Nasal PolypsSymptoms, Doctors, Treatments, Advances & More
Learn About Nasal Polyps
Nasal polyps are soft, sac-like growths on the lining of the nose or sinuses.
Nasal polyps can grow anywhere on the lining of the nose or the sinuses. They often grow where the sinuses open into the nasal cavity. Small polyps may not cause any problems. Large polyps can block your sinuses or nasal airway.
Nasal polyps are not cancer. They seem to grow due to long-term swelling and inflammation in the nose from allergies, asthma, or infection.
No one knows exactly why some people get nasal polyps. If you have any of the following conditions, you may be more likely to get nasal polyps:
- Aspirin sensitivity
- Asthma
- Long-term (chronic) sinus infections
- Cystic fibrosis
- Hay fever
If you have small polyps, you may not have any symptoms. If polyps block nasal passages, a sinus infection can develop.
Symptoms include:
- Runny nose
- Stuffed up nose
- Sneezing
- Feeling like your nose is blocked
- Loss of smell
- Loss of taste
- Headache and pain if you also have a sinus infection
- Snoring
With polyps, you may feel like you always have a head cold.
Medicines may help relieve symptoms, but rarely get rid of nasal polyps.
- Nasal steroid sprays can sometimes shrink polyps. They help clear blocked nasal passages and runny nose. Symptoms return if treatment is stopped.
- Corticosteroid pills or liquid may also shrink polyps, and can reduce swelling and nasal congestion. The effect lasts a few months in most cases.
- Allergy medicines can help prevent polyps from growing back.
- Antibiotics can treat a sinus infection caused by bacteria. They can't treat polyps or sinus infections caused by a virus.
If medicines don't work, or you have very large polyps, you may need surgery to remove them.
- Endoscopic sinus surgery is often used to treat polyps. With this procedure, your surgeon uses a thin, lighted tube with instruments at the end. The tube is inserted into your nasal passages and your surgeon removes the polyps.
- Usually you can go home the same day.
- Polyps may come back, even after surgery.
- Sometimes biologics are used for preventing polyps from coming back. Biologics are a class of medicines called monoclonal antibodies, which target a specific protein to control the disease process.
Robert Kern is an Otolaryngologist in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Kern has been practicing medicine for over 41 years and is rated as an Elite provider by MediFind in the treatment of Nasal Polyps. His top areas of expertise are Nasal Polyps, Chronic Rhinosinusitis with Nasal Polyps (CRSwNP), Asthma, Endoscopy, and Nerve Decompression.
Bruce Tan is an Otolaryngologist in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Tan has been practicing medicine for over 22 years and is rated as an Elite provider by MediFind in the treatment of Nasal Polyps. His top areas of expertise are Chronic Rhinosinusitis with Nasal Polyps (CRSwNP), Nasal Polyps, Sinusitis, Endoscopy, and Nerve Decompression.
David Conley is an Otolaryngologist in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Conley has been practicing medicine for over 37 years and is rated as an Elite provider by MediFind in the treatment of Nasal Polyps. His top areas of expertise are Nasal Polyps, Chronic Rhinosinusitis with Nasal Polyps (CRSwNP), Asthma, Endoscopy, and Nerve Decompression.
Removing polyps with surgery often makes it easier to breathe through your nose. Over time, however, nasal polyps often return.
Loss of smell or taste does not always improve following treatment with medicine or surgery.
Complications may include:
- Bleeding
- Infection
- Polyps coming back after treatment
Contact your provider if you often find it hard to breathe through your nose.
You can't prevent nasal polyps. However, nasal sprays, antihistamines, and allergy shots may help prevent polyps that block your airway. Newer treatments such as injection therapy with anti-IgE antibodies may help prevent polyps from coming back.
Treating sinus infections right away also may help.
Summary: This is a single-arm extension study to investigate the long-term safety, tolerability, and efficacy of lunsekimig in adult participants with inadequately controlled CRSwNP who have completed a previous lunsekimig CRSwNP clinical study (also referred to as the parent study ACT18207). The study duration will be up to approximately 56 weeks per participant, 52 weeks of treatment period, and 4 weeks ...
Summary: Nasal obstruction (NO) affects \ 30% of the population and is a very common reason for consultation in otorhinolaryngology (ORL). In the majority of cases, the origin is inflammatory (allergic rhinitis and chronic rhinosinusitis) while in a minority of cases, the origin is structural, including septal deviation and inferior turbinate hypertrophy. NO significantly impairs patients' quality of life ...
Published Date: July 28, 2025
Published By: Ashutosh Kacker, MD, FACS, Professor of Clinical Otolaryngology, Weill Cornell Medical College, and Attending Otolaryngologist, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.
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