Public release date: 19-Nov-2007

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — An inexpensive, safe and easy treatment is an effective method for treating chronic nasal and sinus symptoms – more effective, in fact, than commonly used saline sprays, according to a new study from University of Michigan Health System researchers.

The study is the first of its kind to show greater efficacy of saline irrigation treatments versus saline spray for providing short-term relief of chronic nasal symptoms, the authors report. Participants in the study who were treated with irrigation experienced a much greater benefit than those who were treated with saline spray, in terms of both the severity and frequency of their symptoms.

“The irrigation group achieved a clinically significant improvement in quality of life in terms of the severity of their symptoms, whereas the spray group did not,” says lead author Melissa A. Pynnonen, M.D., clinical assistant professor in the U-M Department of Otolaryngology. “Strikingly, they also experienced 50 percent lower odds of frequent nasal symptoms compared with the spray group.”

The findings, which appear in the new issue of the Archives of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, could be significant for the multitudes of people who suffer from chronic nasal and sinus conditions. In the United States, 36 million people are affected by chronic rhinosinusitis each year, and millions more are affected by other types of allergic and non-allergic rhinitis.