Hay fever is nothing to sneeze at. Between 10% and 30% of the global population suffers from allergic rhinitis — hayfever — according to the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology. Common treatments for allergic sinus pain include corticosteroid, antihistamine, or anti-drip anticholinergic nasal sprays and decongestants.
Tivic Health developed ClearUP Sinus Pain Relief, a drug-free handheld neuromodulation device, to treat allergy-related sinus pain. Cleared by the FDA for over-the-counter purchase, ClearUP is available for $149 on the Tivic website now and will be on Amazon later in September. To use the device, you move the tip outside of the cheek, nasal bone, and under the brow for five minutes. The handheld device senses changes in impedance in nasal structures, and uses this information to guide the user’s hand movement for placement where it will do the most good.
ClearUP’s pulsed electrical current works in two ways. When the device discerns congestion, it vibrates and emits low-level microcurrent that stimulates sinus nerve fibers beneath the skin. The stimulation promotes norepinephrine release and vasocongestion, which reduces swelling and airflow resistance. Users can experience relief from sinus pain symptoms after one treatment, according to Tivic.
ClearUP also helps relieve sinus pain by stimulating and disrupting the nerves that send pain signals to the brain. We’ve written previously about neurostim used to help with pain associated with migraine, depression, diabetic neuropathy, back pain, opioid withdrawal, and more.
We’re big fans of non-pharma pain treatments at Health Tech Insider, especially using neurostimulation. Now we can add sinus pain to the list of neurostim applications.
