Phlegm is produced by your body for a reason. It lubricates the sinuses, lungs, nose, and throat while filtering out harmful substances that enter the body, fighting viruses and infections. A moderate amount of phlegm is a good thing for your system, but excessive mucus will have you feeling stopped up, stuffy, and congested. Read on to find out how to manage excess phlegm and get back to feeling like yourself again.
Warm Drinks
Drinking herbal teas, warm lemon water, or just warm water can go a long way toward making you feel better and eliminating excess mucus from your sinus passages. Not only will the liquids keep you hydrated, but they also work to break up the mucus in your sinuses and chest, making it easier to expel through coughing and blowing your nose.
4-Part Cough
Try out this cough method for breaking up and releasing phlegm from the throat. Use three tiny coughs to build up to a big cough. The small coughs will help break up mucus and push them to the front of your air passages. The mucus will most likely release on the big cough, so make sure you have a Kleenex handy for the last one.
Steam Bowl
Create a steam bowl by heating up water and adding a few drops of eucalyptus oil. Use a towel to wrap around your head and the bowl, trapping the steam into a small area for you to breathe in deeply for 10 to 15 minutes. You can also create a steam trap in your shower or sit in a sauna twice a day to allow steam to loosen up mucus and help you clear out your system.
Pro Nose Blows
Blow your nose like the pros. Remember the steps with this tidbit of prose: One nostril at a time, blowing gently, you will find, helps clear airways with care and gets mucus out of there. Blow your nose—that’s the plan. Use clean tissues, and wash your hands. That’s how pros blow their noses.
Gargle Salt Water
Gargle a cup of warm salt water to help break up mucus in the back of your throat. This process will also help heal and ease your sore throat pain. Gargle for 30 seconds to a minute long. Be sure to spit out the salt water and rinse out your mouth so you don’t intake extra sodium needlessly.
Eat Spicy Food
Peppers are high in capsaicin, which, when consumed, hits mucus membranes swiftly and makes your nose run like Usain Bolt. Blowing your nose after a spicy meal can clear out your system in a flash. Spicy food can be good for you in many ways, but when you’re feeling stuffy and congested, a spicy meal can clear you right up.
Warm Compress
Use a small washcloth, and dampen it with very warm water. Apply it directly to your sinus areas. Focus on the bridge of your forehead and temples as well as your nose and the top part of your face, around your eyes. This strategy will loosen the compaction in your sinuses and allow you to clear them out easily.
Excess phlegm can be tough to handle. No one wants to be the one blowing their nose 100 times at a meeting or social engagement. Not to mention, your nose can only take so much before it becomes raw and irritated. If these home remedies don’t do the trick for you, feel free to try over-the-counter or prescription medications to help clear you up. However, if done correctly, these methods should solve your mucus problems and have you breathing clearly and feeling better.
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