Juliet Cohen asked:


Nasal polyps are the most common tumors of the nasal cavity. Nasal polyposis can impair a person’s quality of life more than perennial allergic rhinitis. Nasal polyps are soft, jelly-like overgrowths of the lining of the sinuses. They look like grapes on the end of a stalk. Large polyps can bloc the nose and increase the risk of sinusitis. They may be yellowish, grey or pink in colour. They are common and are not cancerous. Nasal polyposis results from chronic inflammation of the nasal and sinus mucous membranes. Chronic inflammation causes a reactive hyperplasia of the intranasal mucosal membrane, which results in the formation of polyps.

Nasal polyps can vary significantly in size. There may be only one but sometimes several develop like a ’small bunch of grapes’ on a stem. Polyps usually affect both nostrils. Nasal polyps can vary greatly in size. There may be only one but sometimes several grow like a ’small bunch of grapes’ on a stem. The cause of the inflammation is certain conditions make nose inflammation and polyps more likely. These include: asthma, allergy to aspirin, cystic fibrosis, and some rare conditions of the nose. Nasal polyps can occur along with many other respiratory diseases, such as allergic rhinitis, chronic sinusitis, asthma, and aspirin allergy.

Nasal polyps also occur in a majority of people with Churg-Strauss syndrome, a rare disease that inflames the blood vessels (vasculitis). Nasal polyps occur in around 1 in 200 people. It appears that nasal polyps are more common in people with non-allergic rhinitis and non-allergic asthma, rather than allergic types of these conditions. Nasal polyps can affect anyone. However, most cases occur in people over the age of 40 years. They are four times more common in men than in women. In general, women are more likely to have nasal polyps than are men. Nasal polyps are uncommon in children.

Medications are the most common treatment for nasal polyps. Surgery may be needed to eliminate larger growths. Topical nasal steroid sprays, such as Flonase and Nasonex, can help decrease the size of nasal polyps and prevent polyps from growing back after surgery. Use allergy shots in an attempt to treat or stop nasal polyps from growing back after surgery. Intranasal corticosteroid sprays reduce the growth of small intranasal polyps are most effective in the postoperative period. Prevention is better than cure. Avoid over-the-counter saline sprays that contain additives, such as benzalkonium, which can actually inflame the mucous lining of your nose.

Neelima Reddy asked:


Itchiness, watery eyes, runny nose, sneezing, and redness are some of the common symptoms that majority of the people experiences as allergy symptoms.

The most effective way to fight against particular allergen is immunotherapy or allergy shot, but some people will get frightened to get allergy shot.

Allergy shots hold a little amount of substance that fights against the particular allergen. For example, if the person is allergic to pollen, a small amount of substance called pollen will be added to the shot.

A small amount will be given so that the body will get used to fight against the allergen and if the body comes in contact with that substance next time, body will be familiar with that.

Who are not eligible to take allergy shot?

Allergy shots are not safe for everyone. Although most of the people experienced positive results from these shots, they are not suitable for all. People who are suffering from asthma, heart attack, and respiratory problems, pregnant women, and children under age of five are not recommended to receive allergy shot.

Alternatively, certain individuals are experiencing some side effects such as:

• Feelings of shock when the shot is initially injected

• Lightheadedness

• Nausea

So, for these reasons, the patient should stay in the doctor’s office for at least fifteen to twenty minutes after receiving the shot.

Benefits of allergy shots:

• Allergy shots improve allergic rhinitis, hay fever, bee sting allergies, drug allergies, and eye allergies.

• In some cases, allergy shots improve asthma symptoms also. The most common reaction to allergy shot is swelling at the place where the shot is given.

The success of this immunotherapy varies from person to person depending on the severity of the person’s allergy and the number of substances the person is allergic to.

In addition to the traditional allergy shots, there are new approaches to immunotherapy procedures to treat allergies.

Oral immunotherapy works similar to the allergy shot. In this method, increasing doses of allergen will be given to slowly build up the patient’s tolerance. The only difference with oral immunotherapy from allergy shot is with oral immunotherapy extract of allergen is used as drops. In this method, generally the drops are placed under the tongue and then swallowed.

Intranasal immunotherapy method involves intranasal administration of grass and house dust mite allergen extracts, which reduces the nasal symptoms such as “nasal allergy”.

The side effect with intranasal immunotherapy is nasal irritation. When compared to the traditional allergy shots, intranasal immunotherapy has no long lasting benefits.

Rush immunotherapy involves quick build up to the maintenance dose of extract. In this method of treatment, during early phase increasing doses of allergen will be given every few hours rather than a few days. Since there is a great risk involved with this rush immunotherapy, this should be done in hospital under close supervision.

Some people will experience severe reaction to the allergy shot, which is called “anaphylaxis”. In case of bad reaction with this shot, physicians will do appropriate treatment to stop this reaction.

Since allergy shots are not good for everyone, talking to the physician before taking this shot is more advisable. Visit Allergy Symptoms