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How to organize your medicine cabinet<\/p>\n
Store your medicine in a cool, dry and dark place.<\/p>\n
Problem Solved<\/p>\n
There\u2019s something universally frustrating about waking up with a stuffy nose<\/a>. After all, congestion<\/a> can derail your day in countless ways \u2013 making it harder to concentrate at work, sleep soundly or even enjoy a simple conversation.<\/p>\n To find relief or avoid such misery, many of us head straight for the medicine cabinet<\/a>. But amid the search for that bottle of pills or liquid medication, it’s common to wonder if the over-the-counter decongestant we’re seeking will actually make a difference.\u00a0<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what the science says about what helps, what doesn\u2019t and how else to breathe easier.<\/p>\n What are decongestants?<\/p>\n A decongestant \u201cis a type of medication that helps to clear nasal passages<\/a>,\u201d explains Dr. Krystal Green, a primary care physician with Inspira Health in New Jersey.<\/p>\n While medicinal plants such as Ephedra\u00a0have been used to relieve colds in Traditional Chinese Medicine<\/a> for thousands of years, the first synthetic decongestant wasn’t introduced<\/a>\u00a0until 1934. Today, decongestant ingredients appear in a wide range of brand-name products, including Sudafed, Advil, Mucinex, Allegra, Zyrtec, Tylenol<\/a>, Afrin, Flonase, Vicks and DayQuil.<\/p>\n Although medications like these don\u2019t treat the underlying infection or allergy, some “can reduce swelling of blood vessels inside the nose, opening the airways and making breathing easier,” explains Dr. Jason Nagata, a pediatrician at UCSF Benioff Children\u2019s Hospital in San Francisco.\u00a0It’s the constriction of those vessels that temporarily decreases inflammation and allows more air to pass through.<\/p>\n Does the\u00a0decongestant\u00a0in your medicine cabinet actually work?<\/p>\n But when it comes to effectiveness, it depends on which active ingredient you\u2019re taking.<\/p>\n Evidence shows that pseudoephedrine \u2013 found in certain versions of Sudafed, Advil and Mucinex \u2013 is the most reliable oral decongestant. Studies<\/a>\u00a0demonstrate that it can measurably reduce nasal obstruction and improve airflow, and other research<\/a>\u00a0indicates it can meaningfully shorten the congestion phase of a cold.<\/p>\n By contrast, phenylephrine, the ingredient in many \u201cPE\u201d-labeled cold medicines, has come under intense scrutiny<\/a> in recent years because a growing body of evidence shows that oral phenylephrine performs no better than a placebo for nasal congestion.<\/p>\n In fact, a 2023 advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration<\/a>\u00a0(FDA) unanimously concluded that current data does not support the effectiveness of oral phenylephrine as a decongestant. In November 2024, the FDA even proposed removing oral phenylephrine from its list of approved over-the-counter ingredients for nasal congestion relief \u2013 not\u00a0because the agency deems it unsafe, but because it says the drug simply doesn\u2019t work as intended.<\/p>\n At the same time, nasal-spray versions of phenylephrine may still provide short-term benefit because they act directly on nasal tissues, bypassing the body\u2019s metabolic barriers. Many nasal sprays<\/a> also use other active ingredients such as oxymetazoline\u00a0or xylometazoline, which can further provide temporary relief.<\/p>\n