How to relieve allergic rhinitis? It is important to flush the nasal cavity properly

Autumn is a period of a high incidence of allergic rhinitis, and patients with allergic rhinitis have to face the stimulation of various inhaled allergens. At this time, most patients with allergic rhinitis will feel a strong discomfort. Nasal cavity irrigation is one of the common treatments for various diseases of the nasal cavity and sinuses. Many patients with rhinitis will wash their nasal cavity regularly at home. Why can rinsing the nose relieve rhinitis? How should we flush the nasal cavity correctly?

Allergic rhinitis is allergic rhinitis. The main symptoms are sudden and recurrent nasal congestion, nasal itching, sneezing, and runny nose. Patients often have a history of allergies. Pathogenesis is an allergic inflammatory response dominated by nasal mucosal immune response caused by external environmental factors acting on the human body. The main treatments for allergic rhinitis are oral and topical medications. The oral treatments for allergic rhinitis included in the National Non-Prescription Drug List are mainly chlorpheniramine, loratadine, and cyproheptadine, and the topical nasal drops are naphazoline. Nasal drops, oxymetazoline nasal drops, xerozoline nasal drops, and 1% ephedrine nasal drops. Sprays include oxymetazoline hydrochloride spray and compound naphazoline spray. However, these nasal drops containing vasoconstrictors should not be used continuously for more than 1 week, otherwise, it may cause drug-induced rhinitis.

Nasal flushing is a common method to dilute the nasal mucus, clean the nasal mucus, nasal scab, and allergens in the nasal cavity, and is suitable for allergic rhinitis, sinusitis, and acute upper respiratory tract infections. Both adults and minors are suitable for nasal irrigation. However, when otitis media or severe nasal congestion cannot be ventilated, nasal irrigation should not be used. In order to avoid possible contamination sources in the rinsing fluid, use distilled water, sterile water or boiled water for nasal rinsing. Because the bacteria in the tap water may stay in the nasal cavity and cause serious infections and even life-threatening. Therefore, if you use tap water to flush the nasal cavity, you must ensure that the tap water is pure to avoid accidental infection. Patients can also use a dedicated nasal irrigator and irrigation fluid.

When flushing the nasal cavity, tilt your body forward 45°, rotate your head so that one nostril faces down, and plug the water outlet into the higher nostril. During the nasal wash, you need to open your mouth to breathe to avoid choking your nose when you breathe. Try to let the water from the nasal rinse flow out from the other nostril. If the water enters the mouth, spit it out. After nasal rinsing, gently blow out the rinsing fluid remaining in the nasal cavity. It is recommended to rinse the nose once a day to help dilute the nasal discharge and reduce the backflow of the nasal discharge, which can remove the nasal discharge and allergens. After the nasal symptoms are relieved, you can continue to insist on nasal washing three times a week. The effect of nasal irrigation usually appears after 1-2 times. Continuous irrigation can make the effect more obvious, help to improve the symptoms of rhinitis, sinusitis, upper respiratory tract infection and nasal congestion, and improve the quality of life.