Overusing nasal sprays for decongestion could backfire with people developing rebound nasal congestion instead, an otolaryngologist has warned.
Many people are currently suffering allergies with the advent of spring and a raised pollen count.
Huang Hung-meng (黃弘孟), director of the otolaryngology department at Taipei City Hospital, said yesterday that a 57-year-old woman allergic to dust, dust mites and cold air, has been suffering from allergic rhinitis — an inflammation of the nose’s airways.
She bought a nasal spray over the counter that shrinks blood vessels in the nasal air passages.
The woman used the spray whenever she had a stuffy nose and kept the decongestant on hand for more than two weeks, Huang said.
The woman was later diagnosed with rebound nasal congestion, with the spray aggravating the stuffiness. She was administered with a low-dose steroid nasal spray to treat the symptons.
The director said the nasal spray works by shrinking blood vessels to clear a stuffy nose, but does not work so well on a runny nose.
Huang cautioned against its continuous use of more than 10 days.
Low-dose steroid nasal spray relieves the symptoms of nose inflammation, but it works more slowly and is shunned by many patients due to a common misconception that the steroid impacts other parts of the body, he said.
Huang, who suffers from allergic rhinitis himself, and has even undergone surgery as a result, said that antihistamines, decongestant pseudoephedrine and steroid nasal spray are the common drugs for the ailment, each with its own benefits and risks.
It is estimated that one in every four people is affected by allergic rhinitis in the country.
Surgery is also an option for those with nasal septum deviation or turbinate hypertrophy, which both cause nasal obstruction, he added.
Early spring brings with it pollens, molds and smog, and is the peak season for allergic rhinitis, the Taiwan Rhinology Society said yesterday.
The society has published a new version of a handbook for the public to better understand the disease and possible treatment.
Society secretary-general Tai Chih-jaan (戴志展), an otolaryngologist at the China Medical University Hospital, said oral antihistamines should be used before nasal sprays, and a balanced diet, regular exercise and avoiding allergens could also help keep the condition at bay.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) mention of Taiwan’s official name during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Wednesday was likely a deliberate political play, academics said. “As I see it, it was intentional,” National Chengchi University Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies professor Wang Hsin-hsien (王信賢) said of Ma’s initial use of the “Republic of China” (ROC) to refer to the wider concept of “the Chinese nation.” Ma quickly corrected himself, and his office later described his use of the two similar-sounding yet politically distinct terms as “purely a gaffe.” Given Ma was reading from a script, the supposed slipup
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
The bodies of two individuals were recovered and three additional bodies were discovered on the Shakadang Trail (砂卡礑) in Taroko National Park, eight days after the devastating earthquake in Hualien County, search-and-rescue personnel said. The rescuers reported that they retrieved the bodies of a man and a girl, suspected to be the father and daughter from the Yu (游) family, 500m from the entrance of the trail on Wednesday. The rescue team added that despite the discovery of the two bodies on Friday last week, they had been unable to retrieve them until Wednesday due to the heavy equipment needed to lift