People often clean their nasal cavity with a spray or a mist of saline solution. These are available commercially and have relatively low risk of causing adverse events. I have used these solutions for months now and after about 7 months of use I began experiencing unpleasant symptoms. It began about a month ago where I had discomfort and pain upon swallowing as if I had a sore throat. This feeling persisted for several weeks and continues to persist albeit it is milder and less frequent recently. Occasionally I still feel pain upon swallowing. I consulted an ENT physician last week and was told there was nothing abnormal (he scoped my throat with an intranasal tube that reached my throat; it sounds painful, but really it is not; it was quick with almost no discomfort at all). I finally googled side effects of intranasal saline rinses and found out that if the solution reaches the throat it will cause mild symptoms resembling a sore throat that can persist for a week or two after stopping their use. I stopped using them about 5 days and I am finding out that the symptoms are subsiding gradually. I think they will totally disappear by next week. This was an eye opener as I did not realize that they could cause throat irritation if they reached the throat. In fact, I made sure that the solution would reached my throat when I used them. It is a big mistake. According to what I read, they should be ok to use if you keep them away from your throat by not inhaling after you spray them in your nose. This can be achieved by tilting the head downward and forward without inhaling the spray. By the way, these solutions contain salt and water. In rare cases they may lead to infections if they get contaminated. Another thing, there are hypertonic rinses and isotonic rinses. It is better to use the isotonic rinses because they do not disturb tissues they come in contact with. As a final thought, my discomfort turned out not to be related to these rinses. So, I am back using them to flush my nose and sinuses. Consult your healthcare provider or your pharmacist concerning the use of these solutions. Each of us may react differently towards them.
An UPDATE: It turned out that nasal saline was NOT the cause of my pain. It was silent heartburn (GERD) that I am now treating it with 40 mg Prilosec and 10 mg Pepcid, daily.
