Ask Dr. Mike: Saline Wash for Runny Nose & More

Here you'll find the answers to a wealth of health and wellness questions posed by Healthy Talk fans.

Listen in, because what you come to know helps ensure healthy choices you can actually live with! Today on Healthy Talk, you wanted to know:

Is it true that a simple saline wash works for a runny nose?

If you have a runny nose, it can be very annoying to have to wipe your nose every few minutes. To answer the question... yes a simple saline wash is very effective to help rid you of your runny nose. When you're squirting the salt into your nasal cavity, it makes its way up to your sinuses. The salt draws out the excess fluid from your mucosal cells, instantly relieving any sinus pressure and eliminating further drips from your nose.

A huge benefit of using a saline wash is that you can use it as many times as you want. If you also want to help reduce inflammation in your nose, Dr. Mike recommends using curcumin and quercetin in your saline mix.

When should I be concerned about dry skin and see my doctor?

Even though your dry skin can feel uncomfortable, it really isn't that serious. Dry skin is very common throughout the winter months and is usually caused by the lack of moisture within the epidermis layer of your skin. Usually, if you stay clear of harsh chemicals used in soaps and cleaners, while also applying moisturizer to the dry areas, you can avoid the discomfort of dry skin.

However, if your dry skin is patchy and covers various parts of your body, you should definitely get it checked out.

I recently read that a new form of rice bran is treating cancers. Have you heard of this?

Doctors and researchers have been following this closely to see if it's actually true or not. If you look at a piece of rice, located in the middle are hulls that are covered by fibers. If you extract the fibers out and add enzymes from shitake mushrooms, the enzymes break into small pieces when you ingest them, giving it the enzymatically modified rice bran. These boost the natural killer cells within your body.

If you have a health question or concern, Dr. Mike encourages you to write him at askdrmikesmith@radiomd.com so he can provide you with support and helpful advice.