If Pediatric Rhinitis and Sinusitis Keep Recurring | Incheon Rhinitis Clinic

If Pediatric Rhinitis and Sinusitis Keep Recurring | Incheon Rhinitis Clinic

“Director, why does our child keep picking their nose, losing sleep because of nasal congestion all night, and always having a runny nose in the morning? Every time we go to the hospital, they say it’s rhinitis or sinusitis. We take medicine and use sprays, but why does it keep recurring?”

This is one of the questions I hear most in the clinic. When a child’s pediatric rhinitis and pediatric sinusitis lead to chronic and recurrent rhinitis, deep anxiety along with the fundamental question “What exactly is the problem with our child’s nose?” resides in the parents’ hearts. Visible symptoms like nasal congestion, runny nose, and sneezing are easily noticeable, but in fact, they are only one aspect of a deeper story unfolding inside our bodies. Today, I want to try and put together the hidden puzzle of nasal health, beyond simply silencing uncomfortable symptoms.

Signals Sent by the Nose: Beyond Simple Discomfort

When I look at children’s nasal symptoms, I don’t just look at the organ called the nose. Just like imagining the roots and trunk of the entire tree while looking at the shaking of small twigs, nasal symptoms become an important clue reflecting the child’s overall body environment and immune system balance. Many parents try various treatments with a desperate heart for children suffering from children’s nasal congestion or child sinusitis. However, there are many cases where they feel frustrated as symptoms start again once the medicine is stopped. Why does this repeat?

As seen in Yu-na’s case, I believe the nose is the ‘first gateway of immunity’ and the ‘front line that meets the external environment first,’ beyond just a passage for breathing. It not only acts as a ‘filter’ to filter out external foreign substances but also plays an important role in making the air going into the lungs warm and humid. However, I use the analogy more often that the nose is not just a filter or passage, but a ‘passage of life’ through which the energy of the whole body flows and a ‘small mirror’ reflecting the child’s internal environment. This analogy emphasizes how closely the nasal mucosa is connected to delicate blood circulation, the complex nervous system, and overall immune system balance. The sensory discomfort of the nasal mucosa being stinging in the cold wind or the throat being scratchy in dry air may be the first signal informing of changes inside our bodies. That is, the inflammatory reaction of the nose is also a primary defense action against external stimuli, but it can be a signal of internal body imbalance. Listening to this signal is the first step toward finding our child’s true health.

Journey to Find the Roots: Constitutional Tendencies and Physical Environment

In that case, where is the hidden background of the disease that makes our child’s nose continuously uncomfortable? The insight I gained while meeting children in the clinic is that it is hard to explain childhood chronic rhinitis or recurrent rhinitis simply by the presence of allergies or bacterial infection. Different ‘constitutional tendencies’ and ‘physical environments’ for each child play an important role. In that case, what constitutional tendency does our child have? Some children show a tendency for weak lungs and bronchial tubes from birth, and some children have weak digestive systems, so as ‘damp-phlegm (습담)’ accumulates in the body, nasal symptoms worsen. Here, damp-phlegm is a Korean medicine concept referring to unnecessary moisture and waste products that are not properly discharged from our bodies and stagnate. Just like stagnant water starts to rot, if damp-phlegm accumulates in the body, it more easily induces inflammatory reactions of the mucosa and can deepen secretion problems such as runny nose and phlegm.

In Korean medicine, we focus on identifying these children’s constitutional tendencies and optimizing each individual’s physical environment. For example, in the 『Donguibogam』, it explains nasal congestion as ‘Bi-saek (鼻塞),’ not as a symptom limited to the nose but in connection with functional abnormalities of the internal organs such as the lungs, spleen/stomach, and kidneys. This surprisingly resembles how we understand the relationship between gut health and immunity today. Just as an imbalance in gut microbiota affects overall immune function, classical medicine also saw that when the balance of the entire body collapses, symptoms appear in specific areas like the nose. I interpret the child’s body state by fusing this classical wisdom with modern perspectives.

Companion Approach for Sustainable Recovery

Pediatric rhinitis treatment and pediatric sinusitis management for a child’s nasal health is not a short-distance race but like a long-distance marathon. Simply suppressing symptoms case-by-case is only a stopgap measure. What’s important is cultivating the strength to recover by oneself.

For this, I want to ask parents a few questions. “Is our child sleeping well? Are their meals regular and balanced? Are they having good bowel movements? Alternatively, does the body feel cold, or on the contrary, too much heat?” Within these everyday questions, important clues about the child’s physical environment and constitutional tendency are hidden.

The keys to pediatric rhinitis treatment and pediatric sinusitis management are the following three:

1. Understanding the child’s entire body: Nasal symptoms are a reflection of the overall condition. You must look at all aspects of the child, such as digestive system, sleep, skin, and emotional state.

2. Restoring the balance of the immune system: It is important not to simply ‘strengthen’ immunity, but to ‘balance’ it so it responds appropriately to external stimuli and does not overreact. This balance can be achieved gradually through herbal treatment and improvement of lifestyle habits.

3. Sustainable management habits: Small daily habits gather to change the child’s body in a positive direction. It is about helping the child cultivate immunity by themselves and find a healthy rhythm, beyond simply suppressing symptoms. Sufficient water intake keeps the mucosa moist and helps waste discharge. Maintaining appropriate indoor temperature (22-24 degrees) and humidity (50-60%) protects the nasal mucosa, and a balanced diet and regular exercise are essential for overall circulation and immune function activation. Small habits like a cup of warm water before bed or light stretching will gather to create a solid foundation for the child’s nasal health.

To be honest, I do not say that our child’s chronic rhinitis or childhood sinusitis will completely disappear overnight. Herbal treatment and improvement of lifestyle habits are gradual processes, and sometimes unexpected small ups and downs may be experienced. However, what I am confident of is the fact that when parents understand the child’s symptoms not as a simple ‘disease’ but as a ‘conversation of the body’ and actively participate in the child’s recovery journey, the most powerful recovery power is exercised. For the healthy growth of children, I will always be a warm guide and companion by your side. Let’s work together so that the child’s small nose is filled with healthy breath and can create an energetic tomorrow.