Symptoms | Polyps in the nose

Symptoms

The severity of the symptoms caused by nasal polyps depends on the size of the polyps of the nose and where exactly they are located. In some cases, they do not cause any symptoms at all for a long period of time. At some point, however, breathing through the nose is usually made more difficult by the fact that the flow of secretions from the sinuses and, on the other hand, the ventilation of these spaces is restricted, so that more mouth breathing is performed.

As a result of obstructed nasal breathing, sufferers often have a nasal voice, bad breath (as increased breathing through the mouth dries out the oral mucosa) and snoring problems. The fact that the nose or sinuses are clogged with secretions can also lead to headaches, frequent, recurring inflammation (of the sinuses or middle ear) or odour problems (up to a complete lack of olfactory capacity). If polyps of the nose remain untreated for a long time, consequential damage such as a widening of the nose and an increased interpupillary distance (hypertelorism) can develop. However, thanks to good diagnostics and therapy, these permanent changes are very rare nowadays.

Diagnosis

As part of a diagnosis, the doctor will first of all take a detailed medical history (anamnesis). The focus here is on questions about risk factors such as In addition, the doctor will ask exactly which symptoms exist and how pronounced they are. This is followed by an examination, which should be carried out by an ear, nose and throat specialist.

During this examination, the physician looks at the nose and the paranasal sinuses. If the polyps are particularly large and are located in easily visible areas, he can sometimes see them with the naked eye. Otherwise, a mirror and an endoscope (which is inserted through the nose, is thin and flexible and has a built-in light source) are used to detect smaller, deeper lying polyps. In the case of an existing sinusitis, a sample of the secretion is often taken at the same time in order to identify a pathogen.Less frequently, imaging procedures such as When there is a suspicion that a malignant change rather than a polyp may also be present, a tissue sample is taken, which is then examined under a microscope.

• Allergies
• Asthma
• Intolerances to painkillers
• Computed tomography (CT)
• X-ray images
• MRI of the paranasal sinuses