[Text on screen: The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
Nasal decongestant sprays and addiction: What we can do]

[Music playing]

[Text on screen: Rekha Raveendran, MD
Division Director, Allergy/Immunology
Ohio State Wexner Medical Center]

Rekha Raveendran, MD: There is one other nasal spray that is out there, which are nasal decongestants, and those go by names like Afrin. They can either contain oxymetazoline or phenylephrine, and these medications work great, but they're only meant to be used for three days or less at a time. And the reason being is that it can cause rebound congestion if you use it for an extended period of time, and what will happen is over time, your nose will need more and more of the medication to get the same relief, and then it will continue to get more swollen when you're off of it, and that's a very difficult cycle to break, and it doesn't treat the underlying issue at hand.

With nasal decongestants, you can get addicted to the nasal spray, so that rebound that people feel where they're off the medication, they feel even more swollen, is from that addiction. So it can be difficult to come off of that medication if you have been using it for an extended period of time. There's a variety of things that we can do to get people off of those nasal sprays. It can include steroids, it can include nasal steroids, it can include a combination of those. Some patients we have see the ear, nose, and throat doctors as well to see if there's any other options for them.

[Text on screen: The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
For more information, visit: wexnermedical.osu.edu/allergy]

[Music fades]