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How is rhinitis (runny nose) treated?

Every person on the planet has suffered from a runny nose (rhinitis) at least once in their life. A runny nose does not pose any danger, unless it lasts a long time or ends in complications. In order for rhinitis (runny nose) not to turn into a problem, it is worth starting to fight it even on the eve of its development. Prevention of a common cold is its best treatment!

How to determine when a runny nose begins? Due to the fact that a runny nose can have a different origin: allergic, infectious or traumatic (caused by a burn of the mucous membrane: thermal, chemical, radioactive), and the onset of a runny nose will differ:

An infectious rhinitis has a period of prodromal development of the infection, when the infectious agent has not yet gained full strength (has not multiplied to a critical mass), which can be indicated by an unpleasant sensation in the nasopharynx (tension, pain, itching, burning, etc.), a change in the taste of saliva, chills, deterioration in general health (weakness, drowsiness, poor appetite);
Allergic rhinitis can begin immediately with swelling of the mucous membrane and a feeling of nasal congestion;
Mechanical damage to the nasal mucosa causes swelling, inflammation and profuse flow from the nose - the body's defensive reaction to irritation.

This is exactly the period when it is necessary to start fighting a cold (cure rhinitis).

What happens with a runny nose in the nasal cavity and nasopharynx? Since the mucous membrane of the nose and nasopharynx is rich in capillaries, the release of fluid outside the vascular wall (effusion) creates swelling of the mucous layer due to blood flow as a protective mechanism for the immune system to fight an infectious agent or allergen (both irritants for immunity are antigens and pose a threat to the body, to which the immune system reacts). In the mucous membrane, inflammatory mediators are activated, which is manifested not only by edema, but also by redness of the mucous layer. Therefore, at the time of the development of a runny nose, they are struggling with it in three directions: with edema and inflammation, with an allergen or a microbe, they carry out a mechanical cleaning of the nose from mucus. For this reason, nasal drops must have a vasoconstrictor and antihistamine effect.

Narrowing of the capillaries of the mucous membrane will lead to a decrease in edema and inflammation, an antihistamine drug reduces the production of histamine, a mediator of allergic reactions, which causes expansion of capillaries and an increase in the permeability of their walls, which leads to effusion - the release of transudate (fluid outside the bloodstream). If rhinitis is caused by a viral infection, immunostimulants are used to help the body , if the infectious agent is a bacterium, antibiotics will be needed, if the cause of rhinitis is a fungus, antimycotics are used.

It is necessary to regularly rinse the nose from dirt, crusts, remnants of the mucous membrane (blowing your nose is harmful, as this will create tension in the sinuses and inner ear cavities, injecting air masses there, and with them the irritant that initiated the runny nose). The result will be the spread of the process of inflammation (and sometimes suppuration) into the nearby sinuses, which will end with complications: sinusitis, otitis media.