Vicks Personal Steam Inhaler for Targeted, Natural Steam Relief for Allergies, Congestion, Cough & Colds, and Sinus Irritation, Use with VapoPads - 1 Included, FSA & HSA Eligible

I got my Vicks Steam Inhaler a few days ago. I had been choosing between it and the Mabis one. However, the latter costs $20 more so I decided to go with this one considering almost identical review ratings. I would rate it with 4.5 starts, not with 5. There is still a little room for improvement. It is pretty compact and quick. It starts producing steam in about 4 minutes. Yes, you can regulate the amount of steam. But I found that hot air makes me breath faster and, as a result, there is not enough steam produced by the machine between my breaths. Fortunately, I came up with a nice and simple solution. The mask has a few holes in it to mix the steam with some fresh air. If I cover with my fingers some or all three holes I get enough steam with every inhalation. It's pretty convenient, at least, for me and allows to (manually) regulate the amount of steam.Another thing important for me was a possibility to use oil. Neither Vicks or Mabis inhaler assume that you can directly add aroma oil to water. Both brands sale their own inhaler pads designed to work with their machines. But the choice of oils is very limited. By the way, the Vicks Inhaler comes with a disposable pad good for one time use. Some people reported that they had still added a few drops of oil. For some it worked fine, for the others it didn't work that well screwing in some way the water heating surface. What I did is I bought this refill kit (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XPX1HG) and it's been working great for me. You can put a pad directly on the plastic thing with the holes the steam comes out. The only difference with the original pad is form but it works great. It does not mess with the water heating surface and you can refill those cotton pads with any oil you want. For the future, I'm going to buy cotton pads and oil separately. I prefer to use calendula and there is no pads or kits coming with calendula extract.

The unit is approximately 8-1/2 inches high and 5-1/2 inches wide, It has an on/off switch, soft inhaler hood, and air flow levers to adjust the steam flow. It is easy to fill with water and clean after use. We followed the advice of another post, and bought some 100% cotton make up removers/cleansing rounds by Equate they're 60 to a package, and cost $2.37. Then we bought a 4 ounce bottle of the KAZ liquid inhalant, it's cost was $2.38. I made a small hole in the center of one of the flat round cotton pads and lightly dabbed a little of the inhalant around the surface of the pad. Then placed the pad over the center post. The pads are slightly larger than the sample (1) KAZ aromatic inhalant pad that came with the unit. You can trim them to fit or tuck them in around the inside of the inhaler hood. We kept our face 3 to 4 inches off the soft inhaler hood and breathed in the soothing vapors. The steam vapors can get very hot, so keep a comfortable distance away, and adjust the steam flow with the flow levers around the inhaler hood. This unit works very well giving a 5 to 15 minute treatment depending on the amount of water added to the reservoir. Both my wife and I used the inhaler with very good results. It really does help clear the sinuses when you suffer with a cold or allergies. We are both very happy with the product. Hope this helped.

Like I said in the title, it works. It works well! But it gets crusty very fast.I use this for two reasons: for one, as a singer, I need to keep my vocal cords hydrated even in Midwestern miserable dry and cold seasons. This gives me targeted relief. Your throat-coat teas are nice, but don't actually help hydrate your vocal cords. This does. Plus, if your sinuses aren't clear, they will be, because you'll get the impossibly gross experience of all your phlegm suddenly leaking out of your skull as the steam permeates. Yummy.For two, we learned the hard way that running whole-home vaporizers damages our furnace. If we can't create a more comfortable macroenvironment, I need this little thing to at least ease my microenvironment.It takes a little time to heat up, but once it does, you get a good 20 minutes of steam. Hold your head over it and just breathe it in. Read a book or something. I sit at the kitchen table with this on and do crosswords. It needs to rest on something stable and flat, so it's not something to have in your lap while lying on the couch, but it's fine for sitting at the table.Maybe it's because of Iowa water, though, but you have to scrub limey grit off after pretty much every use even if you filter your water.That's really it - it gets crusty quickly, and I'd like it if the cords were longer.Otherwise? It does the job and cuts down on the notorious Midwestern winter bleeding sinuses.

The media could not be loaded. It is working great , easy to assemble and easy to use

I bought this steam inhaler hoping for some sinus relief, but honestly, I think I accidentally booked my nose a luxury spa treatment. As soon as I fired this thing up, I half expected soft music to start playing and cucumbers to magically appear on my eyes.The steam hits just right—like a warm, cozy cloud hugging my face. One session in and my sinuses went from feeling like overstuffed luggage to the picture of clear, breezy perfection. I swear I could smell colors afterward.The little mask fits snugly and makes me feel like I’m part of some high-tech facial experiment… in a good way! My family laughed at how ridiculous I looked, but jokes on them—my breathing now has main character energy.If you’re battling sinus congestion, or just want an excuse to feel like you’re in a sci-fi movie every time you inhale, this is the gadget for you. 5/5, would steam my face into oblivion again. 💨✨