Will A Humidifier Help With Cough and Congestion? Don’t Switch It On Before Reading This!!!

Does a humidifier help with a cough? Or will it make you sick?

Most people ask this when they need to raise their indoor humidity level, to avoid the symptoms of sleeping in a dry room.

So … does a humidifier help with a cough? Dry air increase the risk of developing respiratory illnesses such as asthma. It can also cause a hacking dry cough. Plugging in the best humidifier for night use to make the air breathable and to help you sleep better.

Dry air in house is not good for your skin, and it is definitely bad for coughs. It makes your throat feel scratchy, hurtful and it may prolong coughing longer than necessary.

The thing you should be asking is whether to get a warm or cool mist humidifier for cough. To help you answer that, first, here is a video showing how to use a humidifier for coughs and colds:

 

Secondly, keep reading to see how increasing humidity to 30 to 50 percent can make your indoor living space better and healthier.

Do humidifiers help with chest congestion?

Some people report about their humidifier making congestion worse. However, this could be to overuse of the same.

But first, let’s see about humidifier and chest congestion and dry air …

Chest congestion occurs when you have phlegm stuck inside the chest. It refuses to come out even when you cough. Does a humidifier help with this kind of congestion?

Dry air and coughing go badly together. In many resources, you will find that humidifiers come highly recommended as a means to control coughs, especially at night.

That hacking sound you hear coming from your chest and throat can be softened by inhaling smoother and moisture-rich air.

Don’t believe it? Try the best humidifier for cough, which you can buy on amazon.com.

Do humidifiers help with colds?

So does a humidifier help clear your lungs? Of course, when you have a cold, the entire airway could be affected.

You will find information to the effect that taking a steamy shower before bedtime can help a lot in alleviating dry cough.

Steamy air has a lot of moisture content and so the concept is the same as you would find in a humidifier.

Thus, it would seem that humidifying the air helps with coughing. In addition, humidifier for sore throat works!

Another thing that comes highly recommended when you have a cold is to drink a lot of fluids.

That way, even when you feel like coughing, the lungs will clear out the mucus that trickles down there from the nose easily.

When you keep warm and run a humidifier for colds such as steam, you can arrest the cold before it escalates.

Having some moisture in the air, taking more soup in the food, more drinks and water are good when you have a cough. They help in a big way.

What does a humidifier do for a cough?

What is better between humidifier vs dehumidifier for cough? Well, there is a humidifier for runny nose, as well as a flu humidifier.

Therefore, it is obvious that a humidifier for flu and cold is better than using a dehumidifier.

Actually, you need the best humidifier for cough whether you have a cough or not. The reason for this is that the humidifier will moisten the air such that when you inhale, the airways will not be irritated.

Colds cause a lot of discomfort. You will try to do everything you can to stay as comfortable as possible. One of the highly recommended things is to buy a humidifier.

What do humidifiers do for coughs?

A cough causes dry mucus in your nose. You want to do everything possible to dislodge it to keep the airways clear.

Here, a cool mist humidifier might help you with that. Do not write off a warm mist humidifier because it too can help you in a big way.

One of the things that you may want to know is whether a cool mist or warm mist humidifier is best for a cough.

Well, what we know is that both of them increase humidity. They make the air more breathable, for children as well as grownups.

The most important thing is to have a good humidifier that you can just plug in when you are suffering from a cough.

Coughing is a symptom of a cold or an allergic attack. The first part to be affected is usually the nasal membranes, swelling and closing the airways.

When you inhale dry air through the swollen membranes, you experience pain. But when the air has some moisture, you feel more comfortable inhaling it.

How does a humidifier help with a cough?

Now that we have agreed that a humidifier can help with a cough, you need to do a few things so that the humidifier can help you. These are just simple things to help make the indoor air a bit more breathable.

These are:

1. Know what is causing the cough

Not all coughs are caused by a cold. If you have asthma, you can have a coughing attack at any time, especially if there is a trigger around. In that case, you would have to look for the best humidifier for a person with asthma.

Thus, it is best that you first diagnose the cause of the cough. That way, you will be sure that the humidifier is going to help you.

In most cases, a humidifier moistens your airways, dislodging any stuck mucus, so that you can be able to breathe better all the time.

If you have asthma, you will have to do much more than buy a humidifier. You will need to clear your home of any triggers and irritants.

This means you have to identify all the asthma triggers and clean them out. Things like smoke, dust, fur and others can cause serious asthmatic coughs.

2. Choose the right humidifier

If the humidifier is for your child’s room, then you had better make sure it is a cool mist one, because such pose no hazard at all. You do not want a humidifier with boiling water in your kid’s room.

Chances of the child scalding himself can be high. For their safety, just use a cool mist one.

If it is for your bedroom, you may choose any that you want, whether it is the cool mist one or the warm mist one.

You can place it safely on a table, or on the floor and then let the fine warm mist seep through the air, making the night comfortable for your chest and airways.

3. Clean the humidifier

Because humidifiers use water, it is possible to have a buildup of bacteria on the filters and other parts in the humidifier.

Mostly, this happens in the cool mist humidifiers because there is no heat to kill the bacteria.

The bad news is that when you breathe in the air, you will also inhale the bacteria. You could find that instead of feeling well, you will start feeling worse. The cough could be accompanied by other ailments.

But there is a solution to all this. You must keep your humidifier as clean as possible, as often as possible. That way, you are assured that the misty air that you are inhaling is clean and healthy.

If you have a warm mist humidifier, this problem is not too rampant. However, you have a more serious problem: that of breathing air with mineral deposits. That is because when the water boils, it forms a layer of mineral deposits.

If these mineral deposits are not cleaned out before you can use the humidifier for the next session, you will be inhaling them in your air. They settle on your furniture, walls and floors as humidifier white dust.

The good thing is that it is easy to keep so you should always have it in prime condition all the time.

Because most bacteria will be in the water tank, empty it often and clean it by following the humidifier instructions.

When cleaning it, remember to clean all the parts that get in touch with the water with a recommended disinfectant.

After cleaning, rinse everything carefully and then add clean water for the next humidifying session.

4. Use distilled water in the tank

When you have a cold, distilled water is better than tap water. When your cough is healed, you can go back to using tap water.

Distilled water has minimal risks for harboring bacteria. If you live in an area that has hard water, distilled water is good because it ensures no mineral deposits form inside the tank.

Any time that you turn the humidifier on, you will be sure that you are inhaling clean and healthy air.

Another benefit of using distilled water in your humidifier is that there will be no white dust forming on your furniture.

Usually, this comes from the minerals in the water. When you use distilled water, there are no such issues to worry about.

5. Do not over-humidify your room

The temptation to crank up the humidifier and inject more mist into the room will be high. However, avoid that as much as possible.

Keep the recommended level of humidity in the room. Just because you have a cold, it does not mean that you should over-humidify the room.

There are many disadvantages of having too much humidity in the air. One of them is that it could lead to the growth of mold indoors.

That is something that you really want to avoid. Mold cause illnesses and mold toxicity symptoms. It also damages your house and items.

Too much humidity can also lead to the multiplication of bacteria and viruses, thus causing various illnesses. It may also lead to the spoiling of food and clothes.

As you seek to know how does a humidifier help with a cough, it is important to remember that too much of something is poisonous.

For a little extra cost, you will be able to buy a humidifier that has a humidistat or on/off feature, so that it turns of when it achieves the set optimum humidity.

The same also happens when the water tank runs empty. You can set the optimum humidity level such that the humidifier automatically starts when the humidity dips below that.

Wrapping Up

How does a humidifier help with a cough? In many ways as you have seen above. But this is not a remedy, it is just an appliance to make your life more comfortable when you have a cold.

Consult a physician for treatment. However, since you must breathe, a humidifier is what you need to make it easier on your swollen and sensitive airways.

How does the best humidifier for a cough help? You have seen for yourself. It is easier to inhale moistened air than dry air.