Your nose can tell you a lot about your overall inflammation.
Signs of inflammation in your nose include:
drippy nose
congested nose
nasal polyps
nasal inflammation
bleeding nose
sinus inflammation
sinus headaches
not being able to breathe through your nose
These can all be signs that histamine or mast cells may be potentially be involved.
Additionally, you may find you are sensitive to smells or have chemical sensitivities.
The Mast Cell Connection
As part of your respiratory tract, your nose is home to a lot of mast cells.
While nose bleeds and polyps aren’t typically listed as mast cell mediated symptoms, research supports that the mast cell mediators heparin, histamine and tryptase are involved in bleeding disorders (1) and that there are increased mast cells in nasal tissue and elevated tryptase when there are polyps (2).
Questions to ask yourself
Is my nose sometimes dripping and I don’t know why?
Can I breathe through my nose all the time?
Am I a mouth breather at night?
Am I congested without mucus? (different from having a cold)
Do I get nose bleeds, or have blood when I blow my nose and don’t know why?
Do I have nasal polyps, or have I had them removed in the past?
Do I have pain or headaches around my nose or sinus area?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, it’s time to explore what is going on.
Talk to Your Doctor
Get your family doctor to have a look inside your nose. It’s easy for your doctor to see the redness associated with inflammation. Your doctor can also see if there are polyps. If you have small polyps, you may not be aware you have them.
If you have pain in the sinus area or experience sinus headaches, ask your doctor for a CT scan or MRI. These diagnostics can tell you if you have chronic inflammation in the sinuses.
Sticking your Nose into Histamine & Mast Cell Business
Did you know that the problems you are having with your nose were potentially histamine or mast cell related?
If you have other signs or symptoms of histamine intolerance or mast cell activation, it’s time to put the signs together and consider the bigger picture.
Register for our next Histamine Connection class if you want to find out more about this histamine and mast cell business.
Information is just below here.
Want a concrete list of steps you can start putting in place for yourself if your sinus or nose issues are a constant in your life?
We have a free Master Class we call The Histamine Connection coming up in February. We'll be focusing on all things respiratory - think nose, sinuses, lungs, etc. You can register for it here - it's happening on Thursday February 23rd at 7pm Mountain Time. It's all online, so you can join us from your most comfy couch, with your tissues in hand!
We share 3 tips to get started, and 3 food and nutrient ideas so you can start reducing what is potentially driving your symptoms. When you reduce what is potentially driving your symptoms, now you start to kick those symptoms to the curb. What might life be like then?
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