Getting all Steamy (Karvol Vaporiser)

Member Name: cmh4135

Product:	Karvol Vaporiser
Date:	31/10/08 (204 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Continuous action and no mess

Disadvantages: Expensive compared to regular decongestants

Traditionally decongestant products have been in the form of drops, capsules or rubs that are applied to the chest, a hankie or bedding so as to aid breathing and sleep. However, many of these suffer the same problem, they just don't last the full night and, whilst their scent might still be present in the morning (and sometimes for days to come) their effectiveness declines within a few hours.

Faced with a toddler who was struggling to breathe, and therefore, sleep an alternative had to be found. I recall that, as a child, I had something called a Vaporiser. It was made by Vicks and comprised an oil-lamp style burner which was used to heat some smelly stuff and the vapours filled the room. Thankfully, we've come a little further than naked flames in kid's rooms and one can now get a new breed of vaporiser - a plug in.

Having had success with Karvol capsules I decided that, faced with a choice of this, Vicks or a Calpol I'd go for the Karvol version. This decision was also made easier by the fact that the Karvol version was the only one that didn't require a daily "cartridge" change.

The device itself is rather like a small plug-in air-freshener. About the size of an average mobile phone charger it plugs into an empty socket and, when turned on emits soothing and clearing vapours.

The vapours are produced from small cartridges that are inserted into the plug. In the Karvol version each cartridge will last for 3 night's use. I've found this to be accurate and, in fact, I'd say that they probably last slightly longer - I turned the unit on about 6pm each night and off again anytime between 6 and 7am the following morning.

The unit will take about 30 minutes to heat up sufficiently to release the vapours. At first I was a little concerned that the unit might get too hot but, although warm to the touch, there was no danger of burning. Of course, you should always take care with electricals and children!

The vapours released really do fill the room and are of an equivalent strength to a freshly opened Karvol capsule. They don't, as I worried, build up to an unacceptable level. When in use this vaporiser really does seem to have eased my son's congestion and we've had relatively calm nights as a result.

A certain amount of strength is required to insert the cartridges into the plug, the end of the cartridge is used to open the plug unit but, once open, the cartridge is inserted easily. The fact that the plug is hard to open gives me comfort that a child could not "accidently" open the unit and ingest the oils.

Retailing at around £6 (as of October 2008) and coming with 3 capsules, this is not a cheap unit but it's much more effective than the plain capsules for heavy congestion. You're looking at £2 for 3 good night's sleep - that's priceless. Refills are slightly cheaper but not by a lot.

There's no mess, and no risk of staining fabrics (as with oils) and, I suspect, you could operate this on a timer so you could really minimise the effort!

Recently this unit proved a God-send. I'd recommend it.

Summary: A great help for congested toddlers!