{"id":277791,"date":"2026-01-10T14:39:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T14:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/277791\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T14:39:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T14:39:12","slug":"pharmacists-issue-fresh-warning-on-overuse-of-sprays-for-blocked-noses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/277791\/","title":{"rendered":"Pharmacists issue fresh warning on overuse of sprays for blocked noses"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>       9 Jan 2026, 06:36 Updated: 1d ago         <\/p>\n<p> 9 Jan 2026, 06:36  | Updated: 1d ago <\/p>\n<p>        <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Woman using nasal spray for controlling rhinitis.\" class=\"content-image\" data-image-catalogue-id=\"783206\" width=\"660\" height=\"370\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/783206.webp\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>    Woman using nasal spray for controlling rhinitis.<\/p>\n<p>        Picture: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.alamy.com\/stock-photo-woman-usin-72435854.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><br \/>\nAlamy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"standfirst\">People with blocked noses have been urged to only use nasal decongestant sprays for seven days or face making their symptoms worse<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-text\">It comes as a poll found almost six in 10 pharmacists said patients are unaware of the risks of using sprays for too long.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-text\">Decongestant sprays provide short-term relief from stuffiness caused by colds, allergies and sinusitis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-text\">However, using them for longer than a week can cause so-called rebound congestion, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) warned.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-text\">This preventable condition, also known as rhinitis medicamentosa, causes symptoms to worsen, with patients becoming dependent on sprays to breathe more easily.<\/p>\n<p>        <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Woman applying nose spray\" class=\"content-image\" data-image-catalogue-id=\"783207\" width=\"660\" height=\"370\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/783207.webp\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>    Woman applying nose spray.<\/p>\n<p>        Picture: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.alamy.com\/stock-photo-woman-appl-25257859.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><br \/>\nAlamy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-text\">An RPS survey of 300 pharmacists found 59% think the public is not aware of this risk, while almost three-quarters (74%) said packaging should be clearer about the seven-day limit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-text\">Almost two-thirds (63%) said they had intervened in cases of suspected overuse.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-text\">Professor Amira Guirguis, chief scientist at the RPS, said: \u201cNasal decongestant sprays can be helpful for short-term relief, but using them for longer than seven days can make your congestion significantly worse.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-text\">\u201cOur research shows that many people are unaware of this risk, which means they may continue using these sprays without realising they could be prolonging their symptoms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-text\">\u201cWe\u2019d like to see clearer warnings on the packaging which you can\u2019t miss and greater awareness of the seven-day limit. If your congestion lasts more than a week, speak to your pharmacist. There are safe and effective alternative options to help you manage your symptoms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-text\">The RPS urged patients to always follow the instructions on the packaging of nasal sprays and to seek advice from pharmacists if congestion continues after seven days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"9 Jan 2026, 06:36 Updated: 1d ago 9 Jan 2026, 06:36 | Updated: 1d ago Woman using nasal&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277792,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[274],"tags":[18,135,19,17,462],"class_list":{"0":"post-277791","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-medication"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115871322146656244","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}