While the benign growths called nasal polyps aren’t harmful or painful in themselves, they can interfere with breathing and drainage in your airways and sinuses. There’s not a lot of extra room inside your nose, so even modest polyps could make it seem that life is one long, sniffling cold.
Alexis Furze, MD, specializes in the treatment of stubborn nasal polyps with an exciting new treatment option called Sinuva®, which harnesses the anti-inflammatory power of corticosteroids to shrink polyps.
Let’s look at four must-know benefits of Sinuva. But first, we want to explain a bit more about Sinuva.
As the first and only stent approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of nasal polyps in certain patients, Sinuva is a tiny, removable, minimally invasive implant.
It releases a powerful corticosteroid directly at the location where it can shrink the swollen tissue that interferes with the normal function of your airways.
Typically, delivery of the steroid mometasone furoate uses a nasal spray format. While it’s effective at treating polyps, it’s not efficient.
Not all of the active medication reaches the polyps, and there’s no consistent level of application. There’s plenty of steroid in the moment after applying the nasal spray, but it rapidly dissipates until your next dose.
Instead, the structure of the Sinuva implant delivers mometasone furoate directly to the ethmoid sinus for distribution to nasal polyps in the surrounding area.
The slow release of medication over a period of 90 days, creates a steady anti-inflammatory effect that can be further enhanced with a daily steroid spray.
Delivering medication is only one of the benefits of the Sinuva design. The stent itself has an umbrella-like profile that pushes back tissue, widening the airway physically while polyps respond to the steroid.
Dr. Furze places the Sinuva stent in a quick office visit. It’s not a surgical procedure. In fact, it’s an alternative to surgery to remove polyps. Sinuva is effective enough that you may never need to go under the knife for this problem.
The measure of any treatment is in the positive effects it creates. Sinuva delivers four key benefits that have you, literally, breathing easier.
In a study of 300 patients, the combination of Sinuva and a daily nasal spray produced measurably better results than the control group that used nasal spray alone.
A side effect of nasal polyps is an impaired sense of smell and taste. As Sinuva shrinks polyps, these senses reset back toward normal levels.
Over the 90 days that a Sinuva implant remains active, you’ll see fewer symptoms of congestion and nasal obstruction. This includes runny nose, postnasal drip, sinus headaches, and snoring.
About 60% of patients treated with Sinuva avoided the need for ethmoid surgery, 20% better than those in the control group.
Is Sinuva right for you? The best way to find out is an exam and consultation with Dr. Furze. He can assess your condition and recommend the best treatment based on his findings. Call our Newport Beach, California, office at 949-389-6673 to book your appointment today.
