Chronic rhinitis.

Abstract

Chronic rhinitis may present as a syndrome of multiple symptoms or as a single symptom such as rhinorrhea, sneezing, or nasal obstruction. In patients whose symptoms do not conform to "classic" presentations of syndromes such as allergic rhinitis, a detailed differential diagnosis should be considered, to exclude anatomic, allergic, or systemic disease. If necessary, an imaging test of the sinuses should be obtained. Treatment depends on pathophysiology and can be prophylactic or symptomatic. A variety of nonpharmacologic measures are described which may prove helpful in reducing the severity of symptoms.