How to Clear a Stuffy Nose without Medication

All stuffed up and wanting to breathe -- but without the chemicals? Here's how to get relief fast!

Ingredients used:

Steam
Licorice tea
A saline rinse
Hot peppers
Peppermint oil or peppermint tea
Chicken soup
Eucalyptus oil
Table salt
Baking soda

Step 1: Inhale steam

Go into the bathroom, close the door, and draw a hot bath or shower. When the room is filled with steam, inhale deeply. Or boil a pot of water, put a towel over your head, and lean over the pot, keeping your head about 6 inches above it. Then, inhale the steam.

Tip: Pour a few drops of eucalyptus oil into the tub, onto the shower floor, or into the pot of water. The vapors reduce inflammation and clear sinuses and congestion.

Step 2: Drink licorice tea

Drink licorice tea. Licorice root is an expectorant that breaks up mucus in the nose and the lungs, so you'll breathe more easily.

Step 3: Snort a saline rinse

Snort a saline rinse. Available at drug stores, it's proven more effective than medicated nasal sprays. It not only clears the nasal passages, but reduces inflammation.

Tip: You can make your own saline rinse by adding half a teaspoon of table salt and a pinch of baking soda to 8 ounces of warm tap water. Just don't keep it more than 24 hours.

Step 4: Spice things up

Eat something with hot peppers. They contain capsaicin, the chemical that makes your nose run when you eat something spicy.

Step 5: Try peppermint

Put some peppermint oil, available at health food stores, on a cloth or cotton ball and sniff the vapor. Peppermint contains menthol, proven to clear congestion. Or drink hot peppermint tea, inhaling the steam as you drink.

Step 6: Eat chicken soup

Have some hot chicken soup. This homespun remedy can break up mucus, helping you get over your cold faster.