Struggling with hay fever? This study says sex could be the solution

Words by Mia Barker for Body + Soul

If you’re at your wits’ end over this season’s air quality, the findings of this perplexing study may offer the saving grace you’ve been searching high and low for.

Nasal stuffiness and unrelenting sniffles could be a thing of the past, according to research published in the Ear, Nose & Throat Journal, and no, the answer doesn’t necessarily lie in stocking up on decongestant spray or over-the-counter medications.

While getting hot and heavy under the covers may seem like the last activity a stuffy nose calls for, it may be just the thing to relieve your symptoms.

In fact, the research suggests sex could even clear up a stuffy nose for roughly one hour, delivering similar results to your go-to decongestant spray.

The research, led by German ear, nose and throat doctor Olcay Cem Bulut, was first published in 2021, but with this year’s hayfever cases off the charts across Australia, it’s no surprise the data is trending more than five years on.

So, how does sex help nasal breathing?

While sex and nasal stuffiness may seem like two of the last things to join forces, Bulut’s research begs to differ. Recruiting 18 heterosexual couples to observe the effects of sexual activity on nasal breathing quality, the research team observed each pair before and after sex.

The same observations and measurements were taken the next day with the couples, though this time before and after using nasal spray.

Interestingly, both experimental models – sex and spray – delivered similar relief for the couples in the first hour after administering each method.

After sex, the couples recorded an increased airflow of 214 millilitres per second within the first hour, and after nasal spray, an increased airflow of 235 millilitres per second.

In both models, however, their congestion had returned after three hours, suggesting that while both nasal spray and sex are effective at relieving nasal congestion, the effects are only temporary.

While the results are fascinating, they do not pinpoint the exact reason why sex offers temporary nasal congestion relief, due to several limitations in the study model.

The study itself only monitors 36 individuals, a cohort size that is far too small to effectively represent the human population, and only half of the participants had usable nasal airflow data.

Additionally, all participants reported experiencing an orgasm, so further research would be needed to determine if sex without climax could also garner the same results, or if an orgasm is necessary to relieve nasal congestion.

This article originally appeared on Body+Soul as Struggling with hay fever? This study says sex could be the solution

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