Rhinitis refers to inflammation of the mucous membrane and submucous tissue of the nasal cavity. There are various manifestations of rhinitis. In terms of pathological changes in the nasal mucosa, there are chronic simple rhinitis, chronic hypertrophic rhinitis, caseous rhinitis, and atrophic rhinitis; in terms of the urgency of onset and duration of disease, it can be divided into acute rhinitis and chronic rhinitis. In addition, there are some rhinitis, although the onset is slow, the course of the disease lasts longer, but there are specific causes, so there is a specific name, such as allergic rhinitis (also known as allergic rhinitis), drug rhinitis, etc.. Each type of rhinitis has its own characteristics.
1, acute rhinitis: caused by acute infection, commonly known as “cold” or “flu”, which causes nasal congestion for a short period of time, accompanied by nasal itching, sneezing, runny nose and even fever and other systemic symptoms. It is common in autumn, winter and spring. The disease usually improves gradually after 7 to 14 days. Those with strong resistance can be cured without treatment. It is worth noting that many acute infectious diseases have the local manifestations of acute rhinitis and lack the characteristics of the infectious disease itself, so clinical attention should be paid to differentiation.
2, chronic simple rhinitis: is a common multi-morbidity, developed from acute rhinitis. It is associated with combined bacterial secondary infection, incomplete treatment and recurrent attacks. The nasal congestion caused by intermittent and alternating, alleviated during the day, after heat or exercise, aggravated at night, cold or sedentary, the lower side of the nasal congestion is heavier when lying on the side, mostly accompanied by increased secretions. Clinically, it should be distinguished from chronic hypertrophic rhinitis and chronic nasal congestion.
3, chronic hypertrophic rhinitis: from chronic simple rhinitis, is a long-term chronic inflammation, bruising and nasal mucosa, nasal turbinates appear hyperplasia. At this time, the mucous membrane thickening, tissue elasticity decreased, poor nasal ventilation, thus endangering the physiological function of the nose. The symptoms are heavy nasal congestion, which is persistent and not affected by body position. The patient speaks with an occlusive nasal sound.
4, dry rhinitis: the occurrence of dry rhinitis is closely related to climate and occupational factors. The nasal mucosa is stimulated for a long time and mucus glands atrophy, secretion reduction caused by the mucosa and thus dry or even superficial erosion.
5, atrophic rhinitis: mainly nasal mucosa, periosteum and turbinate atrophy; due to the atrophy of nasal tissue, although the nasal cavity is relatively wide, but the nasal mucosa lost its normal physiological function, and because of the formation of dry crust in the nose, patients still feel poor ventilation. When there is a bacterial infection, its toxins and excreta, etc. produce a foul odor, once smelled, will not forget for life.
6, caseous rhinitis: is a rare nasal disease. Clinical features for the accumulation of cheese-like material in the nose, there is a foul odor, erosion of soft tissue and bone over time, the occurrence of internal and external nasal deformities. Among the cheese-like material are found exfoliated epithelium, necrotic tissue, septic cells, cholesterol crystals, and mycobacterial-like microorganisms. As for the etiology, there is no definite conclusion.
7, allergic rhinitis: also known as allergic rhinitis, is caused by the nasal mucosa is highly sensitive to certain components of the inhaled air. Its symptoms are very similar to the flu, but can be multiple episodes in a day; when not, it is completely normal. The onset of allergic rhinitis is sometimes closely related to the season.
8, drug rhinitis: drug rhinitis is the result of inappropriate nasal medication (such as nasal eye net, epinephrine or ephedrine and other nasal drops) long-term sustained action, can also be understood as a chronic rhinitis. The causative factors are inappropriate nasal medication, including the use of nasal mucosal vasoconstrictor drops with strong effects, excessive concentration of medication, non-isotonic solutions, overdose or long-term medication. All these can damage the structure of nasal mucosal cilia, thus affecting the physiological function of the nasal mucosa and producing a clinical condition in which the patient presents with persistent nasal congestion.
Common rhinitis in children include allergic rhinitis, acute rhinitis, and chronic rhinitis. In Chinese medicine, this disease is called “wind and nasal congestion”, “nasal abyss”, “nasal haggard”, “nasal suffocation”, etc.. The pathogenesis of the disease is mostly due to the weakness of the body, the external infection of evil toxins, stagnation in the nose, the poor operation of qi and blood, congestion of the nasal orifice and the onset of disease, or due to the dysfunction of the internal organs, the nasal orifice muscle membrane is not moistened.