Other precipitating causes include nasal allergies and exposure to toxic fumes or air pollutants like tobacco smoke, both of which cause nasal tissues to swell, and obstructions resulting from a crooked nose, deviated septum, polyp, foreign body, tumor or even scar tissue from a previous sinus infection.
32.
The impending outbreak is expected to cause " double trouble " because the mild winter failed to destroy much of last year's ragweed crop, said Dan Breslin, a spokesman for Shering, which makes Claratin, a nonsedating antihistamine for the relief of nasal allergies, also known as seasonal allergic rhinitis.
33.
But the FDA, which has been hampered by a long delay in naming a new commissioner, has not yet ruled on a recommendation by an advisory panel last May that Claritin and two other strong-selling prescription drugs, Allegra, made by Aventis, and Zyrtec, made by Pfizer, be made available without a doctor's order for nasal allergies.
34.
The Otolaryngology Department, offers services in six subspecialties-Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Speech and Voice Care, Sinus & Nasal Allergy, Oncology and Neurology, Cancer of the Head and Neck, and General Otolaryngology-treated nearly 17, 000 patients in 2008, the most recent year for which statistics are available, making it one of the busiest programs in the country.
