When children have a bad cold, parents often put humidifiers or vaporizers in their rooms to try to relieve congestion. But, sadly, this practice can provide comfort, but in reality it is not effective. Cold and flu symptoms usually include a sore throat and nasal congestion. Both vaporizers and humidifiers can help relieve throat irritation and congestion by adding moisture to the air.
Humidifiers add moisture to the air. Cool mist humidifiers can help relieve coughs and congestion due to a cold. Some research has found that warm humidifiers don't help relieve cold symptoms. According to Mayo Clinic, humidifiers come in either steam or cold steam varieties (the latter is also known as a vaporizer).
Regarding which is ideal for an acute cough caused by a cold, Mayo Clinic notes that cool mist humidifiers may help, while humidifiers with heat may not be. However, Mayo Clinic adds, more research is needed to confirm this. I have never used a Vicks vaporizer or any other vaporizer, but I would love to try it for my daughter. That said, the steam produced by steam vaporizers can be more hygienic, since the water is boiled before leaving the machine.
No, I haven't used a hot steam vaporizer before, but I would certainly like to use a Vicks hot steam vaporizer if I could.
