Reasons why you are better off without oral nasal decongestant sprays

Troubled with nasal congestion with this changing weather? Anyone who has experienced bad cold would know how irritating and miserable it can get to breathe through your mouth instead of nose. Besides, dealing with congestion can leave you helplessly annoyed.

Occurrence of allergic congestion is result of inflammation within the nasal passages and secretion of leukotrienes from mast cells. Most of us often seek help of over-the-counter medications including decongestants to get rid of nasal congestion.

But should you be using decongestants if you have been experiencing congestion due to nasal allergies? Well, experts believe that it’s better that you avoid using oral nasal decongestant sprays! Here is the reason.

Why not to use nasal decongestants?

The worst problem with nasal decongestants is that after repeated use a person can develop dependency for them. While it's not like narcotic addiction but people end up craving for nasal decongestants after prolonged use. As a result people start using nasal decongestants such as Afrin very frequently just to be able to breathe, more often than they may actually need. The problem is so real that there is a term for Afrin dependence. It's called rhinitis medicamentosa, and may require medical assistance to overcome the symptoms.

Loss of efficacy

Over use of Afrin may force you to use nasal spary frequently in order to maintain the decongestant effect of the medicine. This results in reduction of effectiveness of Afrin.

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