One of the disorders that can affect the nose and sinuses is nasal polyps. Nasal polyps are not the very serious condition for the overall health of the people who get it. They are benign growths that appear inside of the nose. They are flashy swellings that can be yellow, pink or grey colored. Nasal polyps can be of different size and they can appear in group, or only one nasal polyp can grow. It is thought that every hundredth person develops this condition once in the life. However, it is more frequent in people above 40 years of age and also, it seems that men are much more prone to it than women.
Causes of nasal polyps
In the majority of cases, the real cause of this disorder cannot be established. However, it is believed that when edema (the swelling of the lining of the nostril due to the chronic inflammation) occurs, it can lead to the growth of nasal polyps because the swollen lining tends to hang down because of the gravity. Nasal polyps usually appear in both nostrils, and when they grow large, they cause the complete blockage of the nose. Apart from the nose, nasal polyps can grow in sinuses as well, because the lining of the sinuses is the same as the nose lining.
The inflammation of the nose and sinuses is medically called rhinosinusitis. Since the exact cause is not yet established, rhinosinusitis is usually considered to be responsible for the growth of nasal polyps. There are certain diseases or health problems that lead to this inflammation of the nose and sinuses, such as asthma, cystic fibrosis and allergy to Aspirin, as well as allergic fungal sinusitis and Churg-Strauss syndrome.
Symptoms of nasal polyps
One of the most common symptoms of this condition is runny and stuffy nose. Due to it, many people think that they have common cold or the flu. Therefore, many start a treatment for the cold and discover that it is not the case when the symptoms just do not pass but only progress. The people with nasal polyps have blockage in the nose and they have problems with breathing through the nose. Since it can be very troublesome at night, many people may suffer from sleeplessness and consequently fatigue, tiredness and weakness. One of the symptoms of nasal polyps is rhinorrhoea, which is a medical term for the watering from the nose. Other symptoms of this condition may include postnasal drip, headaches, snoring and the senses of smell and taste may be impaired.
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