14 Unavoidable Side Effects of Long Term Use of Nose Spray

No one like being sick. Even if it’s just a simple cold or flu that everyone has at least once a year, it’s still uncomfortable. Especially when your nose is running and distracting you during your work, or even worse, exam. Besides it’s hard to breathe, it’s also uncomfortable to have such wet nose, right? This has lure many people to find a solution to deal with running nose. When both blowing nose and holding it in just doesn’t seem to be enough, medication is the other alternative that most people choose. One of the alternative that people mostly choose is nose spray. However, do they know what a nose spray actually is? What are the side effects of long term use of nose spray that relieve their running nose all this time?

Nose Spray

Just like how it is called, spray, this medication is used by spraying it. It’s inhaled through the nose to treat runny nose, allergies, as well as the answer to how to stop running nose in cold weather. When you have a runny nose, the thing that actually happen inside your nose is inflammation in your nasal passages. Here, nose spray works by shrinking the swollen blood vessels that at the end, relieve your runny nose and help you to breathe normally.

There are few types of nasal spray that are classified by its ingredients :

• Saline : Saltwater rinse that works like mucus and help to flush out excess mucus at the same time. When your nose inhaled too much irritants, saline spray will clean it out .
• Steroid : If saline spray works by cleaning out irritants and excessive mucus, steroid sprays will help reduce the swelling.
• Antihistamine : When a nose spray contain antihistamine, it’s best used for swelling caused by allergic immune response.
• Decongestant : For those with cold or flu, this spray might be the most suitable one. It works by shrinking the swollen blood vessels to avoid blocking in the nasal passages.

Side Effects of Long-Term Use

Simply inhaling these fancy nose sprays and find out that your nose has stopped running is indeed a good thing. It’s a lot faster and easier than blowing your nose most of the time. It could also help you to sleep easier and faster since you can breathe easily. It might also be a lot more simple than trying to follow how to stop running nose in the morning that are safe for your nose. However, one thing to note down is that nothing in this world come without any consequences. What you shouldn’t miss out is that the use of nasal spray might affect you in another way that you wouldn’t like. Here are the side effects of long term use of nose spray that you should lookout :

1.Rebound congestion

When you use nose spray for too much and too long, you might end up having a rebound congestion instead of feeling better. Well, of course you will feel a lot better at first, but if you keep inhaling it over and over, you’ll end up getting this risk. It might not be an addiction at times, but it’s more like a dependence. After the use of nose spray, you breathe well, yet after you’re not using it, you feel stuffy again.

When you try to use spray again, the same dose will not work, you have to add the frequency and dosage of the nose spray for it to works. Then when you don’t use the spray again, your nose swells and become runny again. What a cycle that you would definitely want to avoid.

2.Stinging

Your nose is sensitive, indeed. When you expose it to nose spray for too much, especially for the decongestant and steroid types too much, you might end up stinging your nasal passages. This can become terrible and distract you from doing your activities effectively.

3.Burning of the nasal passages

With all of the chemical ingredients that you can find in a nose spray, you might end up harming your nasal passages. If you use the nose sprays for too much and too often, you might feel as if your nasal passages is burning.

4.Irritation

Although saline spray might be the safest one, or the one that has the less side effects from the other, it still has something to do with your nose if you overuse it. The preservatives that saline sprays contain is the problem here. It might cause irritation, especially if your nose is inflamed.

5.Dryness

Although the use of nose spray could help to moisturize the nose in some dosage, it could be reversed through long-term use. You might end up having dry nose, that could affect your nose’s skin in many ways. Dry nose will of course, feel uncomfortable and prone to further irritation.

6.Allergic reaction

When someone’s going  to use a medication, the first thing that they need to reconsider is whether they can bear the ingredients of the medication of not. Some people are just too prone to some ingredients that make them end up with allergic reaction.

The reactions themselves could vary from rash, hives, peeling skin, fever, tightness in the chest or throat, trouble breathing, swelling of the mouth, etc.

7.Nausea

We can hardly guess what can a medication give to you. You might end up having this reaction of nausea when you overuse a nose spray. It’s better to quit using nose spray if you feel such effects. Of course it doesn’t mean a good thing when a medication give you nausea instead of relief, right?

Other Side Effects (8-14)

There are other thing that could happen to you due to overuse of nose spray, such as :

• Throat irritation : Your nose and throat are connected someway somehow. Long term use of nose spray might end up giving you throat irritation due to its chemical contain.
• Nasal pain : With all of the side effects that could happen to someone who use too much of nasal spray, they’re in conclusion having nasal pain.
• Increased mucus : When an irritation occurs, a dryness comes in, there’s a high probability for the mucus inside the nose to increase its productions as the reaction.
• Dizziness : When thing goes wrong with your nose, you might also feel dizzy. It could happen as an allergic reaction or as a side effects to the nasal pain.
• Headache : This is one of the withdrawal symptoms that you might get when you’re getting dependent on the spray.
• Tiredness : Although it’s not an addiction, it’s a dependence. The withdrawal will not be easy for it might cause you to feel tired and restless.
• Nose bleed : Overuse of nose spray can be the reasons why you have a nose bleed. When the effects and pain the nose spray gives you become too much and overwhelming, your nose might end up bleeding. This is a serious indication of side effects that tell you that there’s something wrong with the use of the spray. Make sure you know just how to treat a nosebleed at home.

All of the effects mentioned above are the side effects of long term use of nose spray that you might experience. Avoid those effects by using nose spray properly and as prescribed from your doctor.

Maximize the use of a medication by using it wisely and of course, not too much. It might also be better to find natural ways to get rid of stuffy nose without medication that probably takes more time yet are safe for you and your nose. Keep healthy!