Nasal Polyps – Treatment Options

Transcript

Treatment of nasal polyps can be short-term immediate treatment that’ll give you quick relief, as well as long-term treatment and control. For immediate treatment, this often requires oral prednisone, which is a steroid that will quickly shrink the polyp tissue and improve your breathing and sense of smell. This is usually temporary and over time, the symptoms will recur and your polyps will increase in size. Also, it’s important to manage your allergies with appropriate allergy medications that are going to end up reducing inflammation and reducing the chance of polyp growth. Topical medications are also important in polyp control. There is now an FDA-approved nasal steroid spray called XHANCE that has been shown to reduce polyp size and its growth. Saline irrigations with a Neti pot is often recommended, and sometimes I’ll add medications to the rinse itself to help control nasal polyps. The newest medical treatment for nasal polyps are a class of drugs called biologics. The FDA-approved medications at this time include Dupixent, Xolair, and Nucala. These medications alter the inflammatory process and have all been proven to reduce nasal polyps, improve nasal congestion, as well as improve your ability to smell. They’re very expensive at this time, and will need approval by your insurance company to be used. They are all administered by an injection done every two to four weeks, depending on the drug that’s used. The first injection is often done in the office, and after that, many of the injections can be done at home.