Every year, approximately 37 million people in the United States alone, suffer from the nasal congestion, sinus pressure, cough, and postnasal drip that accompany sinusitis. Doctors, usually, recommend antibiotics for relieving acute sinusitis developing after a chest cold.

A new review by Israeli researchers has suggested that steroid nasal sprays - either alone or with antibiotic therapy - can easily ease symptoms besides speeding up the recovery process.

From News-Medical.Net:

Overall, 73 percent of the patients treated with nasal steroids experienced relief or marked improvement of symptoms during the study period, compared with only 66.4 percent of patients who received the placebo.

“For every 100 patients treated with intranasal corticosteroids, seven additional patients had complete or marked symptom relief,” compared to those in the placebo group, the reviewers found.

Researchers pooled data from three of the four studies, excluding the lowest-quality study from the statistical analysis.

None of the studies reported serious side effects, and rates of sinusitis relapse were similar between the treatment and placebo groups.

Stronger doses of nasal steroids appeared to work better. Patients receiving daily doses of 400 micrograms were more likely to experience relief of sinusitis symptoms, than were patients receiving 200-microgram doses.

Although there is not enough evidence to suggest that nasal steroids can stand alone for acute sinusitis treatment, “the results of these studies and reviews support the current clinical rationale of adding an intranasal corticosteroid to antibiotic therapy,” reviewers say.

More data is required before routine recommendations in intranasal corticosteroids can be granted, as per Allen Seiden, M.D., director of the University of Cincinnati Taste and Smell Center.