NHS doctor Dr Suraj Kukadia - better known as Dr Sooj on social media - has dropped a bombshell about the dangers of over-reliance on a popular over-the-counter remedy. In a viral clip, he's been schooling followers on the perils of getting hooked on nasal sprays commonly used to combat blocked noses. Dr Sooj didn't mince words when he said to his viewers: "It is really common for people to become addicted to nasal sprays so I'm gonna show you how to get off them.
If your nasal spray is a decongestant that contains xylometazoline, oxymetazoline, pseudoephedrine, phenylephrine or anything like that then this is for you." Decongestants, those handy quick-fixes for stuffy noses brought on by the likes of colds, flu, and allergies, work their magic by constricting blood vessels in the schnoz. But, as Dr Sooj points out, these meds can lose their mojo after just a few days, leading to worse congestion than before a phenomenon he calls 'rebound congestion'.
He said: "When the medication wears off and your vessels dilate, you get 'rebound congestion' which means that blood flow just floods into nasal passageways and then your nose becomes so much more stuffy, blocked and congested than it was before you even tried the medicine." The NHS website advises "most decongestants should only be used between 1 and 4 times a day", reports Gloucestershire Live . It further states: "Decongestant nasal sprays and drops should not be used for more than a week at a time because using them for too .