Nasal Screens - Pick-A-Size and Quantity Packs (1-Pack, Medium)

I ordered Air by #M and the First Defense product. My daughter and I both suffer from allergies and while taking medication helps, it doesn't make all of our symptoms go away. While wearing a face mask is often done in other countries, I wasn't comfortable with doing that. So I thought I'd try these more discreet products.The nasal screens by First Defense were my next trial. These were much easier to install (actually you just apply them gently to the outside of the nose. No pain! Yeah! I managed to get them off just right the first time. While some say you can't feel them at all, I could but only as much as you would expect from a thin soft bandaid on your face. After about 30 minutes, I forgot they were there. Hours later I went to my daughter's school to pick her up. Then the fun began! She's 12 and was horrified that I was outside the house with "bandaids" on my nose. Well you know how overly dramatic pre-teens can be. :)As we were going out for a after-school snack in a restaurant, I decided to take them off. I did worry that this part would be painful as after all it is attached like a bandaid is. Well I gently and slowly took one off at a time and .... no pain. Wouldn't say it felt good to take it off but it certainly didn't hurt. When we got home, I had to talk my daughter into trying them on. She is the one in the family with the worst allergies. We have pets (one dog and one cat) and she has to take allergy pills every day all year long. (PLEASE KNOW THAT I'M NOT A BAD OR UNCARING MOTHER. SHE CRIES WHENEVER I SUGGEST WE GET RID OF ONE OF THE OTHER PET.). Well I don't like her taking medication every day, so I was really hopefully that one of these two products would work. I explained that she would only be wearing them in the house. And if after a few days, she didn't notice any difference, then I'd let her "off the hook" and she wouldn't have to wear them anymore.She tried the nasal screens by First Defense and made a bit of a fuss at first. But an hour later, the doorbell rang. She sprung to her feet hoping it was her best friend who lives across the street. It was the UPS man and she just politely took the package from him. About an hour later she realized that she'd answered the door with "those things" on her nose. She was mortified! Oh the drama!As the evening wore on, she did have to take them off a few time to blow her nose. But she wasn't sneezing. She always sneezes, but not that evening. Also, she was able to put the same pair back on 3 times. The sticky part probably was getting less effective but they stayed on just fine. She even slept in them (again she'd forgotten they were there). In the morning, miraculously one was still in place! Remember she'd taken the same pair off and put them back on about 4 times (last removal was to wash her face before bed) by the time she went to bed - and she's a wiggly worm in bed. Bed time is usually the hardest for her allergies as both pets sleep with her. The normal situation is she sneezes and sneezes, blows her nose about 10 times before she finally gets to sleep. This night, no sneezing and no nose blowing! Success?!?!The next day, she just put them on after school (no fuss), again had to take them off a few times to blow her nose (probably from allergens that she inhaled during the day when she wasn't wearing the First Defense screens. Within 2 hours of getting home, no runny nose, no sneezing - even at bed time!Flash forward a few days - my (adult) experience: I wear the First Defense product while at home but do take them off when I leave the house as they are easy to see and in our culture, people just don't go out in public with things on our nose or masks. I sleep in them. There is no pain or discomfort and they really do tremendously help my allergies.Flash forward - my drama queen 12 year old daughter with serious allergy problems: She happily applies them when she gets home. Sleeps in them (they now stay on just fine as she isn't having to remove them multiple times to blow her nose anymore). And ... drum roll..... her allergies have gone from about an 8 (10 being worst and 1 being best) all the way down to a 2!!!! And she isn't taking allergy pills every day anymore! Now she should just need allergy medications during seasonal allergy times (as she understandably won't wear the nasal screens to school). So while I can't completely get her off allergy medication, she will only have to take them a few months out of the year rather than 365 days/year!Air by 3M: We also tried Air by 3M nasal screens. I was hopeful when it arrived and immediately opened tried one on. Ouch!!! It is made for people with very large nostrils. It was painful to get it and once it was in it was extremely comfortable. It actually felt like it was going to make my nose raw. I'm not a sissy but I kept dealing with the pain/discomfort thinking that it would get better. I couldn't take it for more than 5 minutes. Seriously! The piece that goes in your nose has two ridges (I guess they think they are there to hold it in place) but it was so large it certainly wasn't going anywhere. And those ridges just down-right hurt! Then when I went to take it out, they made taking it out even more painful than getting it in. It was such a terrible experience that I just threw out the box. I'm a grown female adult with a normal sized nose and nostrils. I certainly wasn't going to try his on my 12 year old daughter! I'd actually give this product zero stars if I could as not only was it useless but it was painful!Conclusion regarding First Defense nasal screens: 5 starsConclusion regarding Air by 3M: 0 stars - too large and painful to even get to use

Value for money: it's expensive. Only 7 pairs come in a pack that's just around $11. If they weren't cost prohibitive, I'd wear them every day and change them out more frequently for comfort.Comfort: depends on how well you put them on. You need to figure out what positioning and angles work best for your nose/nostrils shape and size. Based on other reviews, initially I got the medium size and while small may work, I'm sticking with medium for now. While applying, it's easy to get a folded crease that sticks onto itself, and that can be annoying. The first few times I was very aware of wearing the filters, but now I forget they are on. Same with my perception of breathability whilw wearing them - I felt severity restricted and compelled to immediately take them off the first time I wore them and went on a brisk walk (under a face mask), but that also vastly improved after a few uses. I regularly wear them outside under a face mask and have no trouble breathing comfortably through my nose. That being said, just like the mask, they will cause some airflow constriction, but it's completely functional once you get used to them. For anyone struggling, I'd recommend slowing down your breathing and taking a few deep breaths; the filters make fast, shallow, quick breathing more difficult, but deep slow breaths are still very comfortable. Also, make sure the sticky part never covers any part of the opening of your nostril, even the tiniest area will restrict airflow greatly, because you're basically taping off that area of the the nostral opening. To put them on, I place a filter on my index finger like a contact lens, then I center it to the middle of one nostril without touching, make the nostril as wide as I can, then touch the non sticky part of the filter against the nostril opening, and then follow the sticky edge of the filter to ensure it makes contact all around. If there's a bump or a crease, it can be left alone, but it bothers me, so I'll gently lift only that sticky side and smooth it out.Adhesion: They stay on without an issues 6-8 hours. I have even showered with them on without getting them wet, and they stayed on. My skin is very sensitive to EVERYTHING, thankfully the adhesive is not an issues yet. But the adhesive + accumulating dust/sweat can make it itchy after wearing for hours; I use that as a reminder to take them off.DO NOT attempt to apply after using any kind of lotion/cream/oil on your face or fingers. Just like a bandaid or any tape, the adhesive will not work. Blot the area with a paper tissue, wait 15-20 minutes, then apply.Effectiveness: high. I suffer from hay fever and allergy induced asthma, my lungs are VERY sensitive to ozone and I live in a busy city area...these filters definitely help to reduce my sensitivity to allergens both outdoors and indoors. I'll still take an antihistamine and use nazonex or saline nasal sprays plus allergy eye drops daily, but without these filters none of that makes a difference on bad days. Very happy with the results.

They work well for me, and the medium size is plenty big enough for my nostril shape and size.My only issue is that the creator doesn’t seem to get that people can’t give up meds and use these more often, if they can’t afford them.The price of these per use/2 stickers is exorbitant, seeing how the package is around $12 for 7 days of the product. These can’t be that prohibitively expensive that they can’t give a month supply for a reasonable price. I suppose you could reuse them, but they’re not intended to be reused and they often can’t be.Great idea, but the price tag and insanely small quantity given per package renders it fairly useless, as it is now. Give 25/pkg and charge $24.95 and they’re still making a pretty penny for perforated adhesives for people’s nostrils, but they’re worth it if they work for us. 👃🏼

Really hard to breath with these on

Be prepared to have a hard time positioning this product. It comes mounted to a clear plastic sheet. Removing a nasal screen from it is a little like playing with fly paper. The material is so thin, you can easily cause the material to stick to itself and or your finger which can ruin it. Then there is the user experience. Using these made my nose feel stuffy...like when you have a cold. Not cool. Finally, I cleaned the nasal area with soap, dried it throughly in the hope this would allow the screens to stay on during the night which is necessary when sleeping with a partner who has a cold and you want protection. Epic fail. It didn't last through the night.