When you have a cold, your nose produces extra mucus and your nasal mucosa thickens, clogging your nose. If so, rinse your nose with a nasal douche. Use a nasal shower that you squeeze or an electric version. The slight pressure thoroughly flushes all the mucus out of your nose. Repeat this a few times a day. This way, viruses and bacteria cannot settle in the nasal mucosa and it can recover.

Your nose is ingenious. The walls of your nasal cavities are lined with mucous membrane, which consists of blood vessels and mucous glands. Normally, the mucous membrane produces enough mucus to keep your nose moist. A moist nose is important in the fight against viruses and bacteria. If a virus or bacteria enters your nose, the mucous membrane becomes inflamed and starts producing extra mucus. "So a cold is an inflammation of the mucous membrane," says Dr. J. van der Borden, formerly ENT physician at BovenIJ Hospital. "This leads to the well-known phenomenon of a runny nose, or snorting." Breathing through the nose becomes difficult. The extra mucus can thicken and remain in the nasal cavity or pharynx. This hinders your nasal breathing and causes congestion and the feeling of a stuffy nose. "That thickened mucus - snot - needs to be removed because it has the wrong composition and perpetuates the misery," says ENT physician Van der Borden.

When you have a cold, it is very important to rinse your nose. Use a nasal douche that sprays water through your nose under light pressure. "This rinsing is good to do because you have pathogenic 'stuff' in your nose," says Prof. Dr. W.J. Fokkens, ENT physician at the Amsterdam UMC. "These should be rinsed out with plenty of water and under light pressure so that your nasal mucosa can recover. Rinsing with salt water is an excellent therapy and logically beneficial."

Don't neglect your cold. If you don't take measures and your cold persists for a long time, you run the risk of sinusitis and sinus sinusitis.

In the acute phase, it is important to rinse your nose at least 2 to 4 times a day. You flush away excess mucus and dirt and give the mucous membrane a chance to recover. The acute phase is when you experience symptoms. For severe symptoms, you may rinse your nose an additional 2 times.

Preventively, it is good for everyone to rinse your nose once or twice a day. It prevents problems. "Make it a daily hygienic action, just like brushing your teeth," says ENT doctor Fokkens of the Amsterdam UMC.

You are in great danger of addiction! Xylometazoline or oxymetazoline immediately make you breathe better through your nose. They act on the blood vessels in your nose. These blood vessels contract, creating more room to breathe. This type of nasal spray (often sold under the name Otrivin or Nasivin) immediately relieves your symptoms, but does not solve the problem. And after 7 days, the active ingredients cause your nose to close again rather quickly. First you feel relief, then your nose is closed again. People then keep using these sprays, resulting in addiction and damage to the nasal mucosa. You also become more susceptible to infections because the cilia in your nose become damaged. Never use these sprays without consulting your doctor!

What you can do about xylometazoline nasal spray is to stop immediately. You will suffer from stuffiness and a stuffy nose, but eventually this will recover. You can also opt for an intermediate form, using your xylometazoline spray less frequently and alternating it with the NeilMed NasaMist nasal spray saline solution. Still only use the xylometazoline nasal spray in one nostril, while flushing the other with the NeilMed NasaMist. After about four weeks, rinse both nostrils with the NeilMed NasaMist. If you are heavily addicted, we recommend the NeilMed NasaMist nasal spray extra strong to. You can also use the NeilMed NasaMist All-in-one use: you spray and rinse your nose all at once. Once your nose has recovered, we recommend keeping your nose clean with the NeilMed Sinus Rinse nasal douche several times a day for a few weeks. After that, a maintenance frequency of 2 nasal rinses per day is sufficient.