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 Inhaling steam, on the other hand, eased sinus headache symptoms for
some, but had little benefit otherwise.
“Previous studies of nasal irrigation have shown benefit, but those
studies were much smaller and involved more intensive coaching and
support, not using brief pragmatic interventions in the kind of
typical primary care settings we deal with,” said lead author Dr.
Paul Little, professor of primary care research at the University of
Southampton.
Patients only got relatively small benefit in symptom relief from
nasal irrigation, Little told Reuters Health by email, but, “even
with a very brief intervention patients get benefit for symptoms,
are empowered in their management, use fewer over the counter
remedies, and are less likely to want to see the doctor in future
episodes.”
Chronic sinus infection may affect as many as 25 million people in
the U.S. and antibiotic treatment is often not effective, the
authors write in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
To test two commonly recommended home remedies, the researchers
recruited 871 adult patients from primary care practices in the U.K.
who had a history of ongoing sinus inflammation with a moderate to
severe impact on their quality of life, and divided them into four
groups.
One group continued with their usual care, one was instructed to
perform daily nasal irrigation based on an instructional video, one
was told to do daily steam inhalation and the last group was
instructed to do both nasal irrigation and steam inhalation.
The nasal irrigation group used a neti pot, which costs less than
$50, and rinsed each nostril daily with a saline solution they mixed
themselves, consisting of water, salt and baking soda.
All the participants completed questionnaires about nasal symptoms
at the start of the study, then again three and six months later.
Symptoms scores decreased for all groups, but moreso for people who
were using nasal irrigation than for those who weren’t. Most of this
benefit was seen in the group combining nasal irrigation and steam
inhalation, but steam inhalation alone did not appear to improve any
symptoms other than headache.
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At the six-month point, 44 percent of people using nasal irrigation
maintained improvements in a 10-point score for rhinosinusitis
symptoms. That compared with 37 percent not using nasal irrigation.
Also at six months, 59 percent of those using nasal irrigation were
using over the counter medications for their sinus symptoms,
compared with 68 percent in the groups not using irrigation.
Nasal irrigation helps flush out infected secretions which cause
stuffiness, inflammation and pain, Little said.
“The exact mechanism by which irrigation works is unknown but
probably contributes several different means: flushing away toxins,
pollutants, and allergens present on the surface of the mucosa and
humidifying mucosa which may become dry as a result of winter cold
air or air-conditioning,” said Dr. Martin Desrosiers at the
University of Montreal in Canada, who was not part of the study.
Steam inhalation may just be ineffective, or “it could be that it is
difficult to get steam more effectively to the sinus openings in the
way that nasal irrigation can,” Little said.
“Based on our data there were no adverse effects (of steam
inhalation) but equally no clear benefits,” and on balance he would
not recommend people try it, Little said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2a8Ropx Canadian Medical Association Journal,
online July 18, 2016.
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