Homemade Nasal Strips

Making your own nasal strips at home saves you money and allows you to design the strips to custom-fit your nose. Nasal strips open your nostrils to allow more air in and out while you sleep. Cut a small piece of flexible plastic, such as the kind found on the inner top of a Pringles can, and place it along the inside of a standard plastic bandage. When you place the bandage across your freshly-washed and dried nose, the plastic springs out and pulls your nostrils open with it. It's really that simple. Nasal strips are used by people to treat a variety of health conditions and improve nighttime breathing.

Snoring

• According to the Mayo Clinic, as many as half of all adults snore occasionally. Most snoring is directly related to mouth breathing. Although snoring may sometimes be associated with serious health issues, for many it is just a nuisance that interferes with sleeping for both themselves and their partner. When snoring interferes with your quality of life by interrupting your sleep at night, you should visit your doctor to rule out any possible underlying conditions. Achieve relief from bothersome snoring by treating the condition at home with nasal strips.

Allergies

• Nasal congestion is a common allergy symptom that can interfere with sleep. While the immune systems works to fight off what it sees as a foreign invader (the offending allergen), the nasal passages become irritated and inflamed, making it difficult for air to pass through. Although nasal strips do not alleviate allergy symptoms or nasal congestion, applying them to the nose opens the nostrils to increase air flow, resulting in better sleep conditions.

Deviated Septum

• A deviated septum and difficulty breathing go hand-in-hand. When a person suffers from a break in the cartilage between the nostrils, he often experiences difficulty breathing through one side of the nose. Some people experience difficulty in both nostrils. This results in mouth breathing, a common cause for sleep disruption. If you choose not to correct the damaged septum with a surgical procedure, applying nasal strips at night offers temporary relief.

Athletes

• Many athletes wear nasal strips to further open the airways for maximum air intake, in hopes of achieving maximum performance during sports. According to Sport Science Organization, studies that tested the validity of the claim showed nasal strips had no effect on athletic performance. With that said, many pro athletes endorse the use of nasal strips to maximize performance. Although no studies show benefits for athletes, there is no harm in wearing them, should the athlete desire to do so.