RESEARCHERS DISCOVER AN INEXPENSIVE AND SIMPLE WAY TO SHORTEN CHILDREN’S COLDS BY TWO DAYS; BENEFITS OF SALINE DROPS
Researchers in the UK say hypertonic saline nasal drops can reduce children’s colds by two days while lowering the chances of other family members getting sick too. According to a recent study, conducted by the University of Edinburgh, simple drops can be made using water and salt.
“Children have up to 10 to 12 upper respiratory tract infections, what we refer to as colds, per year, which have a big impact on them and their families,” explained University of Edinburgh professor Steve Cunningham. “There are medicines to improve symptoms, such as paracetamol and ibuprofen, but no treatments that can make a cold get better quicker.” For the study, researchers taught parents how to make and apply saline to their children’s noses. Three drops were administered to each nostril at least four times a day until the 150 young children got better.
The remaining 151 kids were given their typical cold treatment – including cold and cough-reducing medicines and analgesics. “We found that children using saltwater nose drops had cold symptoms for an average of six days whereas those with usual care had symptoms for eight days,” Cunningham said. “The children receiving saltwater nose drops also needed fewer medicines during their illness.”
Related News |The research, to be presented soon at the European Respiratory Society Congress in Austria, said less than 50 per cent of those who used saline water drops reported family members catching the child’s cold, as compared to other 61 per cent. At least 82 per cent of parents said the saline drops were effective in treating their children with a whopping 81 per cent saying that they would use drops in the future as well.
How does saline water help reduce symptoms of cold?
The study’s chief investigator, consultant virologist Sandeep Ramalingam, noted that people in South Asia often use salt water solutions to treat colds. Related News |According to experts, saline spray can help provide dry nasal passages are dry, making them moist. When you are congested, saline nasal spray clears out mucus and crusts in your nasal passages that are causing you to feel stuffed up. Using saline nasal spray or irrigation also helps cleanse your nasal passages, washing away pollen and other things that cause allergies. It also protects you from some types of infections.
Doctors say the cells lining the respiratory tract use chloride from salty drops to produce hypochlorous acid to defend against viruses. “By giving extra chloride to the lining cells, this helps the cells produce more hypochlorous acid, which helps suppress viral replication, reducing the length of the virus infection, and therefore the duration of symptoms,” Cunningham said.
How to use saline spray effectively?
Making sure you use saline nasal spray the right way can make it more effective:- Gently blow your nose to help clear out snot and debris, which will help the saline nasal spray work better
- Wash your hands
- Tilt your head just a little bit and keep your mouth closed
- Plug one nostril by pressing gently on the side of your nose
- Place the tip of the bottle in one nostril and aim it toward the back of your nose
- Repeat with the other nostril