Chronic Cold Rhinitis is the medical term describing irritation and inflammation of some internal areas of the nose. A person is diagnosed as chronic rhinitis when symptoms continue long-term or occur for more than four days per week, and occur for at least four weeks. However, in practice there is great variation.

Repeated exposure to factors responsible for causing rhinitis generally leads to a chronic condition. For instance, repeated exposure to exhaust gases, perfumes, chlorine, detergents, cigarette smoke, dust etc can cause an individual the chronic rhinitis. Prolonged exposure to cold climate and frequent consumption of cold food items like curds & ice cream and most importantly decreased immunity are often responsible for causing chronic rhinitis.

• Sneezing
• Bad odour in respiration
• Headache, and itchy and watery red eyes
• Itchy throat
• Loss of smell
• Blocked or congested nose

According to Ayurvedic philosophy, rhinitis, or dushta pratishya appears due to imbalance of pitta and kapha. Pitta is an Ayurvedic humor, which symbolizes heat or fire. Kapha is another Ayurvedic humour, which manifests as a mucus like substance, that is dense, heavy, firm, stable, slow, thick, sticky, wet, clear and cold in nature. Aggravated pitta and kapha produce heating mucus-like toxins. These toxins circulate in the blood and are transported through channels to weakest part of body. In such a case, the weakest part of the body is the respiratory system. Heating, mucus-like toxins accumulate in respiratory system and leads to rhinitis.

• Boil 10 clove (lavang) buds and add 10 cloves of crushed garlic. Boil with two glasses of water and reduce it to a half. Add little bit of salt and take thrice daily.
• Mix powdered licorice (mulethi), black pepper (kalimirch) and turmeric (haldi) in equal quantities.
• Take a spoon of this mixture and boil it with 11 basil leaves (tulsi) and a cup of water. Drink it lukewarm thrice daily.
• Mix powders of dried ginger root (sonth), black pepper (kalimirch) and long pepper (pippali) in equal quantities. Take a spoon of this mixture with honey twice a day daily.

• One should avoid foods which increase pitta and kapha dosha such as fried, oily, deep fried, sour and excessively sweet foods.
• Citrus fruits (lemon, lime, orange), chutneys, sauces, fermented food, mustard and vinegar should be avoided. One should avoid foods made from white flour such as bread, cakes, pastries and pizza etc.
• Artificial foods, fast foods, cola drinks, and tomatoes should be avoided. Tea, coffee, alcohol and smoking should be avoided.
• In addition, very cold, frozen and heavy foods (which are difficult to digest) should be avoided. The focus should be on foods which are naturally sweet, bland and alkaline in nature. Foods that should be included in the diet are grains, freshly boiled rice, pasta, beans, breads (whole grain), dairy products like milk boiled with spices, juices, fresh vegetables and fresh fruits.