I accidentally got soap inside my nostrils when I was washing my face and forgot to rinse out my nose for hours because I thought it would be fine. Well it wasn’t. It’s now the next day and the first half inch to maybe one inch of the inside of my nose is extremely dry and cracked, like your hands get when their really dry. I have used saline nose spray and my nostrils need more than that at this point. Whats a safe moisturizer to use? It’s just the first half inch to maybe one inch of my nostril, what can I put in their? is Vaseline or hand cream safe?
Vaseline inside the nose isn’t a good idea – there’s a risk of lipoid pneumonia if it’s inhaled. It may not be a high risk, and the condition is treatable, but why take the chance?
I know there’s one nasal moisturizer called Secaris. I’m sure there are others. Check with your pharmacist.
This came up recently on the boards, so I took the opportunity to ask the Pharm D, the respiratory therapist and the General Attending at the hospital my mom just spent a few days at. They all agreed it’s a risk with Vaseline, but a very very small one, and in an alert adult patient, none of them have a problem with recommending it to relieve nasal dryness or prevent nosebleeds in people taking bloodthinners. They also said water based gel lubricant is a perfectly cromulent alternative.
Water based lube is what we use when inserting NG tubes up your nose and down your throat. It comes in little sterile packets, but it’s essentially KY jelly, sometimes with a numbing agent added.
So if you’re concerned, check with your doctors, but mine are cool with it.
ETA: From personal experience, don’t use hand cream. Burns like a mf-er.
how far can you stick the Vaseline down your nose, I need to stick it as far as it will go basically. If you stick your finger in your nose you will hit something. Thats about where I need the Vaseline but I’m concerned will it “plug” my nose? Is that a risk?
Use a Q-Tip to spread the Vaseline inside your nose? I wouldn’t go too deeply, though.
That sounds abnormally far to get soap up your nose. I suspect it’s something else causing the pain, and you should see a doctor for real medical advice.
There was a point in time where an Ear Nose and Throat doctor instructed me to apply bacitracin in my nose. It’s essentially Neosporin. It’s got that greasy feeling that you seem to want plus anti-bacterial. In my case it was due to a consistent bloody nose.
did they say to stick it as far up as you could, near the “bend”?
basically when I was trying to wash the soap out of my nose it just washed it further up. So can I put Vaseline up near the “bend”?
The location of the bleed (the spot that he cauterized) was about half an inch up from the opening. That was as far as I needed to go. He told me to put bacitracin on a cotton swab, put it in my nose and swish it around to lightly coat the insides. No matter what, you aren’t going to need globs and globs of it. I’m not exactly sure what you mean by “bend” and I’m not in a position where I can investigate further right now.
**Is vasaline or hand cream safe inside the nose **
I think it’s pretty safe. If I were stealing vaseline or hand cream the last place I’d look is in your nose.
Use a saline nasal spray. Use it several times and blow out your nose for a rinse. And then keep using as needed to keep the dry parts moistened. Can’t get safer than that.
Neosporin is safe and will work well.
I really don’t know. That’s a bit more “invasive” than I’d want to go without a doctor’s orders.
Medical advice is best suited to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
I’m thinking that this would be a good time to try out a neti pot.
This was going to be my non-professional advice. It sounds like you may still have soap up inside your nose and it’s causing some irritation. Use a neti pot and rinse your nose out well. Then you can apply something if it’s needed.