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Call Nasal Polyps Evaluation and Treatment
Nasal polyps are soft inflammatory growths inside the nose or sinuses, commonly associated with chronic rhinosinusitis. They can contribute to blockage, drainage, reduced smell, and asthma burden. Diagnosis requires examination or nasal endoscopy because symptoms alone cannot confirm nasal polyps.
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Confirm What Is Blocking the Nose
Symptoms and Diagnosis
Common symptoms
Common symptoms include persistent nasal blockage, reduced or lost sense of smell, nasal drainage, and facial pressure. Sleep and quality of life may be affected. Polyps are usually painless and often occur on both sides.
Confirming the diagnosis
A clinician examines the nose and may use nasal endoscopy to document size, location, drainage, and other findings. CT may be useful to define sinus involvement, plan surgery, or evaluate an atypical presentation. A one-sided mass is not assumed to be an ordinary inflammatory polyp.
Look for Conditions That Change Care
Asthma and Aspirin-Exacerbated Respiratory Disease
Nasal polyps often occur with asthma. Some patients have respiratory reactions after aspirin or other COX-1 nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, a pattern known as aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease. Tell the clinician about wheeze, congestion, or other reactions after these medicines.
Do not test aspirin exposure on your own. When diagnosis or aspirin treatment is being considered, evaluation and any challenge or desensitization require an experienced medical setting and an individualized safety plan.
Control Inflammation Locally
Nasal Corticosteroids and Saline
Daily topical therapy
Intranasal corticosteroid sprays or irrigations are foundational treatments for many patients. Delivery method, technique, consistency, prior surgery, and polyp burden can affect how well medicine reaches inflamed tissue.
Technique and follow-up
Saline irrigation can clear mucus and support topical treatment. Use distilled, sterile, or previously boiled and cooled water. Oral corticosteroids may temporarily improve severe disease but carry important risks, especially with repeated use, and should be prescribed only after individualized review.
Match Advanced Treatment to Disease Burden
Surgery and Biologic Therapy
Endoscopic sinus surgery may be considered when symptoms and objective disease remain significant despite appropriate medical therapy. It removes obstructing tissue and can improve access for ongoing topical treatment, but polyps can recur.
Targeted biologic medicines may be considered for selected patients with severe uncontrolled chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps. Decisions consider symptoms, smell loss, asthma, prior surgery, systemic steroid need, treatment response, risks, preferences, coverage, and current availability. No option guarantees permanent removal or a symptom-free result.
Monitor the Disease Over Time
Follow-Up and Reasons to Reassess
Follow-up may track nasal blockage, smell, sleep, asthma control, medication use, endoscopy findings, and need for systemic steroids or surgery. Worsening despite treatment should prompt a review of technique, adherence, diagnosis, infection, and associated conditions.
Persistent one-sided blockage, recurrent bleeding, facial numbness, loose teeth, eye symptoms, or a rapidly enlarging mass requires prompt evaluation rather than routine polyp treatment.
Know When to Get Urgent Help
Emergency and Red-Flag Symptoms
Seek urgent care for vision change, swelling or redness around an eye, severe pain with eye movement, confusion, stiff neck, a severe unusual headache, rapidly worsening facial swelling, or significant uncontrolled bleeding. Call 911 for severe neurologic or life-threatening symptoms.
Patient Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Polyps are confirmed by nasal examination or endoscopy, with CT used in selected situations. Other conditions can also cause blockage and smell loss.
Typical bilateral inflammatory polyps are not cancer, but a one-sided or atypical mass needs prompt evaluation because not every nasal growth is an inflammatory polyp.
They can. Surgery improves access and removes obstruction, but the underlying inflammation may persist, so ongoing topical treatment and follow-up are often needed.
Biologics may be considered for selected patients with severe uncontrolled disease after review of symptoms, asthma, prior treatment, surgery, steroid exposure, risks, preferences, and coverage.
It is a clinical pattern involving asthma, nasal polyps or chronic sinus disease, and respiratory reactions to aspirin or related COX-1 medicines. Do not test a suspected reaction at home.
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