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20 years
I've been having runny nose for 5 months and sometimes it's hard to breathe. It's the first time to have such problem. What can it be?
Sep 13, 2014

Dr. Zakia Dimassi Pediatrics
Chronic rhinorrhea with intermittent nasal obstruction are commonly caused by:
1- Allergies: an allergen can trigger your symptoms; it can be an element that you have recently become exposed to (like when moving to a new house or new job location), or an element that you have been exposed to before but for some unknown reason, your immune system only now perceived it as harmful. In order to identify the culprit substance, a skin prick allergy test is needed; this will help you eliminate the trigger if possible. The mainstay of treatment is oral antihistamines (Zyrtec, Aerius, Loratin) and nasal steroids (Nasonex, Flixonase, Avamys)
2- Vasomotor: which means the problem is in how the blood vessels in the nose react to environmental changes (usually by dilating and increasing blood flow to the inner linings of the nose, resulting in fluid running and blockage). This becomes more problematic upon exposure to extremes of temperature and humidity; in the summer season, the AC induces dryness of the linings of the nose and thus precipitate rhinorrhea and/or blockage. There are no known treatments, but usually avoidance is key. You can also use nasal saline spray, and nasal decongestants but only for a few days (otherwise you'll get stuck in a vicious cycle whereby you can't stop using those as they are known to induce rebound nasal congestion and obstruction). You should also keep the inside of your nose moist(aapplying a thin layer of petroleum jelly is helpful).
3- Abuse of nasal decongestants (refer to #2): if you do, you need to gradually stop them. It's annoying but there's no other way.
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