My awful scabby nose

[biggirl]

Hi Dr. Steve!

I'm sick of having a scabby nose (inside the nostrils) every winter. I try everything yet it happens every year...what can I do?

Thanks
Gwen

[Dr Steve]

Hi Dr. Steve!

I'm sick of having a scabby nose (inside the nostrils) every winter. I try everything yet it happens every year...what can I do?

Thanks
Gwen

This is likely happening due to the fact that cold air can't hold water vapor as readily as warm air can. Therefore, breathing cold, dehydrated air can overwhelm the moisturization process in the nose, causing dry, cracked membranes that cake over with scabs.

Nasal saline is probably the best way to go; get a bottle of OCEAN NASAL SPRAY and keep it in your pocket, spraying the inside of your nose frequently during the day. I would NOT use vaseline or other petroleum jelly-based ointments, except for short term restoration of the mucus membranes. Long-term chronic use of petroleum jelly in the nose has been linked tenuously to lung disease (apparently the petroleum makes its way back to the airway and gets in the lungs...a few molecules here and there add up over years).

If you just end up with a nose caked with horrid scabs that won't respond to anything, a trip to the Ear Nose and Throat doctor may be in order.


your pal,



steve

[Chigworthy]

http://www.mwvcaa.org/nometh1.jpg

[biggirl]

Thanks doc. I have been using this spray gel by neilmed. It hasn't helped a lot. I'll try out your ocean mist spray. Maybe I pick at it too much.

[Tenbatsuzen]

I had the same problem - Dr. Steve's suggestion of Simply Saline spray helped a lot - it keeps the scab minimized and moist.