Nasal Congestion

[kbrunnet]

I am currently 14 weeks 6 days along in my pregnancy and have been suffering from a combination of allergies and nasal congestion for over 3 weeks. Benadryl helps with my allergy symptoms but does not alleviate my congestion. I have tried a neti pot, breathing strips and humidifier with none working. My doctor has an approved list of decongestants such as Sudafed but could not tell me if it was safe over prolonged use. They just said to follow the directions on the box. Please advise if regular use of Sudafed is harmful to my baby. Thank you.

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

Local decongestant drops act locally and are safe in pregnancy. You can even try saline drops they may help to clear the congestion.

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.

[hava]

Follow these natural techniques to help clear the nasal congestion.You can do these throughout the pregnancy, and it is good for the baby.
Build up your timing gradually.If you feel tired or dizzy, stop and resume after one minute.

Anulom Vilom pranayam –
Close your right nostril with thumb and deep breath-in through left nostril  
then – close left nostril with two fingers and breath-out through right nostril  
then -keeping the left nostril closed  deep breath-in through right nostril
then - close your right nostril with thumb and breath-out through left nostril.
This is one cycle of anulom vilom.
Repeat this cycle for 20 to 30  minutes twice a day.
Children under 15 years – do 5 to 10 minutes twice a day.
You can do this before breakfast/lunch/dinner or before bedtime or in bed.Remember to take deep long breaths into the lungs.You can do this while sitting on floor or chair or lying in bed.

Bhramri Pranayam -Close eyes. Close little flap of ears with thumb,place  index finger on forehead, and rest three fingers on base of nose touching eyes. Breathe in through nose. And now breathe out through nose while humming like a bee.
Repeat this  5 to 21 times.
December 11 ,2011