Doc Gurley is a Board-certified Internist physician and the only Harvard Medical School graduate to have been awarded a Shoney’s Ten-Step Pin for documented excellence in waitressing. There have been some great science reviews of practical tips recently! Here is the final of four proven, data-driven studies that you may not hear much about in the main-stream media (usually because of a lack of profit-driven PR). Be sure to forward the Well Worth It information along to those you care about who might benefit from the information! And stay tuned this month for more.
Fourth in the Series: Seasonal Steroid Saver
Are you, like the Left Coast, starting to feel the side effects of spring? Rain, pollen, and blustery weather often mean that young love allergies are in the air. And with the FDA-revoked generic status of asthma inhalers, you may be feeling the financial pinch from a one-two punch at the drug store checkout line. See, many asthma sufferers also suffer from clogged, runny noses because of seasonal allergies – and a nasal drip can definitely make your asthma worse. So is there an effective, safe, and cheaper way to deal with this problem – other than doubling up on both a steroid inhaler for your lungs AND a steroid-inhaler for your nostrils? Here’s a study that shows that many asthma sufferers can avoid using nasal steroids PURELY by exhaling through their nose, after they inhale their asthma lung-steroids. Neat trick,
- Image by freedryk via Flickr
huh? And it makes lots of clinical sense – there’s still medication left in your exhaled air, so why not direct it through your nose, instead of your mouth? Noses are also good at trapping that extra medicine – that’s why you’ve got nose-hairs. Cautions: If you have wicked asthma, do not try this without your healthcare coach’s supervision. Keeping your nasal-drip under control may be key to keeping your asthma under control, so be sure your team is on board before you try this. And, if money for your prescriptions is a big issue for you, be sure to read 10 Insider Tips For Dosing Your Drug Dollars, and then talk openly with your healthcare provider first before making any changes – there may be other, better ways to reduce your costs or safely change to cheaper medications. Bottom Line: If you have allergic rhinitis and asthma, talk to your healthcare provider about exhaling those asthma-steroids through your nose – maybe you can kill two allergic reactions with one dose.
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Here’s an easy thing to do: wash your hair before going to bed. When you are out and the pollen is blowing in the wind it gets trapped in your hair. Then you lie down in bed and it gets on your pillow from where you inhale it all night.
During allergy season I wash my hair at night before bed rather than in the morning. This is in addition to taking a prescrip nasal spray and prescrip antihistamine pill.