Vasomotor rhinitis

Abstract

Vasomotor rhinitis is a condition of chronic nasal congestion which is noninfectious and nonallergic. Its cause is thought to be an imbalance of autonomic control to the nasal mucosa. This disorder is a diagnosis of exclusion, and other causes of chronic nasal obstruction must be considered first. Treatment measures include avoidance of nonspecific stimuli which exacerbate symptoms and, for symptomatic relief, use of oral sympathomimetics. Antihistamine-decongestant combinations may be effective in some patients. Topical vasoconstrictors should not be used.

What do we mean by catarrh?

“…The term vasomotor was applied to chronic catarrh in which no allergen could be detected. Some allergists hold that there is no such condition as vasomotor catarrh (or at least that the condition is rare) and that undetected allergens are the underlying cause 2 , 3 . Other writers disagree with this, believing that chronic vasomotor catarrh is often due to autonomic dysfunction or decreased vasomotor tone, with a number of possible precipitating causes 4 , 5 , 6 .…”