Q: Nasal sprays assist with my seasonal allergy symptoms, however I’ve heard they are often addictive. Is that true? And what ought to I do if I feel I’m hooked?
It’s a difficulty that has been joked about on social media and on comedy exhibits like “Saturday Night Live” and “Family Guy”: When you begin utilizing sure nasal sprays, it’s difficult to cease.
Some energetic components can certainly create additional stuffiness, inflicting “the compulsion to make use of it time and again for reduction,” mentioned Dr. Edward McCoul, an ear, nostril and throat physician at Ochsner Well being in New Orleans.
Dr. McCoul mentioned that an estimated 9 p.c of individuals visiting E.N.T. physicians have what is known as rhinitis medicamentosa, or “rebound congestion” — that means that their sinuses turn out to be even stuffier than they had been earlier than utilizing the sprays.
The ensuing repeated want for nasal spray isn’t technically thought-about an habit, mentioned Dr. Jonathan Bernstein, an allergist and immunologist in Cincinnati. The spray would wish to vary an individual’s mind chemistry to suit the official definition.
However the bodily dependence is an actual phenomenon. When the blood vessels in your nostril get too accustomed to sure sprays, you’ll be able to wind up feeling as if you couldn’t breathe with out them.
