The medical term of Nonallergic rhinitis describes a specific set of symptoms, which resemble with nasal allergies and hay fever. However, in this case, the problems take place without any cause. This type of rhinitis produces a few of the common symptoms, which include runny nose, postnasal drip, stuffy nose and sneezing.
In most of the cases, nonallergic rhinitis develops during adulthood and symptoms may last for many years. The only difference between allergic and nonallergic rhinitis is that nonallergic one does not have the involvement of one’s immune system.(1)
What Is The Prognosis For Nonallergic Rhinitis?
Indeed, the question that strikes in our mind is what is the prognosis or how we can live with nonallergic rhinitis. For this, we have to discuss the complications of the problem, which include the following-
Sinusitis: Most of the patients suffering from running nose or any other type of nasal allergy often suffer from sinusitis. As the name highlights, it refers to swelling or inflammation of various tissues, which line your sinuses.
Dysfunction Of Eustachian Tubes: Eustachian tubes are responsible to connect one’s middle ears towards the back area of the throat. If a patient suffers from nonallergic rhinitis, he or she may likely deal with the dysfunction of Eustachian tubes.
Otitis Media: Otitis Media refers to a middle ear infection that often takes place in nonallergic rhinitis patients. The middle ear refers to the space behind one’s eardrum, which stapes pick vibrations and pass them to the inner area of ears. Middle ear affects in most of the cases because it accompanies varieties of respiratory infections, including the flu and common cold. Also, your middle ear remains to connect with the upper respiratory tract via a small channel i.e. Eustachian tube.
Other Complications: Besides the mentioned ones, a few individuals suffering from nonallergic rhinitis may have a few other problems, such as anosmia i.e. smell loss, obstructive sleep apnea and asthma.
Adverse Effects Of Rhinitis In Patients: Along with the aforementioned complications, you should know the adverse effects of rhinitis and related complications to determine its prognosis. Accordingly, nonallergic rhinitis patients often have-
- Reduced productivity levels at office or work
- Increased numbers of doctors’ appointment
- Side effects from various treatment procedures, like nosebleed, drowsiness and nasal dryness.(1)
Considering the mentioned aspects of nonallergic rhinitis, we should say that the problem makes your daily life difficult.
Home Remedies For Nonallergic Rhinitis
Nonallergic rhinitis is an incurable type of disease. However, you may follow a few of the home remedies to manage your symptoms. These include-
Nasal Irrigation: Nasal irrigation is an effective home remedy to deal with the nonallergic type of rhinitis. Also known as nasal lavage, in this procedure, you have to use a saltwater/saline solution to rinse your nasal passages. You may find nasal sprays in the pre-packaged form in most of the drugstores or you may try it by using neti post device. If you opt to use a neti pot to use nasal irrigation, you should make sure to use sterile and distilled water, which is cooled and boiled in advance. Also, you should filter the neti pot for preventing dangerous infections.
Make Sure To Lubricate The Nasal Passages: Other than nasal irrigation, you should never forget keeping your nasal passages healthy and properly lubricated. For this, we recommend you utilize a humidifier.
Reduce The Nasal Inflammation: You should make sure to intake water in an adequate amount and other related non-caffeinated fluids to encourage the drainage of mucus from your nose. This step also helps you in reducing the problem of nasal inflammation.
Use of Capsaicin: Capsaicin is derived chili peppers and it sometimes acts as an effective treatment to deal with nonallergic rhinitis by improving your nasal symptoms. You may get capsaicin in the form of OTC nasal spray. However, you have to consult with your doctor before trying it.(2)
Conclusion
To conclude, we should say that nonallergic rhinitis if left untreated or unmanageable may cause many complications followed by difficulty in doing daily activities of life.
However, the positive thing, in this case, is that you may easily manage the problem to some extent by applying a few of the mentioned home remedies.
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