Your cold is long gone, but the need for your nasal spray lingers as without it, you simply can’t breathe. You’ve become too dependent on it! — dpa
Decongestant nasal sprays can save you from a restless night when a cold clogs up your nose, but pharmacists warn that this aid can be a slippery slope.
The leaflet that comes with it – if you read it – will tell you that a decongestant spray should not be used for longer than seven days in a row.
German pharmacist Alexander Schmitz advises even more caution.
He said that anyone with a blocked nose should give it up after four to five days, and use a moisturising seawater-based spray instead.
The reason is that the nasal mucosa quickly adapts to the active ingredients in the decongestant, which cause the blood vessels in the lining to constrict.
“At some point, you can’t breathe without the spray, so you have to make sure you always have it with you,” says Schmitz.
The pharmacist said he repeatedly encounters people who have developed a nasal spray dependency.
Coming off it can be hard, he says.
“After all, everyone wants to be able to breathe.”
Using a nasal spray after your cold has gone also has other unwanted effects.
Over time, decongestant sprays dry out the nasal mucosa.
“This not only risks bleeding, but also greater susceptibility to infection, because pathogens can penetrate more easily,” Schmitz explains.
Important protective functions of the nose will then work only to a limited extent.
How to wean the nasal lining off decongestant sprays then?
The classic tip is to switch first to a children’s version, which contains less active ingredient.
Once the nose has adjusted to the lower dose, the next step is to switch to a seawater nasal spray that contains no active ingredient at all.
This plan does not always work.
“Many have had this adaptation for years.
“Then those are steps that are too big,” says Schmitz.
In that case, he advises seeking help at a pharmacy.
“We can dilute the nasal spray.
“Then you wean yourself off in really tiny steps until you eventually reach 0% – that is the seawater nasal spray.”
How long this takes depends on the person.
Unlike with decongestant sprays, seawater sprays don’t bring the risk of the nasal lining becoming dependent, since these simply have a moisturising effect. – dpa
