USE A LITTLE SALINE TO CLEAR UP STUFFY NOSES

It is that dreaded time of year … cold & flu season.  Our whole family has had flu shots this year but that hasn’t prevented us all from getting stuffy noses the last few weeks as snow has piled up  and freezing temperatures have made us shiver thanks to the infamous polar vortex.  So I looked up online some tips to try and get our noses unplugged and everyone feeling a little better.

MedlinePlus, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine which is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (note the .gov in its url: www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus ) had some great information on the topic.  The website recommended:

"Medicines are not the only way to relieve a stuffy or runny nose.  Often, gentler solutions are better.  Try these steps to thin the mucus, which can help you breathe easier and get nasal secretions back to normal.

•  Use gentle saline nasal sprays.

• Increase the humidity in the air with a vaporizer or humidifier.

• Drink extra fluids. Hot tea, broth, or chicken soup may be especially helpful."

 We were in luck because we just had just received a sample of a new product called Boogie Mist and I decided to give it a try to see if it could help get rid of those pesky boogers bugging my kids.  I’m pleased to say that it worked like a charm.

Boogie Mist is a non-medicated saline solution that flushes blockages from the nose, dissolves mucus, and moisturizes the skin within the nasal passage.  Seems like an easy enough solution, except until you take into consideration my children don’t want me sticking anything up their nose and freaked out like riled chickens when I approached them with the bottle.  Hmmm….what is a Dad to do?

Well I used it first on myself and showed them it wasn’t just fine to use but also a little fun too.  You see Boogie Mist instead of having a nozzle has a Schnozzle (scented nozzle) that makes the saline smell like grape flavor candy.  It actually is a tasty scent that is closer to bubblegum than cough syrup in the hierarchy of all things grape flavored.  Since, I made a big deal about how great the grape was the kids of course wanted to try it too.  Mission Accomplished!

Another nice feature about this product was that it doesn’t really spray into your nose but actually like the name implies mists.  My kids seemed pretty comfortable having the saline misted into their noses and I believe we’d probably have some kickback from them from a more traditional product where you are spraying a solution in with more pressure.

In addition to grape scented solution, we also tried out some saline nose wipes called Boogie Wipes.   These were nice because unlike traditional facial tissues these were moist and didn’t scratch up your nose when you blew it.  We’ve all been there before haven’t we when your nose gets raw, scratchy and hurts not from the congestion of a cold but rather from all the rubbing of dry tissues against it when you are repeatedly blow or sneeze into them.  My daughter actually said “hey Dad these are great they aren’t scratchy!” when she was using them.  Plus another great bonus to the product, just like the Boogie Mist, it smells like GRAPES! 

If you have kids at home and want to make being sick a little less miserable, I recommend checking out the Boogie Mist & Boogie Wipe products.  In addition to Grape Scent they also come in "Fresh Scent". You can buy them at Kroger, Target, Toys-R-Us, and Walgreens, among other retailers.  For more information, visit www.boogiewipes.com

DISCLAIMER:  I received a complimentary product sample from Little Busy Bodies of the Boogie Mist & Boogie Wipes discussed in this post.  The views and opinions expressed are my own.