Post-Nasal Drip Symptoms, Causes & Treatment in Denver

What is Post-Nasal Drip?

Post-nasal drip — also known as nasal drainage — occurs when mucus secretions drain down your throat. Often, these secretions are thicker than normal, causing you to consciously think about the excess mucus draining down your throat.

If you’re experiencing post-nasal drip, you might feel like you have a tickle in the back of your throat, accompanied by coughing and nasal congestion.

Is Post-Nasal Drip Contagious?

On its own, post-nasal drip isn’t contagious. However, if your nasal drainage is being caused by a bacterial infection or a virus, the symptom could spread to people you’ve come into contact with.

What Causes Post-Nasal Drip?

There are many possible triggers for post-nasal drip. Often, post-nasal drip is caused by allergies, including seasonal allergies (also known as allergic rhinitis).

When you come into contact with an allergen — for example, tree pollen, pet dander, or dust mites — your body releases a chemical called histamine. As your body attempts to get rid of the unwanted allergen, you’ll experience a handful of symptoms, including coughing, sneezing, and post-nasal drip.

Let’s take a look at some other reasons for post-nasal drip:

• Cold or flu
• Sinus infections or sinusitis (inflammation of the sinuses)
• Structural problems with the nose (for example, a deviated septum)
• Certain medications, including birth control pills or blood pressure medications
• Certain foods
• Harmful fumes (often from perfumes, cleaning products, smoke, or smog)
• Pregnancy

Post-Nasal Drip Treatment

If you’re ready to find relief from your post-nasal drip, our experts are here to help. Usually, our doctors recommend a combination of treatments to ensure that your condition clears up all the way.

Generally, solutions for post-nasal drip fall into one of four categories: home remedies, medications, allergy immunotherapy, or a surgical procedure.

Home Remedies

If your nasal congestion is relatively mild, a simple home remedy might be all you need. Give these solutions a try:

• Drink warm fluids. Fluids thin out mucus and moisturize your nasal lining, helping to drain your nasal passages.
• Gargle saltwater. Add salt to warm water, then gargle it at the back of your throat. Saltwater can thin mucus and relieve inflammation in your nasal cavity.
• Take a hot shower or bath. Inhaling steam is another great way to loosen up the mucus in your throat.
• Try a humidifier. Whether you’re experiencing nasal drainage, coughing, or a sore throat, increasing the amount of moisture in the air can help relieve your symptoms.
• Rinse out your sinuses. As a final line of defense, try out steroid nasal sprays or a Neti pot. Always use clean water — not tap water — during nasal irrigation, to make sure that you’re not introducing harmful germs into your nasal passages.

Medications

In addition to home remedies, medicines (both over-the-counter and prescription) can be useful for alleviating the discomfort of post-nasal drip. Here are some treatments to consider, depending on the cause of your symptoms.

If your nasal congestion is the result of a cold, antibiotics or antiviral medicines could be the key to resolving your symptoms. Sometimes, you’ll simply have to wait for the cold to run its course — after it clears up, your post-nasal drip should resolve on its own.

More commonly, post-nasal drip is treated with antihistamines or decongestants. Because these medicines vary in effectiveness and often come with side effects, it’s best to consult an ENT expert before taking them.

Popular antihistamines include:

• Loratadine (Claritin, Alavert)
• Fexofenadine (Allegra)
• Cetirizine (Zyrtec)
• Levocetirizine (Xyzal)
• Desloratadine (Clarinex)

Allergy Immunotherapy

If allergies are behind your symptoms, there are two paths you can take for immunotherapy: allergy shots or allergy drops.

Both treatments work by gradually introducing your body to specific allergens, allowing you to slowly build up a tolerance for the allergen. In most cases, we encourage patients to opt for allergy drops, because they’re far more convenient than allergy shots and equally effective.

Surgical Procedures

If home remedies, medicines, and allergy immunotherapy fail to give you relief, it might be time to consider a surgical procedure. Even if your symptoms are stubborn, our team specializes in several procedures that can resolve post-nasal drip:

• Endoscopic sinus surgery: A simple surgery that enlarges the sinus openings.
• Turbinate reduction: A surgical procedure that removes excess bone and soft tissue on the inside of the nose, improving airflow.
• Septoplasty surgery: A surgery that corrects a deviated septum, increasing airflow through the nose.
• Balloon sinuplasty: An in-office procedure that uses a tiny balloon to open blocked sinus ducts.

How Can I Prevent Post-Nasal Drip?

What’s better than alleviating your symptoms? Keeping them from happening in the first place! Here are some tips to keep in mind:

• Stay hydrated. Regular intake of fluids helps to thin mucus.
• Use a humidifier. Extra moisture in your bedroom, bathroom, or office can facilitate breathing and diminish nasal congestion.
• Prop yourself up while you sleep. Placing extra pillows under your head allows mucus to drain instead of collecting in the back of your throat.
• Avoid spicy foods and carbonated beverages.
• Stay away from airborne irritants. Perfumes, smoke, dust, and cleaning chemicals frequently trigger post-nasal drip.