Daily Saline Nasal Irrigation May Increase Risk of Infection
Over the past few years, it has become increasingly common for physicians to recommend saline nasal lavage (or sinus rinsing) to patients. The concept that rinsing allergens and pollutants out of the sinonasal cavities will decrease inflammation is certainly an attractive one. Patients, especially those with chronic sinusitis, would report getting gobs of ugly mucous out with each rinse- so the exercise was cathartic, as well. So, it was an easy step to go from recommending "as needed" use to recommending daily preventative use. Turns out, it may have been a step off a cliff. A recent study from Georgetown University Hospital School of Medicine suggests that although as-needed use of saline irrigation is beneficial, daily long-term use of nasal saline irrigation (NSI) by patients with recurrent rhinosinusitis (RS) can increase the frequency of acute infection by as much as 60%. Why is this? The researchers postulate that daily sinus irrigation depletes the sinonasal cav...