“Can I use estrogen drops or cream in my nose?”
After years of congestion, I was just diagnosed with Empty Nose Syndrome by an ENT today. They said they could not help and for me to do more research. My nose is very dry and atrophied from steroid sprays and salt rinses, I have not been able to produce any mucus in days. I read that using hormonal estrogen cream or estrogen drops in the nose could be used to alleviate some of the symptoms I'm having, I am just wanting to confirm if this would be safe with a health care professional.
Male | 40 years old
Complaint duration: Congestion stuffiness, for 3 years
Medications: Escitalopram, trazodone, atenol
Conditions: High blood pressure, depression
5 Answers
Please look at the side affects of the medication you are currently taking
I would not due to the potential effects of estrogen on mucosa and blood vessels, causing them to dilate and further congest your nose and possible cause nose bleeds.
Empty nose syndrome is a relatively new diagnosis and is the result of chronic irritation or overly aggressive surgery involving the lining of the nose, I know of no treatment as of now, so anything that helps is worth using. Steroids mau help some but I would not use them indefinitely. Saline nasal sprays may give you some relief.
We sometimes prescribe premarin nose drops for patulous eustachian tubes. I have not, myself, prescribed, estrogen for the empty nose...as this can have some systemic absorption and increase your risk for GYN malignancies, such as breast cancer etc... i have personally found that the product called Ponaris is helpful for the dry empty nose...it can be purchased on amazon..it is a nasal emollient developed by navy medicine for the NASA program years ago and very helpful. There are some rhinologists (google academic centers rhinology) who are attempting techniques to create new inferior turbinates in empty noses to help surgically.
Empty nose syndrome is a condition that occurs after complete excision of the turbinates, typically the inferior turbinates. I've never heard of empty nose syndrome being diagnosed after use of nasal sprays. I'm also not familiar with using estrogen drops in the nose.
If you were having issues with the dry nose, decreased mucus and crusting, using an emollient such as aquaphor in your saline spray could be helpful . You also may have another condition that may warrant biopsy such as Sjograns syndrome or granulomatous disease. It might be worth a second opinion.
I would be hesitant to try estrogen drops in the nose.
If you were having issues with the dry nose, decreased mucus and crusting, using an emollient such as aquaphor in your saline spray could be helpful . You also may have another condition that may warrant biopsy such as Sjograns syndrome or granulomatous disease. It might be worth a second opinion.
I would be hesitant to try estrogen drops in the nose.
