Non-Allergic Rhinitis or Vasomotor Rhinitis

by Dr. Christopher Chang, last modified on 9/12/12
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Sneezing Non-allergic rhinitis is an extremely frustrating sino-nasal disorder that is characterized by all the same symptoms of sinusitis and allergies, but NOT due to sinusitis or allergies. Rather, non-allergic rhinitis is considered to be a nose that is overly-sensitive to air containing particulates whether it be smoke, hairspray, perfume, dust, pollen, etc. Such particulates PHYSICALLY irritates the nasal and sinus lining causing symptoms. This condition is in contrast to allergies where an irritant causes an immunologic reaction causing symptoms or sinusitis which is due to an infection.

To use an analogy... consider the skin. Poison ivy contains a chemical which causes an itchy rash to develop. This reaction is not because of an allergic reaction or infection but rather due to the chemical physically irritating the skin. For patients with non-allergic rhinitis, common air particulates act like poison ivy to the sino-nasal lining.

A typical patient with non-allergic rhinitis suffers symptoms nearly indistinguishable from patients with bad allergies or sinus infections:

Nasal congestion
Sneezing
Post-nasal drainage
Pain/Pressure over the face
Runny nose

Patients often have tried numerous courses of antibiotics, allergy medications, and nasal sprays with nominal or only transient relief.

Diagnosis

Commonly, though not always, many patients with non-allergic rhinitis report that cigarette smoke, hairspray, and perfume trigger symptoms.

However, in the end, studies are needed in order to determine whether allergies and/or chronic sinusitis are truly present or not before pursuing further treatment that may be unhelpful.

Such studies include CT scans of the sinuses to evaluate the presence of a chronic sinus infection as well as allergy testing to determine if allergies are present. If BOTH tests come back normal, one must abandon the diagnosis of chronic sinusitis as well as allergies and consider non-allergic rhinitis as they main culprit.

There are other conditions that may produce similar symptoms due to anatomic factors including a deviated septum, large adenoids, turbinate hypertrophy, as well as nasal polyps, but for the sake of the discussion here and to keep things simple, it will be assumed that all anatomic factors are also normal.

In any case, a normal CT scan and normal allergy testing in a setting of sino-nasal problems is highly suggestive of non-allergic rhinitis and treatment geared towards this diagnosis should be pursued.

Medical Treatment

In order to understand treatment, it is helpful to revisit the poison ivy analogy...

With skin exposure to poison ivy, there's a few things a patient can do to minimize or avoid symptoms altogether:

Wash the skin immediately
Avoid areas with poison ivy
Wear protective clothing
Medications

For patients with non-allergic rhinitis, the treatment is essentially the same:

Avoid environments that trigger symptoms
Use a barrier nasal emollient to prevent the airborne irritants from coming into contact with the nasal lining in the first place. Think of it like chapstick to irritated lips. I typically recommend Ponaris.
Regular saline flushes to keep the nose and sinuses clean. By washing away the airborne irritants out of the nose, you prevent it from causing problems. I usually recommend NeilMed Sinus Rinse to be performed minimum twice a day as well as after exposure to a known environment that causes problems. Please note that saline nasal spray is NOT sufficient as it only humidifies and not washes.
The only FDA-approved medication to treat non-allergic rhinitis is the prescription nasal spray Astelin which is an anti-histamine nasal spray. Other similar sprays include Astepro and Patanase.
If a "runny" nose is a significant symptom, atrovent nasal spray can be used as needed.
Sinus Buster Nasal Spray which is over-the-counter. This nasal spray contains the ingredient capsacin which appears to significantly relieve problems related to non-allergic rhinitis.

Video on How to Perform Saline Sinus Flushes

Surgical Treatment

In many individuals with non-allergic rhinitis, the nasal inferior turbinates are quite large. Surgically reducing the large turbinates may provide improvement in symptoms, but not cure. Improvement is typically obtained in about 50% of patients and relief reduction is also around 50%.

Non-Allergic Rhinitis CAN Turn Into Allergies

Though patients with non-allergic rhinitis may come back negative to allergies on initial testing, over the next 3-5 years, at least a quarter of patients will eventually develop allergies with positive testing. As such, it may be worthwhile to follow these patients and retest every few years to monitor. (Evolution of patients with nonallergic rhinitis supports conversion to allergic rhinitis. Rondón C, Doña I, Torres MJ, Campo P, Blanca M. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2009 Apr 9.)

This frustrating condition has been portrayed in USA Today as well as Wall Street Journal.

If you suspect you may be suffering from non-allergic rhintis, contact our office for an appointment!

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Non-Allergic Rhinitis or Vasomotor Rhinitis

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