Steaming to Alleviate Nasal Congestion

Video Transcript

"Hello, my name is Dr. Susan Jewell, and on behalf of Expert Village, today I'm going to talk to you about the ways to alleviate some of the signs and symptoms of colds and flus. Now, in this particular clip, I'm going to talk about steaming and steam baths...facial steam baths so that you can relieve some of the congestion from flus and colds. You can go and take a whole body flu which can be good because that can help decongest your sinuses, but also it will help to relax your muscles and help with the aches and pains. Or, you can actually do what I have here, which I will demonstrate for you to do an actual steam bath where you can help to decrease the clogging and the congestion of the nasal passages. Now here, imagine you have a bowl of hot steaming water with lots of steam rising. And add to the steam some of the vapor rub. It's a eucolyptus, menthol odor that will help relieve some of the congestion. So you can add a few teaspoons into the hot water so that all of that vapor would actually rise and then stir it around so that it is all dissolved. Then what we do is get a towel and you are going to put your face over the steam bath. You don't touch the water, you just breath in and inhale the steam. And to increase the effect, you get a towel and you wrap it over your head. You actually cover your whole face and the bowel. Then you inhale. You do this for five minutes or so, as long as you can take it. It will just help with the decongestion and then clear some of your nasal passages to help you breathe. "