nasal lavage

You can rinse your nasal passages with:

Syringes
Pipettes
Syringe
Special teapot

Flow rinsing is done for adults with a runny nose or for teenage children. For young children, rinsing is done with a syringe. .

Performing the procedure to treat blockages in the nasal passages caused by drying out of the mucous membranes is strictly prohibited. This can be done by careful mechanical removal to avoid injury to the mucous membrane.

Inhalations

Saline solution for runny nose in children is used in inhalation for both therapeutic and preventive purposes. The procedure requires a nebulizer and sterile saline solution:

The volume of the drug is selected depending on the age of the child. For the smallest children, 4 ml is enough; for older children, the dosage should be increased.
Number of sessions – at least 3 times, no more than 4 times a day.
The duration of the procedure is for children under 6 years old no more than 3 minutes; for older children the time can be increased to 5 minutes.
Before the session, the saline solution must be heated to 370C.

Requirements to be met when inhaling:

The procedure is carried out no earlier than 60 minutes after eating.
After inhalation, the child must refrain from eating and drinking for an hour.
Explain to the child that the procedure is completely safe and painless, so that his breathing is natural at the time of its implementation.
His clothes should be made from natural fabrics.
Disinfect the nebulizer before the procedure, rinse it after the procedure, preferably boil it.

Inhalation should not be carried out if:

the child has not reached 4 years of age;
body temperature at the time of the test is high;
Blood streaks or pus are visible in the nasal discharge.

You need to understand that an isotonic solution is not considered a universal remedy; it is wrong to treat the disease only with it. It is able to relieve or reduce the effects of symptoms, promote the separation of mucus, but does not treat the root causes of the development of a runny nose.

Correctly performed inhalation is absolutely safe for the child’s health. It is prohibited to arbitrarily add any herbs or other components to the saline solution without first consulting a doctor.