Difficulty breathing and lack of nasal discharge are contradictory symptoms indicating that you are experiencing nasal congestion without a runny nose. As a rule, this uncomfortable condition is also accompanied by the following symptoms: lacrimation, pain in the facial area, sneezing and itching in the nasal cavity.
This problem significantly reduces the quality of life: the brain experiences oxygen starvation (respiratory hypoxia), increased fatigue is observed, endurance and performance decrease, and the quality of sleep also deteriorates, which negatively affects the nervous system.
After reading this article, you will learn the main causes of the problem, ways to diagnose the disease and understand how to treat nasal congestion without a runny nose.
Causes of nasal congestion without a runny nose
Difficulty breathing without other symptoms may have one of the following causes:
- Initial stage of the disease.
The respiratory tract is damaged by pathogenic bacteria; symptoms are temporarily absent. - Allergies
are the body’s immune response to dust, flowering plants, food, and animal fur. - Dusty and dry air.
- Violation of the shape of the nasal septum
is a congenital feature of the nose or acquired as a result of mechanical trauma. - Polyps
are benign neoplasms that form as a result of frequent colds, inflammation of the nasopharynx, allergic rhinitis, excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages, smoking, and the anatomical features of the structure of the nasal cavity. - A foreign object in the nose
causes pain and discomfort, sneezing and watery eyes. - Hormonal disorders
often occur in teenage girls, in women during pregnancy and on the eve of menopause - this condition does not threaten health. - The result of using medications.
For example, difficulty breathing due to repeated and prolonged use of vasoconstrictor drops or individual intolerance to the drug. - Rhinopharyngitis
is inflammation of the nasal passages, lymph nodes, the secreted secretion flows down the back wall of the patient’s throat, the nose remains dry. - Inflammatory processes of the nasal mucosa (different types of sinusitis, frontal sinusitis).
Swelling and purulent discharge block air access. - Oncological diseases of the brain and nasal canals
are a life-threatening health condition. The person may feel soreness, nausea, dizziness and weakness.
If you suspect cancer, you need to see a doctor (oncologist) and undergo a comprehensive examination.
What happens in a dream?
In a horizontal position, blood flow to the upper body, including the head, increases. Accordingly, during sleep during the nasal cycle, the turbinates fill with blood (and swell) to a greater extent, and breathing may be more difficult through the half in which the turbinate is enlarged at this moment. And it goes away naturally in the morning, after getting out of bed for a few minutes. With a normal nasal cycle, nasal breathing does not occur.
Why is nasal breathing difficult for a child?
Not only adults, but also children face the above problem. Factors of nasal congestion in babies:
- Young children have narrow nasal passages and sometimes little oxygen is supplied, so they often breathe through their mouths;
- the mucous membrane is relatively dry, accumulations of dried secretions are the causes of nasal congestion and are observed in children from two years of age.
Common factors causing difficulty in nasal breathing in children are various types of inflammation of the mucous membrane, as well as foreign bodies (buttons, pieces of food, small parts from toys).
What can cause nasal cycle disruption?
- curvature of the nasal septum (physiological, during the growth of the body or post-traumatic nature)
- hypertrophy of the inferior turbinates (vasomotor, allergic, hyperplastic rhinitis)
- polyps or growths in the nasal cavity
- anatomical narrowing of the nasal passages (congenital or acquired: post-traumatic or postoperative - unsuccessful rhinoplasty, including the presence of synechiae)
* Synechia is the fusion of the nasal mucosa from two opposite sides, from the turbinates and the nasal septum, the so-called bridge.
Diagnosis of nasal congestion
There is a large list of serious diseases that can be signaled by nasal congestion without a runny nose. Be careful with self-medication; first of all, we recommend that you consult a qualified specialist.
Home diagnostic methods depend on the specific disease.
| Symptoms, method of diagnosis | Disease |
| If after using vasoconstrictor drops there is no relief in breathing within 15 minutes | Drug-induced rhinitis |
| Difficulty breathing in one nostril. Lie on your side, after 15 minutes turn over to the other side. The congestion of the nostril (the one located above) does not go away, one-sided difficulty breathing is observed | Trauma, abnormal septum, or presence of a foreign object |
| Nasal congestion, swelling of the nasopharynx, weakness and high temperature | Infectious rhinitis |
| Difficulty breathing, sneezing, pain in the eyes, if a person enters a certain room, upon contact with certain substances | Allergic reaction |
| Vasoconstrictor drops have no effect, headache | Polyp formation |
| Difficulty breathing without ARVI symptoms in adolescent girls, pregnant women and women on the eve of menopause | Vasomotor rhinitis |
| Dry cough and inflammation of the throat mucosa without a runny nose | Sore throat, pharyngitis and other inflammatory diseases |
| Inhalation is accompanied by whistling, unpleasant sensations of sore throat, change in voice | Posterior rhinitis |
| Difficulty breathing is accompanied by shortness of breath, swelling, cough, headaches | Diseases of the cardiovascular system |
| Mouth breathing in infants, loud snoring | Physiological feature of newborns |
Other diagnostic methods require test results, so they must be carried out under the supervision of a specialist. Even if the cause of difficulty breathing has been established independently, the assumption must be confirmed by an ENT specialist. Otherwise, incorrect therapy can lead to a serious deterioration in the patient’s condition.
When contacting an ENT specialist, you will conduct a comprehensive examination, allowing you to determine the cause of the disease with a high degree of probability. At the first appointment, the patient is examined using an endoscope to detect foreign bodies in the nasal passages.
Then the doctor can prescribe laboratory tests - various tests, smears, bacteriological culture. After analyzing all the results, the ENT specialist will make a diagnosis. If necessary, additional ultrasound and x-rays are prescribed.
Treatment
Often, patients believe that nasal congestion without a runny nose will go away on its own and do not consult a doctor. Meanwhile, difficulty breathing gets worse.
Drug therapy
First of all, the doctor prescribes drops to moisturize the mucous membrane and produce natural lubrication, as well as local ointments and creams to ease breathing. The ENT doctor then prescribes topical corticosteroids to relieve mucosal swelling and congestion.
In addition to local hydration, it is necessary to drink more fluid to allow water to flow through the blood vessels, instill saline solution, or rinse the nose with a solution of salt or sea water. You need to normalize the moisture level in the room and ventilate the room more often. Thus, local mucosal immunity will recover faster.
Hormonal and antibacterial local drugs are used only after identifying the cause of difficulty breathing. Corticosteroid-based products are contraindicated in children and are prescribed only to adult patients with chronic congestion.
If the cause of congestion is an allergy, then second-generation antihistamines are prescribed. Depending on the degree of difficulty breathing, tablet form or nasal drops are used.
Breathing exercises
Sometimes nasal congestion without a runny nose appears due to addiction to vasoconstrictors. In this case, it is recommended to completely abandon this group of drugs and practice breathing. You should clear your nasal passages, then try to take a full breath and exhale slowly through both nostrils. The exercise is done several times a day, every day. Over time, breathing will resume.
Surgical intervention
Often, during an appointment with an ENT doctor, it turns out that the cause of constant nasal congestion is a deviated septum. In this case, therapeutic treatment is powerless, because the curvature provokes inflammation, irritation and swelling of the mucous membrane. The only true treatment option is septoplasty.
Nasal congestion should not be left untreated, otherwise it can lead to otitis media, sinusitis, laryngitis, pharyngitis and other otorhinolaryngological diseases. An impaired respiratory process causes atrophy of the nasal mucosa.
At the ENT CLINIC in Chertanovo, doctors will always help patients. After a thorough examination and tests, they will determine the cause of difficulty breathing without a runny nose and help the patient regain healthy, full nasal breathing.
What is the danger of constant nasal congestion without a runny nose?
Chronic difficulty breathing through the nose leads to a number of negative changes in the body:
- reduction in the acuity of smell to its complete loss (sometimes without recovery);
headaches (oxygen starvation);- the chronic form of allergic rhinitis can provoke bronchial asthma;
- prolonged difficulty breathing in children can contribute to deterioration of hearing and smell, and cause mental retardation;
- the appearance of night snoring;
- failure in the blood circulation of the brain is a serious threat to life;
- lack of sleep, debilitating weakness, memory impairment, depression, apathy, prolonged nervous tension.
What can “ENT Clinic No. 1 Plus” offer you?
- Endoscopic examination of ENT organs.
- A wide range of physiotherapeutic treatment methods to restore vascular tone, reduce the degree of hypertrophy of the mucous membrane of the nasal turbinates, and, as a result, improve nasal breathing (USOL therapy, laser therapy with red, infrared or violet light, magnetic therapy, halotherapy).
- Minimally invasive surgery - using the radio wave method using the Fotek device (disintegration of the inferior nasal concha, removal of synechiae).
- Consultation with leading ENT surgeons in Moscow to resolve the issue of surgical treatment (septoplasty, submucosal vasotomy of the inferior turbinates, conchotomy, polypotomy, removal of tumors of the nasal cavity).
Contact our specialists today, and they will definitely help you! We work for you around the clock!
Which doctor should I contact?
An ENT specialist or an otorhinolaryngologist will help you cope with the problem; you can make an appointment with him on the website. The doctor will conduct an examination, prescribe examinations, and tests. Based on the results obtained, treatment will be prescribed. All activities take place under the strict supervision of a doctor. You can make an appointment with a specialist by phone (for English-speaking patients), (the lines are open 24 hours a day) or using the form on the website.
JSC "Medicine" (clinic of academician Roitberg) is located in the center of Moscow, 2nd Tverskoy-Yamskaya lane 10 (metro stations "Mayakovskaya", "Tverskaya", "Belorusskaya", "Novoslobodskaya").
Allergic rhinitis
Allergic rhinitis is an inflammation of the mucous membranes of the nose, which is based on an allergic reaction of the body to any allergen.
Possible allergens:
- household or book dust;
- dust mite;
- insect bites;
- plants;
- Food;
- medications;
- molds and yeasts.
You can read more detailed information about allergic rhinitis here.
Treatment of chronic runny nose in adults and children
After clarifying the symptoms and determining the type, the question remains of how to treat chronic runny nose. It’s worth starting with the fact that treatment is necessary. Chronic runny nose is an already advanced form that can lead to undesirable consequences. This is especially worth considering in case of chronic runny nose in children.
Treatment is prescribed after an accurate diagnosis has been established, in which the cause that provoked the disease and the specific type of chronic runny nose will be clear. Some medications can be harmful and make the problem worse if used without identifying the cause.
It is necessary to treat a chronic runny nose not only during the period of exacerbation, but also in the remission stage. Typically, therapy includes 4:
- Local use of vasoconstrictors and hormonal agents
- Immune stimulation
- Elimination of factors that provoke an allergic reaction, if any
- Taking antiviral and antibacterial agents, especially during exacerbations
- Physiotherapy
- Climatotherapy
Certain goals must be achieved5:
- Reducing the number of microbial pathogens
- Restoring breathing
- Relieving swelling
- Restoration of general and local immunity
- Healing all consequences and changes
- Stopping discharge
- Complete inhibition of the inflammatory process
To get rid of chronic runny nose, various medications are used, focusing on the cause of the disease. The most widely used are nasal drops and sprays. The most popular type are various vasoconstrictor drugs, which are prescribed for almost any runny nose, but they do not cope with the treatment of the underlying problem and give only a short-term effect, in addition to being addictive5.
Chronic rhinitis
Chronic rhinitis is a long-term, chronic inflammation of the nasal mucosa, which appears as a result of the negative influence of microbes, as well as some environmental factors (dust, air pollution) on the nasal mucosa.
Types of chronic rhinitis
- allergic (seasonal, allergies to plants and products);
- infectious (occurred as a result of infectious diseases);
- non-allergic, non-infectious rhinitis (medicinal rhinitis, hormonal rhinitis, rhinitis of the elderly).
Diagnostic measures
Diagnosis and treatment of the nose in adults is carried out by an otolaryngologist. During the consultation, the ENT doctor pays great attention to collecting complaints and the patient’s life history. During the consultation, the doctor asks the patient about when the symptoms appeared, whether they were preceded by injuries, whether he suffers from chronic diseases, whether he recently suffered from infectious diseases, etc.
A direct examination of the nasal cavity begins with rhinoscopy, which allows you to determine whether there is swelling, whether there is a foreign body in the nasal passages, or helps to identify abnormalities in the structure of the nasal cavity.
Endoscopic examination allows you to see a complete picture of the nasopharynx.
Thanks to it, the doctor examines in detail those areas of the nasal cavity that cannot be seen during a classic examination.
At this stage, neoplasms and adenoids can be identified. If necessary, the patient is sent for an X-ray or MRI. You may also need to consult related specialists - an allergist, cardiologist, oncologist.
Correct diagnosis is possible only after all diagnostic measures have been carried out. After this, a treatment regimen is prescribed.
Acute rhinitis
Acute rhinitis is one of the most common diseases in childhood. Every mother is familiar with its symptoms: the child’s nose is stuffy, runny nose, etc.
Acute rhinitis has an infectious form, caused by viruses or bacteria. The disease can manifest itself as a separate disease of a viral or bacterial nature or be a component of infectious diseases such as influenza, ARVI, scarlet fever, meningitis, diphtheria, etc.
Provoking factors for acute rhinitis are hypothermia, polluted air, decreased human immunity, allergies, adenoids, and hypertrophic rhinitis. Therefore, if the nose is constantly stuffy, the child clearly has weak immunity, and it needs to be improved!
Symptoms of acute rhinitis:
The disease occurs in 3 stages:
- discomfort in the nose, itching, sneezing, tears, headache, malaise, fever (within 1-2 days);
- the nose is stuffy, it becomes difficult for the patient to breathe, hoarse voice, watery discharge from the nose, decreased sense of smell;
- The nasal discharge becomes thick and purulent, and the patient is bothered by severe nasal congestion.
1 Consultation with an otolaryngologist in MedicCity
2 Consultation with an otolaryngologist in MedicCity
3 Consultation with an otolaryngologist in MedicCity
