Alternative therapies gaining popularity among chronic rhinosinusitis patients

Chronic Rhinosinusitis (CRS) is being treated with Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) according to a new study. At the 2009 American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO in San Diego it was the researchers who tried to make a research into the use of CAM, complementary and alternative medicine who had a diagnosis of CRS at the Aberdeen Outpatient’s Clinic in Amsterdam.

 

CRS disorder is the condition of the paranasal sinuses of duration of 12 weeks and the inflammation of the mucosa of the nose.  Questionnaires were given out to the patients on whether they had ever used CAM which included herbal therapies like massage, acupuncture and the use of cod liver oil and aloe vera. Whether their general practitioners knew they used CAM and whether it was useful enough were asked in the questionnaires.

 

It was found that 65 per cent of patients used CAM. Out of them, thirty per cent used that for chronic rhinosinusitis and that women were more likely to use CAM than men. It was also inferred that patients who had university education and were married or employed generally used CAM. Researchers found that physicians were not told about CAM by the patients under treatment in many cases. It was necessary that physicians should enquire into all the medications that patients use and it was imperative that CAM users learn about the non compliance of normal medications with CAM.