Stuffy noses are extremely common during pregnancy. Wondering about this common, but often overlooked pregnancy symptom? Read on for more.
What causes it?
Although your nasal congestion may be the result of something unrelated to pregnancy, like allergies or a sinus infection, usually congestion is caused by the increased size and blood flow of blood vessels to that part of the body. This is also why bloody or runny noses can happen more often in pregnancy. Because congestion is often worse at night, it may make it harder to sleep.
Tips?
If the congestion is solely pregnancy-related, it may come and go or really stick with you until you give birth. The good news is that there are some things you can do to manage it.
- Regular daily physical activity or exercise
- Warm or cool humidified air where you sleep
- Good hydration in general
- Slight elevation when you sleep
- Saline nasal rinses or Neti-pot
- Avoiding perfumes and other irritants/allergens
- Nasal sprays (talk to your OB provider first)
Reviewed by the Ovia Health Clinical Team
Read more
Sources
- Gregg Goldstein, M.D., Satish Govindaraj, M.D. “Rhinologic issues in pregnancy.” Allergy & Rhinology. 3(1):e13-e15. Web. 2012.
- Gupta KK, Anari S. Medical management of rhinitis in pregnancy (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35131140/). Auris Nasus Larynx. 2022 Dec;49(6):905-911. Accessed 5/29/2024.
- Hellings PW, Klimek L, Cingi C, et al. Non-allergic rhinitis: Position paper of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28474799/). Allergy. 2017 Nov;72(11):1657-1665. Accessed 5/29/2024.
