Nasal congestion produces different kinds of symptoms. Some of these are mucus in the nose, post nasal drip, runny nose and sinus pain. How does allergic nasal congestion affect your sleep?
What is Allergic Nasal Congestion?
Allergic nasal congestion is caused by allergic rhinitis, which is commonly referred to as hay fever. It causes inflammation of the nasal passages when the immune system reacts to an allergen like pollen, dander or dust mites. As the nasal passages become filled with fluid, they swell and cause nasal congestion.
Allergic nasal congestion related discomfort can disrupt your sleep. Here are some of the ways nasal allergy symptoms can cause insomnia:
– Breathing through your mouth can become laborious and negatively affect the quality of your sleep.
– Breathing through your mouth can create symptoms, such as dry mouth, throat and lips, which creates discomfort.
– Pressure in the sinus cavities can prevent you from falling asleep.
– Snoring occurs more easily if you suffer from allergic nasal congestion while sleeping. This can disturb the sleep of the affected person as well as other people.
– Nose congestion can make other sleeping disturbances like sleep apnea worse.
– Postnasal drip can also disturb your sleep. When the mucus flows from the nose to the throat, it is more likely that the throat will become irritated. This can lead to a cough that can disturb sleeping.
– Nocturnal wheezing and asthma can more easily occur at night if nasal congestion is involved. Therefore, it is possible that breathing problems become more pronounced because of nasal congestion.
– Allergies can also cause other symptoms that can affect sleep. Nasal congestion can cause pain in the sinuses that can cause a headache. Therefore, there are a lot of ways that can disrupt sleep, when allergies are causing the nose to become congested and filled with mucus.
