Photo : tridland ( Shutterstock )

Blocked sinuses are no fun—especially in 2020, when every single seasonal sniffle or sinus headache results in a new round of “is it allergies, or COVID?” Methods of dealing with sinus congestion will frequently require you to take a pill (or several), some of them with side effects that can act as a pretty strong deterrent.


But there’s a clever acupressure trick that might help solve your problem in just 20 seconds. It comes to us from an oldie-but-goodie Reddit thread from user gymfork:



Push your tongue against the top of your mouth and place a finger between your eyebrows and apply pressure. Hold it for about 20 seconds and your sinuses will begin to drain.


When you push your tongue against the roof of your mouth, don’t aim for a specific point but rather push it flat against the top. When you let go, you should start to feel a little movement in the back of your throat. It’s a very simple trick that gets the job done.

If that doesn’t work for you, there are a few other methods you can try, as suggested by SimplyHealth UK:



The joint near the bridge of your nose and eye socket is the area most affected by nasal congestion. Use your thumbs on the inner point of each eyebrow, in line with the side of the nose. Press for 30 seconds and release, repeat until you feel the pain relieve.

If the above isn’t enough, place both of your middle fingers beside each of your nostrils and your index fingers next to them. Press on both sides with your middle finger, hold for 30 seconds, then press on your index fingers for 30 seconds. Repeat until you feel a free flow of air in the nostrils.

If pushing on your face doesn’t work, SimplyHealth UK also notes that squeezing the webbing between your thumbs and forefingers with the opposite hand for 30 seconds each can help alleviate sinus pressure and tension headaches.

LPT: How to clear a blocked nose | Reddit



This post was originally published in September 2012 and updated in August 2020 by Joel Cunningham to provide more complete information and several additional remedies, and to revise the headline and add a new header image.