Safe, Inexpensive Sinus Problems Treatment Available

A new study describes an inexpensive, safe and easy treatment for chronic nasal and sinus symptoms that is more effective than commonly used saline sprays.

Researchers from the University of Michigan Health System (U-M, Detroit, USA) examined 121 adults with chronic nasal and sinus symptoms, Sixty of these patients were treated for eight weeks with saline irrigation and 61 were treated with saline spray. The severity of their symptoms was measured with the 20-Item Sino-Nasal Outcome Test, and the frequency of symptoms was measured with a questionnaire.

The results showed that the irrigation group's average score on the severity test had dropped by more points than the spray group's average at intervals of two weeks, four weeks and eight weeks (4.4 points lower at two weeks, 8.2 points lower at four weeks, and 6.4 points lower at eight weeks). Frequency of symptoms also improved in both groups, though more for the irrigation group. While 61% of the spray group reported having symptoms often or always after the eight-week study, just 40% of the irrigation group did. Both groups experienced adverse effects, with more reported in the irrigation group. Most were minor, however, and none required that the treatment be stopped. The most commonly reported adverse effect was post-treatment drainage. The study was published in the November 2007 issue of Archives of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery.

"The irrigation group achieved a clinically significant improvement in quality of life in terms of the severity of their symptoms, whereas the spray group did not,” said lead author Melissa A. Pynnonen, M.D., a clinical assistant professor in the department of otolaryngology. "Strikingly, they also experienced 50% lower odds of frequent nasal symptoms compared with the spray group.”

Flushing of nasal passages with a salt-water mixture has long been used as a treatment following sinus surgery, and more recently is becoming common in non-surgical patients. The authors of this study say their findings suggest that otolaryngologists and primary care physicians should recommend this treatment to their patients more often.


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