Journalist Nose the Problems for Ecigs
Can vaping damage your nose?
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by Dave Cross
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The Metro agrees with the Daily Star on claims of efficacy: “It’s well accepted that vaping can be a pretty good way to kick a cigarette habit. Around 2.6million people in the UK vape regularly.” But they go on to add: “with new technology comes a whole new set of problems that users may not be aware of.” Smokers frequently exhale out of their nostrils and it is understandable that vapers have continued this habit when they make the switch. The paper goes on to state: “exhaling the vapour out of your nose can actually cause damage to the inside of your nostrils.”
It’s not a new phenomenon. Before the trend shifted to vaping high VG liquids in order to produce clouds users were passing comment on the likes of Reddit, the ECF and All About E-Cigarettes forums. Some have noted that a condition has persisted even after swapping over from high-propylene glycol (PG) to heavy VG e-liquids.
Vaper William Keeler is reported as saying: “You know when you touch an open wound and it burns? That’s what it felt like – there was a really strong burning inside my nose. And there was constantly a bad smell, which I can only describe as the smell of poo, all day, every day. I went to the doctors and at first they thought I was using cocaine, which I wasn’t. Then when I said I vaped, they told me to stop exhaling it out of my nose and to breath out of my mouth. After a few months it was much better.”
Professor Nirmal Kumar, a consultant specializing in ear, nose and throat problems in the West Midlands said: “The risks of vaping are not yet fully defined, but there’s a growing body of evidence that it is not as harmless as we first thought. There are lots of chemicals in it that can harm the nose. But whether it will cause long-term damage is not yet proven.”
Professor John Britton is a long-standing advocate of vaping as part of a harm reduction approach. He has spoken at many meetings in support of the adoption of electronic cigarettes by the National Health Service. He suggests that as PG is a mild irritant and has some drying effects that vaper ought to adopt two strategies for coping if they experience an issue with their noses. Firstly, he says that exhaling through the mouth instead of the nose should work well – and, additionally, to place a small amount of Vaseline inside the nose to sooth and moisturise.
Considering the impact of continuing to smoke, this appears to be a minor concern for anybody worried about switching over to vaping and it should be remembered that Public Health England have declared electronic cigarettes to be at least 95% safer than smoking.
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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