Swollen nasal mucosa due to an allergy
Allergies are one of the main causes of the swollen nasal mucosa. To understand the effects of an allergic reaction on the nasal mucosa, it is useful to first briefly understand what the nasal mucosa is actually there for. The nasal mucosa has a so-called respiratory ciliated epithelium on its surface, which are tiny hairs on the surface of the nasal mucosa.
These ciliated hairs “beat” in the direction of the throat and thus transport dust, for example, but also other secretions from the airways to keep them free. Furthermore, the nasal mucosa ensures moistening and warming of the respiratory air. These mechanisms are disturbed in allergies.
How does an allergy develop? An allergy does not concern each humans and represents an individual overreaction of the own immune system opposite an actually harmless stimulus. Every substance that causes an allergy is called antigen.
These antigens have certain characteristics or structures on their surface which are recognized as foreign by the own immune system and thus activate the immune system. Our immune system has several classes of antibodies, one of which is the so-called immunoglobulin E, also called IgE. The IgE now binds to the antigen and together with it to another part of our immune system, the so-called mast cells.
The mast cells have stored histamine in their interior. The special thing about this is that our immune system is sensitized after the first contact with an allergen, but nothing happens at first. However, if there is renewed contact with the allergen, many mast cells are activated at once. As a consequence, the messenger substance histamine is released en masse, as well as other substances that support the allergic reaction (so-called inflammation mediators).
Swollen nasal mucosa in the menopause
Furthermore, long-term sinusitis can also be responsible for this, which can show its symptoms at the same time as the menopause, but which are erroneously postponed to the menopause due to the temporal connection.If in addition to a dry nose, dry eyes are added during the menopause, one must also think of an autoimmune disease like Sjögren’s syndrome.
