Garlic in Your Nose: Is It Safe?

A viral moment on TikTok instructs you to place a couple of garlic cloves up your nostrils to clear clogged nasal passages. Still, it is not safe to put garlic in your nose for your sinuses. Not only does putting garlic in your nose irritate your mucus membranes, creating more mucus, but it also poses a choking hazard, irritation, and infection if garlic cloves get stuck in your nostrils.

“Garlic itself is not going to exactly help with that nasal congestion,” Katie Phillips, MD, an otolaryngologist specializing in head and neck surgery, told Health. Garlic cloves block your sinuses instead of clearing them and may increase mucus production. 

Congestion happens when the blood vessels inside your nose cause the tissue lining your nostrils to swell.

“When you’re congested, you do have a lot of mucus,” said Dr. Phillips. 

All of that mucus builds up in your nose. You may feel like you are not getting enough air through your nose or have a lot of mucus dripping down the back of your throat or the front of your nose.

“If you’re blocking the ability of the sinuses to drain, you’re going to get a backup of mucus,” noted Dr. Phillips.

Your mucus drains out of your nostrils once you remove the obstruction—in this instance, garlic cloves. Garlic also irritates some of your mucus membranes, which may increase mucus production.

People often consume garlic to prevent viral infections, including colds and the flu. A review published in 2020 noted that garlic has compounds that may help protect against viral infections. Still, there’s insufficient evidence to determine whether eating garlic can prevent or treat cold symptoms like a stuffy nose.

Not only does inserting garlic in your nose not work very well, but the method poses several safety hazards.

Putting garlic in your nose may:

• Be a choking hazard: An object like garlic cloves may pose a choking hazard if it travels down the back of your throat. Garlic cloves may cause trouble breathing if they travel to your trachea, or windpipe, and you accidentally inhale them.
• Cause garlic cloves to get stuck: “You’re putting something in your nose that has the potential to get stuck there,” which could damage your nasal cavity, said Dr. Phillips. Damage may include pain in your nose and trouble breathing. 
• Cause infection: Bloody nasal discharge that smells foul may be a sign of an infection if you get a garlic clove stuck in your nose. 
• Irritate your nose: Swelling may occur if a garlic clove absorbs water from the tissue lining your nostrils. Swelling may irritate your nose, causing bleeding and ulcers. 

The National Center on Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) does not mention sticking garlic in your nose to alleviate congestion.

Instead, here are safe ways to alleviate congestion at home:

• Apply a moist, warm washcloth to your face.
• Apply adhesive strips, which widen your nostrils to help you breathe, to your nose.
• Breathe in steam two to four times daily.
• Drink plenty of fluids.
• Keep your head elevated by sitting upright.
• Take medicines that help treat a stuffy nose, such as antihistamines and decongestants, as directed on the label. 
• Try using a humidifier or vaporizer.

Some evidence suggests that rinsing your nose with saline may ease upper respiratory tract infection symptoms. Be sure to clean your rinsing device properly between each use. Experts advise using a saline nasal spray at least a few times daily to help clear your nasal passages.

You may have something else going on if irrigating your nose does not relieve congestion. For example, some sinus infections caused by bacteria may require antibiotics.

“There’s a whole host of reasons why your nose may be congested,” said Dr. Phillips. “If over-the-counter fixes are not working for you, then talking to [a healthcare provider] would be the next step.”