Congestion is very common, especially in this season when the weather is cold. People usually take congestion as a sign of normal cold or cough in the throat, however it can be much more than that. Congestion makes you feel having shortness of breath and eyes may feel puffed up. There could be a lot of conditions associated with congestion that may lead the person to serious health disorder. During this period, in COVID-19 times, you should not neglect any symptoms of congestion and take precautionary steps against it. Therefore in order to raise awareness, we will discuss about 6 causes of having congestion in detail.
Congestion
To give a brief about congestion, it is a problem linked to respiration. When you feel congestion, you shortness of breath and uneasiness because of which you cannot breathe properly. We spoke to Dr. Sumeet Nigam, General Physician from Sahara Hospital to know about various conditions causing congestion in detail. He said that congestion can occur because of bacterial infection, virus infection, and inflammation of tissues, allergies or any other problem. Congestion occurs as a major symptom in any of these health disorders and hence needs to be treated as soon as possible. Fortunately, there are various ailments and treatments of congestion available which can help in curing the health issues.
6 Causes of Congestion
1. It can be Common Cold
Common cold happens to almost everyone and there is a sign of congestion because of having cold in most of the cases. It is a viral infection which occurs in the upper respiratory tract that consists of nose, mouth, sinuses, throat and larynx. In this case the virus can spread through various factors and cause congestion in your nose. You most probably have stuffy nose and thus results in health problems.
Symptoms of common cold include-
- Congestion
- Sneezing
- Cough
- Sore throat
- Running nose
2. Influenza Flu
Another very common cause of congestion is having influenza flu. Symptoms do vary according to every individual but the flu can be contagious and cause respiratory illness. The flu is a respiratory illness which is very contagious and can spread from one person to another with coming in mere contact. It spreads through coughing, sneezing and touching the face. People who have flu get congestion more often, especially older adults. This is because respiratory functions are less efficient after age of 60 years.
Hence respiratory problems can increase the congestion and cause the illness to affect your body in certain ways. Here are some symptoms which you get while having influenza flu.
- Fatigue
- Weakness
- Cough
- Body aches
- Sore throat
- Headaches
- Fever and chills
Antiviral medications can be helpful to treat this condition; however people over the age of 60 years have high risk of falling for complications. Congestion can becomes a permanent issue with older adults in not treated in time.
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3. Allergic Rhinitis
One of the conditions that cause congestion can be due to allergic rhinitis. This is a problem where congestion occurs because of falling for an allergy. If you have allergy for something, and you come in contact with it such as pollens, grass, weeds, and some seasonal flowers, etc you can have allergic rhinitis. People also have this allergy because of dust mites, molds or animal dander.
Allergies usually begin from childhood only; it can start at any age. In majority of conditions there is some pre-existing allergies that are present in family member and travel through genes. This can cause severe congestion in the chest and cause shortness of breath very easily.
Symptoms of allergic rhinitis-
- Running nose
- Congestion
- Eyes or itching in nose
- Mucus dripping from nose to back of throat
- Sneezing often
- Having cough
4. Having Acute Sinus Infection
Another cause of constant congestion can be because of constant congestion in the chest. Sinus infection can happen because of virus of bacterial infection. Acute sinus infection is caused by the same virus as common cold, but in this case it goes on to stick around the respiratory tract leading to sinus which becomes hard to distinguish.
Typically, if there is an infection which lasts for more than 7-10 days constantly, then the infection could cause much worse affect on the body. In that case congestion may become a part of living which may increase or decrease with effect of sinus. However there are antibiotics that can help to treat the symptoms and condition of acute sinus infection.
Symptoms of Acute Sinus-
- Congestion
- Facial pain or pressure while bending forward
- Drainage of yellow or green mucus from nose
- Ringing in ears
- Headache
5. Chronic Sinusitis
This is a kind of ongoing sinus which usually lasts for several years and creates congestion in the chest. It can be very irritating and problematic depending on the situation. Chronic sinusitis can result in ongoing inflammation and cause problems such as nasal blockage, inflammation in nose for 12 weeks or longer continuously.
Chronic sinus is usually acute sinus in the initial stages but as the bacterial infection develops, the disease turns chronic. This chronic infection causes congestion which can only go through structural issues and medication for chronic sinus disease.
Symptoms of Chronic Sinus are-
- Congestion
- Facial pressure
- Pain or fullness in the face
- Reduced smell
- Yellow or green mucus from nose to throat
- Ear pain, fatigue, dental pain, hoarse voice, throat irritation, etc
6. Non- allergic Rhinitis
This condition is a little different from allergic rhinitis. It is not caused by allergic reaction but because of some medications or infections in the body. But it can still cause serious congestion in the chest and respiratory tract. Some people who have usual response to spicy food, or odours, etc can also develop this disease.
Non-Allergic rhinitis patients have more tendencies to fall for post nasal drip. This means they tend to sneeze more often and have red eyes as well. People having non-allergic rhinitis have more prolonged congestion because then it does not go away as allergens leaving the body. It is also harder to tackle symptoms of this condition as the cause of it can sometimes be unknown.
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Symptoms of Non-Allergic rhinitis are-
- Nasal congestion
- Running nose
- Post nasal drip problems
Picture Credits- pixabay.comCongestion can be caused because of various conditions, know 6 common causes of congestion here.
