Nasal spray – it can be a gift sent from the heavens on days where you’ve got the cold, flu, or even just a bit of congestion. Over-the-counter nasal sprays seem harmless enough, you spray one or two times a day for up to three days. However, have you ever wondered why nasal sprays specifically warn against using them past their three day limit? Well, it seems that nasal sprays may have an addictive quality to them. Just recently, actress Kaley Cuoco posted photographs up on Instagram speaking out about her addiction to nasal sprays and how they brought her to finally undergoing corrective sinus surgery.
While many were accusing Kaley of covering up for a nose job, doctors have spoken out and said that an addiction to nasal spray can be a very real and serious issue. What exactly causes a nasal spray addiction? Well, it seems that the active ingredient in nasal sprays, oxymetazoline, can cause nasal constriction when your nasal passages are overexposed to the ingredient. Oxymetazoline attaches itself to your blood vessels causing them to shrink which helps open up your nasal passages. When your passages are over exposed to this ingredient, however, your nasal passages find it difficult to shrink back to normal on their own.
This in turn causes a cycle of addiction to nasal sprays which may need to be corrected through sinus surgery, like in Kaley Cuoco’s case. If you find yourself using nasal sprays more often than not it may be time to look into quitting today!