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Menthol, eucalyptus, and other essential oils with a decongestant action are sometimes added to the hot water to improve its effects. They can be bought from most health food stores or pharmacies. You could try adding these, but stop using them if there seems to be any irritation to the nose.

There are now various steam-inhalation devices for sale that achieve much the same thing as the old-fashioned bowl of hot water and towel treatment.

TREATMENTS TO REDUCE THE ALLERGIC RESPONSE

Salt Water Nose Drops

Saltwater nose drops can also be useful in relieving congestion a little and soothing the irritated membranes of the nose. Sterile saltwater (or saline) solution can be purchased at any pharmacy. You can also buy a dropper bottle, the lid of which contains a dropper for placing the saltwater drops in the nose. Fill the bottle with the salt water and change it every few days. Use the drops as often as you feel you need them.

Vitamin C Nose Drops

Nose drops containing vitamin C have been tried out by doctors in Israel, who tested them against placebo drops. They noted that the secretions of the nose are normally very slightly acidic, but that during a bout of rhinitis they become very slightly alkaline. It therefore occurred to them to try reversing this effect using a mildly acidic solution of vitamin C. About three-quarters of the patients tested experienced some benefit from these drops. Unfortunately, the concentration of vitamin C used in these tests was not reported.

If you would like to try this treatment, start with a very dilute solution—a quarter of a teaspoon of pure vitamin C powder in a pint of water. Should there be no beneficial effect, slightly increase the amount of vitamin C used—but if it stings, the solution is too concentrated. The water used should be boiled for at least 20 minutes beforehand to kill bacteria. Alternatively, buy purified water from a pharmacist.

As with saltwater drops, buy a small dropper bottle to contain the solution you have prepared and refill with fresh solution every few days. The drops should be used three times daily. Stop using the drops if you have a cold or other infection in the nose.

Getting Rid of Nasal Congestion

Medical researchers in Spain tried simply flushing pollen out of the nose with salt water. Hay fever sufferers were asked to irrigate their noses three times a day, for 4 to 5 minutes each time, using a special device called a Water Pik, which forces a pulsating stream of salt water into one nostril and out of the other. They continued with this for eight weeks, throughout the grass pollen season. Rather than asking the patients how they felt, the researchers actually looked at the levels of IgE (the allergy antibody) in the blood to see what effect the nose-wash treatment was having. Sure enough, with the onset of the grass pollen season, IgE levels began to rise steeply in the control group (no treatment apart from their usual drugs) while those using the saltwater treatment (plus their usual drugs) showed a much more modest increase in IgE.

This article was excerpted with permission from the book:

Hay Fever, ©1993,2002
by Dr. Jonathon Brostoff & Linda Gamlin.

Reprinted with permission of the publisher, Healing Arts Press. www.InnerTraditions.com

Info/Order this book.

About the Authors

Jonathan Brostoff, M.D., is Professor Emeritus of Allergy and Environmental Health at King's College in London and an internationally recognized authority on allergies.

Linda Gamlin was trained as a biochemist and worked in research for several years before turning to scientific writing. She specializes in writing about allergic diseases, the effects of diet and the environment on health, and psychosomatic medicine. Together they have coauthored Food Allergies and Food Intolerance and Asthma.