Colds, flu or allergies- either can be one of the reasons behind nasal congestion or sinusitis pressure. The triggers of a nasal congestion might differ from person to person. However, the symptoms are almost identical. So what are the best treatments and remedies for relieving severe nasal congestion? Keep reading to learn more.

When a person has a cold or is allergic to something, the membranes that link your nasal passages tend to get swollen and aggravated.

Here are some treatments and remedies that can help you provide severe nasal congestion relief:

OTC medicines
These are over-the-counter drugs and do not require any kinds of prescription. These medicines are as follows:

Decongestants
These drugs help in reducing the swelling that occurs inside the nasal passages, and it can help ease the sinus pressure. These come in the form of nasal sprays such as phenylephrine, oxymetazoline, and pseudoephedrine. Try not to take a decongestant for more than a week. If you do so, consult with your doctor first.

Antihistamines
If the allergies occur following your nasal congestion or the sinus, controlling them at the right time can help you get rid of the pressure as a means of treatment and a remedy for severe nasal congestion relief. To relieve sneezing and sniffles, try looking for allergy medications that have antihistamines. These can be found in most of the cold medicines. However, there is one drawback to them, and that is that they make you sleepy. Therefore, make sure to take them when you think that dozing off will not interfere with your work.

 Home treatments
If your nose and nasal passages are blocked, try to keep them moist so that they do not interrupt your breathing. In order to keep these passages moist and get severe nasal congestion relief, you can:

•  Use a vaporizer or a steamer
• Take long hot showers and breathe in the steam while you are inside the bathroom.
• Drink a lot of fluids except milk products since they generate and produce more mucus.
• Try a saline spray since salt irritates the mucus and lets it out pretty easily.
• Try a bulb syringe or a neti pot to get rid of the clogged mucus. You can also use water that has been boiled inside the nasal irrigator.
• Put on a wet towel on your face. It can help get rid of the discomfort and provide the much needed severe nasal congestion relief.
• Avoid going inside pools with chlorine. These can irritate the nasal passages and also cause infections like tonsillitis.
• Keep your head elevated. Use pillows to lift your head up while you sleep or lie down so that the mucus finds its way down your nose or throat rather than up in your head.

Also, you can try these additional natural severe nasal congestion relief treatments-

Use a humidifier
Cold and flu can make you feel very dehydrated, so people turn on their humidifiers to relieve that kind of congestion inside your sinuses. These humidifiers help by breaking up the congestion since they tend to add moisture to the air. This helps in thinning the mucus inside the nose for severe nasal congestion relief.

Eat garlic
Do not avoid garlic in your meals just because you think your breath might smell bad or it might not taste good. It has antibacterial and antifungal properties. Therefore, it is used in treating a bunch of problems, colds and flu included. For better results, you can add some cloves with it in a drink or in the food.

 Gargle with warm salt water
Gargling with warm salt water helps you attain severe nasal congestion relief since it moistens a sore throat. It gets rid of the scratchy feeling inside your nasal passages as well as the throat. However, the relief is temporary but very promising. Dissolve half a teaspoon of salt into half a glass of warm water and gargle at least four times in one day.If the itch or tickle inside your throat does not go away, try to gargle with tea or use honey in it.

 Dab a mentholated salve
Dab a little bit of that salve on your nose and forehead. It opens up the breathing passages because of the heat it generates. Eucalyptus, camphor, and menthol consist of very mild numbing agents that help relieve the pain you might feel due to the sinus or congestion.

 Drink hot liquids
Try to drink, as many hot liquids as you can. However, do not consume milk as mentioned earlier. Try drinking a cup of hot herbal tea and honey to it if you are particular about the taste.

If the above-mentioned treatments and remedies do not help you achieve severe nasal congestion relief, then there is a chance that it could be more to your congestion. If that happens, consult your doctor.