It often affects the back of the nose, the throat or the sinuses (air-filled cavities in the bones of the face).
It sometimes temporary, but some people experience it for months even years. This is called chronic catarrh.
Catarrh can be a be disturbing and sometimes find it difficult to get rid of if, but it’s not harmful and there are medication available.
Symptoms associated with catarrh
Catarrh can lead to a:
- constant need to clear your throat
- feeling that your throat is blocked
- blocked or stuffy nose that you can’t clear
- runny nose
- feeling of mucus running down the back of your throat
- persistent cough
- headache or facial pain
- reduced sense of smell and taste
- crackling sensation in your ear and some temporary hearing loss
These problems can be frustrating to live with and may affect your sleep, making you feel tired.
Treatments for catarrh
Catarrh will often pass in a few days or weeks as the condition that causes it improves. See What causes catarrh? for more information.
There are things you can try at home to relieve your symptoms, such as:
- avoiding things that trigger your symptoms, such as allergens or smoky places
- taking sips of cold water when you feel the need to clear your throat – constantly clearing your throat may make things worse
- using a saline nasal rinse several times a day – these can be bought from a pharmacy or made at home with half a teaspoon of salt in a pint of boiled water that’s been left to cool
- avoiding warm, dry atmospheres, such as places with air conditioning and car heating systems – placing plants or bowls of water in a room may help to keep the air humid
- staying well hydrated
- talking to a pharmacist about suitable over-the-counter medications– including decongestants, antihistamines or steroid nasal sprays
There are also several remedies, such as herbal medicines, available from health shops and pharmacies that claim to treat catarrh. Some people find these helpful, but there’s generally little scientific evidence to suggest they work.
When to see your GP
Speak to your GP if your catarrh persists and is becoming difficult to live with.
They may want to rule out conditions that could be causing it, such as nasal polyps or allergies. This may mean you need to be referred to a specialist for tests.
If you’re diagnosed with a specific underlying condition, treating it may help relieve your catarrh. For example, nasal polyps may be treated with a steroid nasal spray, or in some cases surgery.
Read more about treating nasal polyps.
If a cause for you catarrh cannot be found, the self-help techniques above may be recommended. Unfortunately, however, chronic catarrh can be hard to treat and may last for a long time.
What causes catarrh?
Catarrh is often caused by the immune system reacting to an infection or irritation, which lead the lining of the nose and throat to swollen and start producing mucus.
This can be engineered by:
- a cold or other infections
- hay fever or other types of allergic rhinitis
- non-allergic rhinitis
- nasal polyps
- and many more
It is not clear of what is the actual causes of chronic catarrh, but it’s not difficult to be the result of an allergy or infection.
or It may be as a result of abnormality in the way mucus travels within the nose or an increased sensitivity to mucus in the back of the nose and throat.
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