#Best nasal allergy spray

[onlinedolly]

enjoy my drabble based off secretary!!!

nanami kento whos just your boss. you worked under him as a secretary to a business he didn’t own but was powerful enough to have his own office. this was your first job, nervous as you told him you didn’t have any references. nanami just smiled then, told you everything would be alright and if you were comfortable handling the phones. you’d nodded at him a large smile on your face, and since then you’d been his pretty little secretary.

nanami kento who’s just your boss, but the tension in the air is heavier now. you’d messed up a couple times, naturally, and you didn’t think it had gotten under his skin this much. nanami wasn’t a particularly awful man to work under, tedious and strict, but albeit kind. he was bossy, ordering you to wear your hair down more often, or change what type of blouse you were wearing, or how he could hear you sniffle all the way from his office and you needed to be more quiet. normal things.

things unbeknownst to you nanami relished in, loved the way you came in next day with your hair down and a different blouse, how you’d went out of your way to buy a thing of nasal spray to keep your allergies to a minimum. you were so obedient and sweet.

but how did it get like this? now? nanami had called you into his office and explained angrily the mistakes you were making. nothing unusual, you were used to his stern talking to’s, his corrections. but when he told you to bend over his desk, palms flat on the table, you couldn’t help but fumble a bit. but oh so good you behaved, leaning until your chest collided with the smooth surface, placing your palms down.

“count.” he speaks rashly, and before you know it he’s smacking you hard against your clothed bottom. it was enough to send shock waves through you as you uttered out the number one. you took it, like always, like a good thing, as he repeatedly smacks your ass, harder and harder each time as you count, eyes welling with tears. you’d done your best to keep quiet, knowing the only thing that nanami hates more then mistakes were interruptions.

nanami was just your boss, but with you splayed out like this, it felt like something different. a power shift. you’d always been so good at listening to him, walking home when he suggests, changing your shirt, switching you heels for more sensible flats, and you wondered if those were power plays too. ways to keep himself above you, make you submissive.

after around twenty blows, nanami finally cools down, fixes his tie, and sets back down in his chair. he doesn’t pay you any mind as he types away of his computer and you’re confused but ecstatic as you stand, straighten yourself out, apologize for your mistake, and walk back to your small desk outside his office.

nanami was just your boss, nothing more. just a man in a position of power.

[scatter-snz]

Best Laid Plans - Part 1

Details: 9k, Male sneezes, no pairing (yet..)

Summary: A secret agent is going undercover for a few days, and his target has a sneeze fetish. The agency’s best engineer has constructed something to give him an edge.

PART 1 - PART 2

My first original piece I've posted here!

This is VERY self-indulgent so you’ll have to excuse me lol. It’s like.. lizard brain horny. Seriously lol. Slapping NSFW on here for good measure. It’s rare I get embarrassed about my kink nowadays but I feel a little embarrassed about this one. Still, I had fun writing it! I hope someone else can enjoy it too! 

These are original characters, all in their mid twenties to early thirties! This story was inspired by @testingtwns writing. She has such captivating descriptions, spectacular characterizations, and fascinating world lore. (If you would prefer I remove this shoutout, Red, please let me know! Your stuff is just so great!)

(Warnings: Unrealistic science, my cringe attempt at sneeze characterization, Mess Lite™, questionable workplace dynamics, general horny undertones and overtones, accidental boners and feeling pleasure from sneezing).

THIS STORY IS NSFW!

-

It was never a great morning when Agent Omicron found himself in Dr. Anita Voster’s lab. She was a little eccentric, he thought, and liked to make mischief. Not a good combination for a scientist. Still, she was the best in the force and the one assigned to his case by the powers that be. He knew why he was reporting to Dr. Voster’s lab and he knew what his bosses would say - The sooner you report to Dr. Voster, the sooner you can begin your work.

Omicron reported to her lab sharply at 0800, shrugged off his suit jacket at her behest, and sat himself down in her vaguely threatening patient chair for the administration of her invention. Dr. Voster was far too giddy in handing over a small container of nasal spray. It looked harmless, but Omicron knew better.

“This,” he said, inspecting the bottle, “will make me sick?”

“Something like that,” Dr. Voster replied. She fetched the bottle from his hand as she spoke, and rolled a plush stool over to sit as they talked. “This virus was engineered specifically to make you sneeze, so think of it like a cold in your nose.”

“Similar to allergies?”

“Yes, if you were allergic to air.”

Omicron sighed. He wasn’t in the business of complaining, but this was going to be challenging. He crossed his arms, trying not to fidget. “How long does it last?”

“Just long enough to see you through the mission. Your symptoms should abate by Thursday.”

So he’d be sick the entire time, essentially. Great. His leg started to bounce.

“Will this slow me down?” he asked. Dr. Voster arched a look over her safety glasses. He clarified himself. “Am I going to feel like shit?”

She smirked at him. “Are you one of those man-cold types?”

Heat swept over his ears and burned the back of his neck, and her smile only widened. He crunched his brows with a glare. “No, I’m just being thorough. If this will compromise my performance in any way, I want to know about it.”

“It won’t,” she chuckled, and he tried not to get defensive at the amusement in her voice. “Like I said, the primary function of this virus is to make you sneeze. You’ll be contending with some nasal congestion, but aside from that you’ll be fine.”

That was easy for her to say. She wasn’t going undercover into enemy territory. He tensed as she snapped on a pair of gloves and looped on a face mask. When she uncapped the bottle, he cleared his throat. “The paperwork said something about me being more ‘suggestible?’ What does that mean?”

She huffed at his air quotes and yanked down her mask. “It means you’ll be vulnerable to psychosomatic triggers. In other words, if you think hard enough about sneezing, you’ll prompt one.”

“That sounds unlikely.”

“We have testing data to support it,” she chastised, and yanked her mask back up. “It was a goal for the formula. We thought you might find it handy to take matters into your own hands if a sneeze wasn’t forthcoming.”

“For.. what? Tactical measures?”

“Yes, strategic options. Now, tilt your head and relax.”

He reluctantly settled back into the cushioned chair, sniffing in preparation. One of her latex hands moved to cradle his jaw and keep him still as she nudged the applicator up the right side. It was wide enough to graze the sides of his nostrils, and he felt them flare in response.

“Okay, deep breath..”

Swallowing, he breathed slowly, deeply through his nose. A fffssh from the bottle yielded a mist of curiously warm aerosol that instantly coated the skin. He flinched a wrist up to his mouth to cough in response. It felt suddenly like his nose was running, so he sniffed, sniffed, and sniffed again. A strong flavor coated the back of his throat.

“Why is it salty?”

“Well, we didn’t intentionally flavor it,” she said, already moving to his left nostril. “Probably the saline. We used it as a base. Now, give me another big breath.”

He did as he was told, and again a warm puff of wetness invaded his nose. And another. And another. They performed this three times for each nostril, alternating sides, and the last one rubbed him wrong. A tiny tickle ignited. Omicron warded Dr. Voster back with one cautious hand as the other routed to his nose. He anchored his forefinger beneath his nostrils, pressing deliberately against his septum as he parted his lips to breathe. Voster snorted at him as she set the bottle aside.

“I thought that only worked in cartoons.”

“And on me,” he mumbled in a heady voice. 

It took a moment of concentrated effort, but the urge passed. He sniffed, a little wetter this time as he blinked away tears. Agent Omicron was an old hand at holding back sneezes. Sudden, uncontrolled outbursts weren’t great for business when he was out in the field. That, and he generally didn’t like to draw attention to himself even in civilian life. He caught Dr. Voster smiling at him and his brows trenched.

“What now?”

“I’m not into sneezing,” she told him as she capped the bottle, “but that was pretty cute. Your target won’t stand a chance, Mr. Honey Pot.”

He replied with a scowl and one more see-sawing rub beneath his nose. “When does this kick in?”

“Give it twenty-four hours,” she said, and snapped off her gloves. “I’ll check on you then to make sure it took.”

He stood and slipped back into his jacket, straightened his tie. “Isn’t this cutting it a little close? I’m flying out tomorrow.”

“Maybe, but we didn’t want your poor nose suffering anymore than it has to,” she cooed, and punctuated this with a little tap of her knuckle to his septum. He swatted her away.

“Stop.”

“Oohhh,” she pouted, leaning a hip against her workstation. “Always so serious, Agent O.”

Omicron lurked a warning glare her way as he adjusted his sleeve cuffs and shirt collar. “I’ll be back in 2400.”

---

And he was, though he dragged his feet most of the way.

Omicron believed Dr. Voster when she said this nasal spray contained a virus that would cause his nose some hell, but he didn’t quite understand just how.. intense the experience would be. 

He sniffled, a necessary indignity since he woke up this morning, and the slow, deliberate flare of that ever-present irritation beckoned him toward an unavoidable conclusion. Still, Omicron shoved the hard edge of his finger beneath his nose and tilted his head back for another whip-crack sniff. It flared the tickle dangerously, but the steady breakwater against his septum kept him in the clear. His nostrils twitched and he pinched them, rubbing rubbing rubbing until he heard the embarrassing squelch of something wet in his nose.

Another strong sniff, and a weak huhh on his exhale. Shit. He wiped his hand on the side of his pants with a grimace. He’d have to start carrying tissues.

“There he is!” Dr. Voster greeted him with a disarming smile, but he could see the hawklike way she zeroed in on his nose. He tried not to sniffle. “How’s my magnum opus treating you?”

It’s bullying me, Omicron thought, but as he laced his hands properly behind his back, what he said instead was, “It’s working.”

“Oh, is it?” she said. She wasn’t even trying to mask the delight in her voice now as she crowded him back into her exam chair. “Let me take a look.”

He stared hard at the ceiling as she slipped on gloves and wheeled forward on her stool, leaning over him like a dentist. He hated the dentist. A warm trickle of wetness prompted an automatic sniff, and a huffing exhale when that far-back tickle teased him.

“Runny nose?” she chirped, using her thumb to gently coax his nostril open. She held an otoscope with her other hand, using the little light to peer up his nose. Omicron tried not to shrivel in embarrassment as she crooned with sympathy. “Oooh, poor thing. You’re so inflamed..”

“Wasn’t that the idea?” he sighed, and sniffled again. A spark somewhere in his sinuses caused him a hard blink.

“Yes, but it must tickle so much..”

In response to her words, another spark snapped inside him. Like striking flint to burn kindling. Another reflexive sniffle. His eyes began to water. 

“It must feel like something fuzzy is stuck up there,” she was saying, rubbing her thumb softly against the quivering edge of his nostril. “Every time you breathe, this fluffy thing, lodged in place and too far for you to reach..”

The frantic efforts of the virus continued, tenacious now in its purpose. The fuse caught, as did Omicron’s next inhale. His chest hitched with a stutter. He tried to reach up, finger extended and ready, but Voster caught his wrist and pinned it back down to the chair arm.

“It must be new for you, to be so out of control. This thing inside you, tickling so sweetly, growing unbearable, and there’s nothing you can do but submit.”

That tantalizing feeling got worse. The line of gunpowder trailing through his pulsing nostrils lit up with an unstoppable blaze. It raced through him, and Omicron couldn’t do anything but give it fuel. He gasped hugely, his chest straining against the buttons of his shirt. The exhale crashed out of him clumsily, unrelieved.

“H-HUHhh..”

Dr. Voster leaned away, but set her otoscope aside to pin his other wrist when he reflexively raised it to ward off what was coming. “Don’t fight it, Omicron. That tickle nestled in your nose was built for this. Listen to it. You two are a team, remember?”

Omicron couldn’t even open his eyes, the sensation held him so powerfully. It felt alive, calculated, somehow vying for control. He snatched in another soft breath, breathed it out on a moan, and then gasped again. His lungs strained to accommodate as that demanding tickle wanted more.. more..

He huffed out another helpless groan. “HHUHhhh..”

His hands flinched toward his face, but met resistance. A tear surfed down his cheek and dripped off his chin. He gasped- gasped-! “.. hH-hiIHH-!”

The sensation crested, and finally, overcame him.

“HHZZZSSSCHOOO!!”

The force of it threw him forward. It was the loudest, strongest sneeze he’d ever sneezed, but somehow it didn’t feel big enough. Cool, tingling aftermath quickly gathered a second storm. This time, Omicron didn’t do anything but breathe into it.

“..hhHI’JJIZZSHHUE!”

Another uncharacteristically enormous sneeze. His wrists were free, but he didn’t even bother to cover his mouth or muffle into his elbow. Usually he’d rather disintegrate than sneeze freely even in his own home, but.. this tickle.. he just wanted to let it.. let it do.. 

“HEH’CHIZSHOoo!”

.. do whatever it wanted. And what it wanted was complete and utter domination. Omicron sniffled helplessly, half-aware he was leaking out of more than one orifice but too punch-drunk to do much about it. His breath caught fitfully in his throat and he-.. 

“-idzhih.. HID’ISSsshoo!.. huhh..”

Omicron leaned over to press hands over his eyes, his palms coming away wet. He was normally a one-and-done guy, with fairly normal-sized sneezes; this many at this size had him light-headed. His breath hitched again, quick like the strike of a viper, before he let it go on a sigh. And another, just the same. It felt like hiccups. He didn’t dare touch his nose, too wary of setting off the wrath of this thing deep inside him. Instead he just sniffled pitifully, catching his breath.

There was a tap on his shoulder. He glanced askance to a sheepish looking Dr. Voster who was offering a box of tissues. He snatched several, still too dazed to be properly embarrassed as he blew a wet, crackling sound into the wad of them. It took a few rounds, but when he finished he cleared his throat and blinked at her with teary eyes.

“What the fuck, Anita.”

“Sorry,” she winced, and she actually did seem sorry. “I wanted to test the ‘suggestible’ variable and you reacted more strongly than I anticipated. Also, um.. bless you, by the way.”

He sat back against the seat with a stuffy sniffle, arms crossed, and now that he was more aware of himself, valiantly fighting down the urge to blush. “Yes, well. You were just doing your job, so I can’t be mad.”

She hedged a nervous smile. “Can’t be, or shouldn’t be?”

He gusted a long sigh, reaching up to rub the bridge of his nose when somehow even the rumble of his own voice stirred the residual dust of another sinus-deep tickle. “Do you need to test anything else, or can I go?”

His voice had lost most of its resonance from the sneeze attack as the congestion set in -- not yet enough to blunt his consonants but enough to dull the overall sound. Moisture skated down the side of his nose and Omicron wrinkled it with another snuffle that moved nothing at all. How could his nose be both dripping and completely blocked? He indulged a rub this time, soothing his nostrils to stillness with the tempering back-and-forth of his index finger.

The doctor’s voice broke the quiet. “How does it feel?”

Omicron peered up at her, finger still held to his upper lip. “Pardon?”

“Your nose,” she clarified, but not by much. “How does it feel?” He scoffed and stood to leave. She stood to stop him, holding both hands out as if to placate him. “I’m not teasing you. I really do need to know. Are you in pain?”

“No,” he said, chest lifting with another short sniff. He pressed harder against his septum, rubbing in earnest now as the tickle began gathering momentum. It stalled against the wrangling touch, but didn’t back down. “No pain.”

“But it does tickle?”

“I believe we’ve estahh..hkrrrm!” He cleared his throat to steady his voice. “.. established that, yes.”

She eyed him, her gaze trailing down to the finger glued beneath his nose. “You shouldn’t try to hold them off, Omicron. It might be why your sneezing earlier was so extreme.”

All this talk of sneezing was just emboldening the tickle. It’s like the sensation was surging forward, eager to answer to the call of its name. His eyes fluttered closed and he pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth to try and waylay another gasping breath. His nostrils pulsed against his finger, prompting him to pinch them instead, but still they tried to flare against his grip. He heard Dr. Voster sigh.

“I don’t know why they picked you for this mission,” she muttered, just loud enough to be heard. “If you’re too shy to sneeze, you’re going to lose your target pretty much instantly.”

His eyes sliced open, as defiant as his nose still squirming between his fingers. His voice was bottled back in his throat completely. “I’b dnot shy, I’b.. I’b jhhss.. hooh..”

The tickle hijacked his voice, tremoring it on a snatchy inhale. It prickled ominously behind his eyes, insistent, and Omicron stayed perfectly still in an effort to tame it. Even with his nose plugged and his fervent attempts to rub the sensation away, the tickle persisted. It dragged another breath in on a soft gasp, out on another dreading utterance.

“.. H-Ihih!.. ohh..”

“You’re so stubborn,” said Dr. Voster, and he could hear her rolling her eyes. He’d known her for years, and while he tried to rise above her goading taunts, there always came a point when she got to him.

Omicron let go of his nose and took as long and deep of a breath as he could through his trembling nostrils. The tickle welcomed it, greedily advancing, and rather than prolong the fight Omicron simply braced his hands on his knees to keep his balance as the sensation built inside him. As Dr. Voster so strangely asserted during his last volley, he and this virus were a team. He wouldn’t see the success of this mission without it.

It was this thought that compelled him to breathe again, a sniff that coasted directly into a gasp. He waited, hovering on the edge of it, but the sneeze backed away just before he could snatch it. Omicron squinted up at Dr. Voster, who was watching him with bald interest.

“Iihhff… hoo..” He sniffled, abandoning all dignity as he snubbed the wet edges of his nostrils against the sleeve of his suit. “If I let this tiH.. tiihckle ha..uuHUhh.. have its way ev..” 

His eyes fluttered closed, and he snatched in a series of chuffing breaths. Each was a shrill gasp followed by a bleating exhale, utterly beyond his power to stop. The crescendo carried him into increasingly higher and faster octaves, before the sneeze ripped out of him with gusto.

“HAH’CHIZSHOO!-ohhhh..” He swayed on his feet, panting at the ground, and was shocked to find in the tingling aftermath how good that felt. It made it easier to let the next one swell and crash out of him. “..HIH’SSschoo!- fuck mbe..”

Omicron rarely swore aloud, but the power and sheer abandon of these sneezes were so unlike his usual that he couldn’t help it. Through the haze of another rising tickle, he tried to hurry through the rest of his thoughts before he completely forgot what he was saying.

“If I let it have.. hahve it’s wayiiiiee..ig’GIZZSCHue!!-hah... I’ll be sdnee.. sdiizz.. HIZZSSSHOO!!..ughh, sdeezig for..fuh! UH!hhh.. for days.” He finished on a sigh, unrelieved, one hand now holding desperately onto the chair so he didn’t end up on his knees.

Dr. Voster didn’t immediately speak and when he finally blinked away blurry tears, he found her biting her lip with a worried crease between her eyes. “.. Do you always sneeze like this when you catch a cold?”

Even the very word caused his nose to buzz. His willpower was all but shredded, so he clamped onto the chair with his other hand and threw his head down with a body-shaking, “IID’DZZSSSSSTTH!!”

It was an unfortunate sneeze, one that painted his tie and the seat of the chair with its aftermath. Omicron didn’t have the energy to blush about it; honestly, this was all Anita’s fault so if he happened to catch her furniture in the crossfire of his helpless sneezing fit he.. heeeeeeee-

“HEEZZZSHOOO!!” He stumbled forward into a suspended tray of implements that crashed to the ground in a tremendous clatter. Omicron paid it no mind, tilting his head back to the fluorescent lights in an effort to keep his running nose at bay. “Ugh, won’t it st.. uh.. ohh.. hH!”

A bridge of pressure appeared beneath his septum, pressing firmly against it. He cracked his eyes open to find Dr. Voster beside him, her finger fearlessly anchored beneath his flaring nostrils. They threatened another revolt, under the tickle’s full command. That enduring, swelling force inside Omicron begged again for release and he gasped loudly against Dr. Voster.

“..hihHIT-!”

“Nope, nope, nope,” she muttered, pressing even harder against his nose. “Work with me here..”

Omicron had no idea if she was talking to him, or the virus, but both struggled to comply. The maddening prickle became tortuous. His nose cried out for relief, as the tickle played his sinuses like a fine instrument. Holding it back now seemed impossible. And to be frank, he was still a bit irked with Anita. He flicked his gaze up to the lights, sensitive enough that the bright flash of them set alight the simmering fuse inside him.

And, because he was a gentleman, he did try to warn her. “.. caahh.. cahhdd..”

“O, don’t you dare. I know you have more control than this, just-”

He heaved his way through an ominous buildup, letting the tickle dictate the pace of his breath until it brought him to the brink. His chest inflated, pressing against Dr. Voster as she fought to the end to keep him together. She pressed hard enough that he half-wondered if his nose would bruise, but no amount of pressure could tide it back. He threw both of them forward with a sneeze scraped up from the depths of his lungs.

“HAAAZZSCHHOOOO!!-ooohhhhh..” 

His knees felt a bit weak after that one, but for the first time since he’d woken up that morning, his nose tingled with welcome relief. It would be brief, he was certain, but he’d take the reprieve while he had it. The satisfaction of the fit filled his head with a pleased emptiness as he teetered his way around the edge of the chair and dropped to sit there. He tried to catch his breath.

“Agent Omicron, I swear to god,” groused Dr. Voster. He cracked his eyes open to see her ripping out more than a dozen tissues to throw at him. “You did that on purpose.”

He gathered them up and groaned wetly into the white bouquet. His voice was an achy croak. “I had no control over that, I promise you..”

Dr. Voster washed her hands at the sink and joined him on her stool when she finished. By that time, he’d managed to make himself somewhat presentable. His suit was a bit of a lost cause, but with luck the stains would dry into something less noticeable before his flight.

“You didn’t answer my question,” she said, and there was a serious quality to her question. “Do you always sneeze like this when you catch cold?”

Omicron shook his head, bringing another bunch of tissues to his face to blow. ‘Sore throat’ may not have been an intended symptom, but it soon would be if he kept shouting sneezes on the hour. He massaged his sinuses through the thin paper, already hopelessly stuffed up as he tried to suck in a sniffle. It just made him cough.

Dr. Voster was muttering beside him. “.. may have hit you harder than intended..”

“Whad was that?” he asked. He didn’t bother masking the reproach in his tone. She sighed and adjusted her glasses.

“I said, I may have underestimated how reactive you’d be,” she admitted. “You rarely sneeze, so I thought your sinuses weren’t sensitive.”

“I have to sdneeze all the time,” Omicron admitted in turn with a sawing rub beneath his nostrils. “I’b just good at holding themb back.”

Dr. Voster stared at him a moment, then bent over her knees with a sound of pure frustration. “Omicron. You should have TOLD me that in the INTAKE INTERVIEW.”

Omicron startled in his seat, sputtering with insult. “Are you tryi’g to make this mby fault? I answered all your questions honestly!”

“I asked you if you sneeze a lot when you’re sick and you said no!!”

“Thad’s because I DON’D!” 

His throat didn’t take kindly to the treatment and he turned away to cough. He yanked out more tissues, determined to free his consonants with a noseblow. Nothing moved, and all he got was another threatening jab from the tickle for his trouble. Oh, please not again, he thought, blinking at the sensation.

“Then what do you call this, O? Are you sneezing for fun?”

Anita’s voice called him briefly back to his ire. “I almost never sneeze this much when I’m sick! In fact I sdneeze more when I’m well, I-..”

He stopped, and Dr. Voster watched him with bare worry as he wrestled with what could be another punishing sneezing fit. Omicron learned his lesson from before, and he didn’t try to fight it at all. Just gave himself over to the feverish tickling until it snagged his breath in one fell swoop.

“H-ih.. TZSshoo!” 

He waited briefly for another, but none came and Omicron could have wept with relief. That was far closer to what he’d expected at the start of this experiment. He wiped his nose with a tissue and was unsurprised to find the skin was already getting sore. His skin was prone to chafing with too much friction, which was just as inconvenient as it sounded.

Dr. Voster frowned at him. “Was that..?”

“My usual, yes,” Omicron verified with a sigh. He was numb to the embarrassment of discussing this by now.

“Okay.” Dr. Voster folded her hands in her lap and with a deep breath, marshaled herself. “Okay, okay. This.. is salvageable. I just have to create an antidote, or maybe a diluting agent, and then maybe I can administer a weaker dose before..” She glanced at her watch and hung her head in defeat. “.. you leave in less than an hour.”

Omicron gave her a half-lidded stare over his tissues. “You didn’t create an antidote?”

Dr. Voster threw her arms up and shot up from her chair to pace. “No, Omicron! No, I didn’t. It’s a cold. It’s a harmless, nose-oriented cold at that. Barely a case of the sniffles. But apparently you have the most delicate sinuses of all mankind because my dose was too strong and now you’re-”

She glanced over at Omicron to find him in a state of sneezy limbo, no longer listening as his nostrils twitched their way to a consuming finale. He stuttered a few breaths, each exhale a sound of unwitting surprise when the sneeze didn’t come. It took longer than Omicron wanted, but he finally got it.

“DZSSSH!” Another pitchy gasp, the corners of his mouth flinching upward in the barest hint of a relieved smile as he vented one down on his lap. “TSSschoo!! ahhh, tha’g you..”

Omicron wasn’t even sure who he was talking to, the tickle or his nose, but each succinct release felt wonderful and left him spent in a way that relaxed him. It seemed if he didn’t try to stop them, they would come in much more manageable waves. Hmm.. maybe that meant if he held them off, he could get another one of those punishing volleys when he needed one. It would depend on the target’s preferences.

“Omicron, are you listening?”

He glanced up to find a fretful Dr. Voster, her hair loose from her ponytail and lab coat a little askew. He sniffed. “No, sorry. What did you say?”

“I’m going to recommend we ground you,” she said. Omicron froze, uncertain if he heard right, but jumped to his feet when she snatched up her phone. “We can’t risk this compromising you.”

He tried to grab her phone from her, but she dodged. “What are you talking about? I thought that was the point.”

“The point was to give you a reliable way to sneeze,” she clarified, quickly typing something out with her thumbs. “Not make you a liabilit-HEY!”

Omicron managed to liberate her phone and held it high above to keep it out of reach as he tried to reason with her. He sniffed again when he felt his nose begin to run, and blinked against the throbbing reply of his nose-tickle. “Listen, Anita, I’ve been training for this mission for months. It’s our only chance t.. to..”

Her eyes narrowed as his fluttered. “You have to sneeze right now, don’t you?”

“Of course I do, but I’m telling you I’m hh!UHhh..” He sniffled again, fighting for composure. “.. I’m learning to work with it, alright?”

“If you can go thirty seconds without sneezing, I’ll believe you.”

Omicron swallowed. Thirty seconds yesterday would have been nothing, but today? His nostrils flared at even the suggestion. If he wasn’t certain viruses had no capacity for thought, let alone emotion, he would claim this tickle had a mind of its own and a chip on its shoulder. It was always simmering somewhere in the recesses of his sinuses, but the moment he committed to staving it off, it surged forward with pure intention.

Somehow, he could tell he’d be in for another seismic sneezing fit if he tried any tricks to keep it back, so he let his eyes fold shut. Rather than increments of jumping breaths, this sneeze was a smooth slide into fruition. He drew in a dreamy breath and felt his nostrils ease wide. Then-

“HETZChuu!” It was cleansing, a reset that cleared his mind. He welcomed another. “h-hHEH!h.. ohhH!hh..” 

The urge abandoned him, and of course the moment he wanted to sneeze, he couldn’t. Clearing his throat, he realized with a measure of chagrin that when he sneezed, he hadn’t done more than turn his head. Where had his manners gone? The urges were so immediate, he could scarcely think of anything else.

Dr. Voster snatched the phone from his hand. “That wasn’t even fifteen seconds! I’m calling HQ.”

“Anita!” he growled, and darted forward. The two of them ended up in a spontaneous spar. While Dr. Voster was rarely on the field, she was trained in hand-to-hand as well as he was. They exchanged a series of blocks, strikes, kicks, dodges, and by the time Omicron wrestled her into a hold on the linoleum, they were both breathless. Splayed out on her back, he huffed heavy breaths into her hair. The silken strands ruffled in the gusts.

She threw him a dirty look from the corner of her eye. “Let me go, Omicron.”

“Not until you let go of this notion that I’m incapable of fulfilling this mission, Anita,” he leveled back at her. “It’s unlike you to worry like this.”

Her glare darkened; she didn’t like his choice of words, but didn’t deny it. “I oversensitized you. It will be my fault if you collapse in an uncontrollable sneezing fit and get captured by the enemy.”

He scoffed. “Is that all? I didn’t sneeze once during our spar and, in case you haven’t noticed, I’ve got you in a lock on the ground. Not to mention the mission is information extraction. If I attract unwanted attention, that would be my own mistake.”

She said nothing in return, which prompted Omicron to slide off of her. Together they sat up, still sitting on the floor together. She tucked hair behind her ear, refusing to look at him. He sighed. “Anita..”

She shot him a side glance. “.. are you seriously going through with it?”

“Of course,” he replied, twitching his nose to one side. The tickle rippled, and he sniffled in response. Out of habit he reached up to rest his finger beneath. “If the target enjoys this as much as sources claim, th-h!.. then it’ll beeeeh-”

He tucked his finger more tightly to his septum, only realizing his mistake after the tickle churned restlessly against the tender, tortured edges of his sinuses. “Oh, fuck mHH-.. HIH!hh.. uhh… UH..”

Dr. Voster made a noise of exasperation and he caught the sound of tissues getting snatched from the box. As he gasped and groaned his way through another incredible buildup, a flurry of softness enveloped his squirming nose. He cupped his hand over hers as he flinched forward into their shared grip.

“iiiIHH’GGZSSCHOO!..oohhh, uhduther-..” He caught his breath in a desperate gasp, straight from the bottom of his belly. When he crunched forward, he heard a couple seams rip in his shirt. “AAHHDZZSCHOO!!”

“I guess I should said bless you,” grumbled Dr. Voster. She wiggled the tissues around his nose, which remained twitchy. He had yet to open his eyes. “Are you done?”

He shook his head.

“One more?”

He paused to consider, then nodded. And after another terrific gasp, the force of his doubling-over wrenched their hands down toward his lap. “EEHTTZZSSSCHOOO!!.. ohhh, wow..” 

Omicron nearly shivered at the pleasant, tingling aftermath. Why did they always feel so good? The bigger the better, even if they winded him. Dr. Voster left him with the tissues as he muzzily blew his nose. He kept his head down for a moment to let the dizziness ease, so he was still facing his lap when he opened his eyes.

Oh. That was new. Side effect of the virus, perhaps..? 

Omicron darted his eyes to the doctor, but she was already up on her feet and brushing off her coat. She hadn’t seen - his first and only stroke of luck today. Because if she thought his violent sneezing was grounds for calling off the mission, his sudden sneeze-induced half-chub would definitely warrant a mortifying and career-destroying advisory call to HQ. He rushed to adjust himself as she turned away, and then both of them jumped when the door opened.

“ - yes, yes, just tell them to fax it,” Agent Delta was saying, attention still focused on someone else in the hall. Omicron scrambled to his feet, standing at attention as Dr. Voster filed beside him, just as Delta turned to them both. He clapped his hands together. “Ah, there they are! Case 28947!”

That was the case number to which they were assigned, and the very case that would see Omicron leaving for the airport in the next.. his eyes flew to the clock on the wall.. twelve minutes. That’s probably why Delta was here. 

“How’s our experiment? A success?” He strolled over to Omicron, over whom he held a few inches. Omicron stood his ground, resolving not to drop his eyes when Delta jovially scanned his features. His gaze lingered on Omicron’s nose. “Looks like it was.”

“It was.” Dr. Voster and Omicron briefly locked eyes before she continued. “It’s.. functioning as intended.”

“Really?” asked Delta, impressed. Dr. Foster preened under that look, in spite of the circumstances. The senior agent looked between the two of them with a polite smile. “I suppose you wouldn’t mind me testing it as well?”

Again Omicron and Anita met eyes. This time, Omicron cleared his throat and nodded his reply. “If you wish, sir.”

Delta scratched his cheek thoughtfully, studying Omicron in silence until the shorter agent couldn’t help but sniff. He also couldn’t help the need to briefly wrinkle his nose afterward. Delta grinned.

“From how it was described, it must tickle pretty bad in there, huh?” he said, nodding to Omicron’s nose. It must be blushed pink by now, if not darker. He waited for Delta to continue, and then realized that his superior was waiting for an answer.

Much as it humiliated him to say it, he replied, “It does, sir.”

“Mmm,” Delta hummed thoughtfully, and to the man’s credit he sounded a little sympathetic. “It must feel like.. hm, how did your poetic literature put it, Doctor? What was it?.. Liiike..”

Dr. Voster, who was busy putting her hair back up into its customary ponytail, darted an apologetic glance toward Omicron. Well, it wasn’t her fault. Omicron knew what literature Delta referenced and it was only part of protocol for her to write something thorough for their records.

“Like feathers.”

“That’s right, like feathers,” Delta continued, shifting on his feet in front of Omicron. His eyes never left his subordinate’s face. “Constantly and tirelessly petting the inside of one’s nose.”

The words seemed hypnotic to Omicron because he could feel it. He could feel those feathers, stroking so gently and repeatedly against the far depths of his sinuses. Somewhere deep, somewhere too far to scratch. They were careful with the fragile nerves there, but dauntless in their purpose. To make him sneeze. And sneeze.. And sneeze…

Omicron’s eyes fluttered shut, his breath deepening as his nostrils flared softly to the siren call of those thoughts. His hands remained firmly clasped behind him.

Delta continued as if he didn’t notice. “Yes. An ever-present irritation in the most sensitive depths, coaxed to greater and greater strength by your breath. Isn’t that ironic? That you yourself are the catalyst to this growing fire inside you, cursed to fan the flames even in sleep.”

Did it start while I was asleep last night? Omicron wondered. Because when he woke, it was to an itchy nose. So itchy in fact he snorted, sniffed, and rubbed it with such single-mindedness he nearly forgot he was due to Dr. Voster’s lab today. He breathed now, a slow and reverent inhale that squeaked around his blocked sinuses and added speed to the stroking sensation of those silken feathers.

His lips parted, his chest jumping with a sudden breath. He sighed it out, the ghost of a moan carried on his exhale.

“And once it starts, it is nigh impossible to stop. That tickle won’t let you. No matter how badly you might want a reprieve, those feathers are mindless. You can’t reason with them. They’ll just keep at their work, teasing and teasing that aching flesh until..”

The tickle buoyed him through a catching gasp. Omicron sighed again, his voice carrying, wanting. Another cresting gasp, the wave of something reachable, and then he fell short again. His nostrils pulsed plaintively, begging what dwelled inside to give him relief. But Omicron didn’t mind this limbo, this torture. He knew what came after would be well worth the wait.

“.. agitating.. working you over.. beckoning you with a relentless tickle.. until you can take it no longer.”

His chest swelled, and what he thought might be another forsaken gasp turned into the exclamation of climax. “HAH-.. BBZSSSSCHHUUHH!”

The first one came, because of course there would be more, and he snatched an arm around his middle when there was a strong, delicious undulation of pleasure deep in his gut. He groaned, his voice deep and gravelly and unfamiliar to his ears.

“Whoa!” came Delta’s exclamation. He sounded shocked. “That sure was something. Omicron, bless-”

“HEH-.. BBZSSSHHOO!.. nnnnghh.” 

These were smooth as butter - one big, long, scooping breath and then a knee-shaking release. He sniffled thickly, wetly, with his eyes shut in concentration. Omicron wanted another, and this time the tickle delivered. Those invisible feathers rustled like wheat in a windstorm, and he caught himself grinning as he gasped another huge breath. 

“HHHH!.. EHDZZSSSHUUE!!”

He swayed forward as another cramp of ecstasy swirled in his gut, and Omicron felt a strong hand brace his shoulder to keep him from tipping over.

“Is he okay?” was one faint voice.

“Yes, just-” came another.

Omicron sneezed.

“HIIH!.. IIHTDZZSSSHHHTT!! .. fuck.”

That one was particularly wet, fired haphazardly at the floor like the rest. It also contracted in a burst of stars behind his groin so intense that Omicron became instantly and fearfully aware that he would actually come in his pants if he kept this up. And holy shit he didn’t want that to happen. Not here. Not now. 

He jerked his free hand out, holding it expectantly toward the voices. With tremendous effort, he tried to be understood. “Tiih.. Tiizzusss.. HUH-”

“One second, one second!!” he heard Anita’s tempering assurances over the rush of blood in his ears. 

And the rush of ticklish sensation through his nose. He couldn’t get the visual of feathers out of his head. Delta, damn him. All Omicron could see behind the dark of his wet eyelids was a field of pristine, white, downy feathers positioned diabolically against every inch of his nasal walls. The tips of them wavered each time he hitched a stuttery inhale, and huffed a helpless exhale. They were devoid of life beyond that which he gave them, breathing intent into them as they swayed against swollen, irritated flesh. He could picture his nasal membranes flinching helplessly against the onslaught, crying out to him for relief. And he would give it-

“hH-.. uHH’TZZZSSSHHOOOO!!”

The feathers fluttered wildly and his nose calmed with a prickling balm, sated. Until he sniffled against the slogging block of congestion in his nose and what little air there was eeked through and-.. the feathers trembled, dragging their soft tips gingerly against his quivering flesh, an endless torment, so subtle yet compounding in its simplicity because he could feel the echoes of that tantalizing sensation all through his nose and as he snuffled against the feeling, the feathers trembled again as if in eagerness, excitement, their tendrils tracing long worn paths on fraught nerves as the aching pressure built and built in his nose, deep inside, and oh-.. ohh-

“hHHHHH-”

“Oh no you don’t.” 

The sudden presence of a hand over his nose surprised him, frightened the sneeze away, and Omicron felt an irrational pang of frustration when his gasp escaped from him with a gutteral hhuhh unrelieved. He realized in retrospect that the voice was Dr. Voster, and the hand belonged to her too. He also realized, in a wash of cold sweat, that he was achingly hard where his prick was tucked into his belt.

“Blow your nose, Omicron.”

He struggled to comply. A hitching breath got out of his control, only emboldening the tickle, and again he thought of the feathers. They were everywhere, impossible to blow out, and they’d just keep… keep-

“RRZZSSSSCHH’HOO!”

It tore out of him with a passion, and the pleasure washed over him so fiercely he would have gone to his knees had Delta not stepped in to catch him. Omicron panicked, bursting into motion to put distance between himself and the others. They let him go, only for him to stumble backwards onto his ass. The impact shook an impending sneeze out the queue, and Omicron had a moment to collect his bearings.

He quickly got to his hands and knees, trying to keep his crotch pointed to the floor. He was still painfully hard, but thankfully he hadn’t managed to sneeze himself into orgasm. Now that he had his wits, he realized he still had the wad of tissues in his hand. He brought them to his face and blew as hard as he could, concentrating only on the act of getting something out rather than thinking too hard about what was happening inside.

Adrenaline and humiliation were quick and quiet boner killers; any residual arousal swirling in his thoughts extinguished as he assessed his situation. He was somewhat sweaty, stained with a few of his own sneezes, and his damn nose still tickled. Omicron threw caution to the wind and rubbed it with fast, punishing pressure against his septum, as if to admonish it. Rather than chance a sniffle, he breathed only through his mouth as he climbed to his feet.

Both Dr. Voster and Agent Delta regarded him warily. Omicron straightened his vest, his jacket, and smoothed back his hair where it had fallen into his eyes. 

“Pardod be,” he rasped, still breathless. He coughed into his fist to clear his throat.

Delta’s features eased into genuine concern. The man’s flippant nature notwithstanding, he did care about his people. “Agent, are you alright?”

“Of course,” insisted Omicron. He cleared his throat again. “Just fine. Why?”

“Well, that just..” Delta looked over to Dr. Voster, who was refusing to meet anyone’s eyes. “.. it seemed very intense, don’t you think? Doctor?”

The doctor startled at her name, then reached to adjust her glasses. She looked now at Omicron, her expression as hard and firm as her voice. “Yes, I agree. And I would recommend..”

Here, Omicron bit his tongue. If Anita really did want to rat him out, he’d only dig his own grave if he tried to deflect. But then her eyes softened.

“.. that Agent Omicron desist from triggering the suggestion impulse until this initial sensitivity wears off.”

Tension left his shoulders. He closed his eyes briefly in relief.

Delta rubbed the back of his neck, contrite. “Oh. Sorry, I didn’t realize it was an issue. You should have told me!”

“I wasn’t aware it was a pattern until you tried it, sir,” said Dr. Voster. She crossed her arms and nodded toward Omicron. “And with all due respect, sir, you should really apologize to Agent O.”

Delta turned to him with dewy puppy-dog eyes and Omicron wanted to evaporate out of embarrassment. He didn’t do well with anything sentimental and at times his superior was pure sentimentality. “Forgive me, Omicron. I hope I didn’t cause you any distress. I’m sure that wasn’t comfortable.”

On the contrary, thought Omicron, but admitting anything even close to the truth made his tongue wither. His cheeks burned, and to add further indignity, he sniffled. The brief, tickling swell prompted him to thumb the end of his nose to encourage good behavior. 

“Not at all, sir. Please don’t trouble yourself over it.”

Delta clapped him companionably on the shoulder, and when he turned toward Dr. Voster, Omicron leaned around him to throw a scathing look her way. She only smiled. That prompted apology was likely just her getting some revenge. To be frank, the new complication of sneeze-induced arousal would absolutely complicate the mission, but Omicron begged to be given a case like this for months. More than a year, even. He’d take the risk rather than give this up.

Besides, it wasn’t his fault his nose couldn’t calm down. He didn’t conduct a half-baked intake interview and design an overpowered tickle virus, so why should he be the one to suffer the consequences? Beyond those he was already suffering, he supposed.

Once again, thinking too much about it summoned the tickle forth. Omicron refused to get stuck in another self-perpetuated sneeze-cycle, so he focused only on the wall as the urge lapped at the edges of his sinuses. Oh, the ones that made him wait were the worst.

“.. to it that we grab your luggage on the way to the jet,” Delta was saying. He still had his hand on Omicron’s shoulder and squeezed when he got no response. “You already packed right?”

Omicron took a breath to reply, but it hitched in his throat. Then rushed out with a soft uhh that he couldn’t suppress. Gone were the days when he could quietly build up to a sneeze; it seemed this virus wanted everybody to know as soon as his nose started to tickle. He fought to keep his eyes open, and his ears from flushing red.

“.. yeh..hssirr..”

Delta’s smile tilted back into concerned territory, and he rubbed Omicron’s shoulder. “Looking a little sneezy, Agent. Try not to knock yourself down this time.”

Omicron huffed a laugh that trembled into a gasping inhale, a fitful exhale, an even more urgent inhale-.. “-uUHH!” and then left him on a frustrated sigh. He rubbed his face with both hands. “Fuck,” he mumbled. Then his head shot up in alarm. “Oh-.. ah, sir-...”

Agent Delta only laughed, booming and cheerful as he slid his arm further across Omicron’s shoulders to give him a jostling side-hug. “Don’t worry, Agent. These are extenuating circumstances, I’ll let that it slide.”

Omicron nodded as he was jerked around by Delta’s strength, reaching up to push his hair back when it fell out of style again. His nose was still tingling, unrelieved, and he scrunched it with exasperation. Sneeze or don’t sneeze, won’t you? 

“Off we go!” crowed Delta, escorting Omicron toward the door while still under his arm. He looked back to Dr. Voster. “I’ll be with him on the flight, so we’ll let you know if there are any case developments.”

He tightened his hold when he said this, and Omicron fought down a flash of annoyance that Delta probably meant any developments with Agent Omicron’s nose. Speaking of which… 

Omicron let his eyes roll shut as Delta led him into the hall, their footsteps echoing down the corridor. He was saying something, probably about the jet, but Omicron let the words wash over him just as he let the tickle wash through his nose. Wary of what might happen, he strayed away from thinking too much about feathers. Instead, he thought of dust motes. A dandelion seed. Something small and irritating and hopelessly stuck somewhere deep inside him. Whatever it was, this thing wanted to escape. It squirmed and twisted, fluttered its wings or flicked its tail. The throbbing urgency of Omicron’s tender pink membranes wouldn’t deter it, neither would the gradual unsteadiness of his breath. He exhaled, yearning.

“..uh-..”

The invader redoubled its efforts, writhing against his most sensitive places. He couldn’t-.. he..

“.. huhh-..”

If only he could reason with it, but on a baser level, Omicron didn’t want to. He wanted it to flap and struggle, tickle and itch, uncontrollable and impossible to satiate. Fan the flames of this urge so feverish that he couldn’t do anything but-

“HAH-!”

Omicron found himself smiling again, delirious as he breathed into this unstoppable force. He was completely helpless to its thrall. This thing in him, nuzzling and ruffling and bothering his nose so fervently, dotingly, sweeping him up with its caress. He.. oh-.. oh-!

“S’combi’g-” He gasped out, if only just to himself. The breathy word preceded an absolutely euphoric sneeze. “WRIZZSSSSHUUU’uoohhhh…”

Omicron stayed as he was, one hand cupped to his nose and the other bracing his middle. Another dagger of pleasure had stabbed him through, but it was fast to dissipate as he sniffled into his palm. The way his nose tingled signaled a temporary relief. Omicron couldn’t decide if he was disappointed by this or not.

“Goodness, bless you!” Omicron jumped. Delta stood beside him, both hands in his pockets now, looking amused. Omicron had forgotten he was there. “That was a big one! Sounds like you worked your way up to it.”

Why was Omicron cursed with the chattiest superior Agent in the force? He snuffled again behind his hand, by habit searching his pockets for a handkerchief or a restaurant napkin, anything. He paused when Delta extended a travel pack of tissues. 

“Thought you might need these, so I brought a few packs along.”

“.. Tha’g you.” 

Omicron took it with grace, turning around so he could use both hands. He blew his nose yet again, dismayed with the sheer amount of moisture he was capable of producing. At this rate he’d need to stay hydrated. Once he finished up, he turned back to Delta to find him extending a small bottle of hand sanitizer. He eyed the other man.

“You can’t actually catch this, sir.”

“I know, Agent, but the public won’t know that,” he said, as carefree as ever. “And even if you’re not actually sick, better to keep your hands clean, mm? And maybe try the vampire trick too.” Here he demonstrated by lifting his elbow and tucking his nose in. 

Omicron burned with the embarrassment of having his lackadaisical sneezing addressed in such an obvious way. Normally he was very thorough with his hygiene practices. He sneezed into his elbow or better, a handkerchief if he had one. He washed his hands frequently and properly. Something about this tickle just emptied his head of all sense when it came over him. It was a miracle he’d managed to even cup a hand to his mouth just now. He didn’t remember doing that.

So he could only nod, his cheeks burning, as he took the bottle and copiously applied. The stringent scent bloomed in the air. Delta could probably tell he was upset because he gave the shorter agent a lighthearted slap on the back. “You’re usually very conscientious. Just a gentle reminder, agent.”

Omicron nodded again, this time with a yip of surprise as his eyes slammed closed. Suddenly his nose was frenzied, filled to the brim with that strong, alcoholic smell. It burned, so sharp it brought tears to his eyes as he rushed his elbow to his face. Unlike the other sneezes of this morning, this itch wasn’t indulgent. It was almost brutal. 

“Chssh-! Tschh!” Even without muffling into his jacket, they would have been small. Smaller than his normal sneezes, even. They were fittish, barely letting him up for air. “Itschh! HHtschh!.. uh-.. TSSH’hee!!.. fucking hell..”

It only lasted seconds, over as suddenly as it began, and Omicron picked his head up blearily. He sniffled, coughing again at the remaining scent on his hands as he fished out another tissue and nursed his nose. Stupid thing was so needy now, he couldn’t even use hand sanitizer without a complaint. Belatedly he realized he’d cursed in front of his superior again.

When he looked at Delta, the man was regarding him thoughtfully. Not his usual fond musing sort of look either. The kind of discerning expression that awarded him the rank he currently held. Omicron’s blinked at him, wide eyed over the edge of his tissues.

“S-Sorry for sweari’g, sir..”

Delta stirred from wherever he’d been, and dropped into a polite smile. It didn’t quite reach his eyes. “That’s alright, Omicron, I honestly don’t mind. But, I’ll ask this again: are you alright?”

Omicron blinked at him again, owlish. “Me, sir?”

Delta chuffed an airy chuckle. “Yes, agent, you. You’re sure this..” He warred over his words, trying to pick the best ones. “I know you’ve been waiting a long time for this opportunity, but are you sure? About this?”

Omicron bristled, and he was certain Delta could tell. He finished up with his nose, balling up the tissue and foregoing hand sanitizer this time. “Respectfully, why wouldn’t I be sure, sir?”

“This science isn’t exact,” Delta told him. His voice was lower now, the proper tone of a superior officer. “Dr. Voster is a genius, but this is the first time we’ve tried something like this. There’s bound to be a margin of error. So I’m asking you again, Agent Omicron..” Here he fixed his subordinate with a firm stare. “.. are you sure about doing this right now, as you are, in this state?”

Omicron didn’t have to think about it. He merely drew himself up to a force-standard posture and looked Delta in the eyes without flinching. “Yes, sir. Very sure.”

Delta held his stare, but when Omicron didn’t buckle, he sagged where he stood. With a long sigh, he once again patted Omicron’s shoulder. “Alright, agent. But if you change your mind or if you become compromised, you must be honest and tell me immediately. Am I understood?”

Omicron just barely managed to resist twitching his nose; he could feel it wanting attention, but didn’t want to give Delta any reason to doubt him. “Of course, sir.”

Delta gave him a jaunty thumbs up, back to his usual lofty cheer. “Grand! I’ll take you at your word.” He turned away, beginning to stride down the corridor with expectation Omicron would follow. “Now, we ought to get a move on. They’ve got the jet idling and you know how they are about the fuel budget..”

Agent Delta carried on, blind to his subordinate keeping step behind him. Omicron absently, then more purposefully, rubbed his nose. The skin was starting to sting, no doubt ready to peel by tomorrow like sunburn. The tickle stretched languidly, lazily working Omicron up to another toe-curling sneeze. The hedonist in him wanted to welcome it.

However, he had nearly twelve hours on a jet to contend with, surrounded by other personnel. And he was certain now after that little conversation with Delta that the man would be watching Omicron carefully from here on out. If he noticed anything suspicious, he’d ground the mission and take Omicron off the case without remorse. He couldn’t let it happen, not after how hard he’d fought for this.

His nostrils flared against his finger, a premature warning to what was brewing. But Omicron knew, and he was prepared for the impending battle. It wouldn’t be easy, but he fully intended to negotiate with his nose and keep sneezing to nil on the flight. Almost nil, if he couldn’t hold out. Again his nostrils flared, as if playfully chiding him. You’re not in control, his nose seemed to say. I am.

Well, thought Omicron as he stepped out of the jet bay and into the sunshine. The jet sat waiting on the tarmac, a flurry of activity around it. We’ll just see about that.

/tbc??

I’m not sure if I’ll continue it, but I hope you had fun reading!! Part 2 is in the works!

PART 2 IS HERE!

[macgyvermedical]

Building Your Home Pharmacy

So you're in the OTC med section of the pharmacy. You've got 100 bucks burning a hole in your pocket (or maybe like $15 cause you're just starting). You're a new adult who wants to build yourself a tidy home pharmacy.

Well first you've got to know some stuff about over the counter (OTC) meds. This is the post to help you do it.

What are OTC meds? They are medications you can buy from a pharmacy or grocery store without needing a prescription. They have been deemed relatively safe and relatively easy to dose without a doctor's intervention. This does not mean they can't be dangerous, just that the general public can generally be trusted not to accidentally kill themselves with them on the regular. Keep that in your mind for later.

Note that all the medications discussed below are given in their generic names. In order to find these names, look below the brand name on a medication bottle:

Pain Medications:

Acetaminophen/Paracetamol: This is a non-NSAID pain reliever and fever reducer, so it's great for people who can't take NSAIDs due to stomach or kidney issues. Works best for headaches and fevers, but works on other types of pain as well. Technically works best as a suppository, but still works some orally. No increased risk of bleeding. Don't take more than directed. Seriously. This one can kill you or seriously damage your liver.

Ibuprofen: NSAID. Works against pain, inflammation, and fever. Take on a full stomach or you could get ulcers. Don't take if you have kidney problems. You can take this with acetaminophen.

Naproxen: NSAID. Probably the most effective for pain, but works against inflammation and fever as well. Lasts 12 hours. Don't take high doses continuously or you will get kidney problems. You can take this with acetaminophen.

Aspirin: NSAID. This was the first NSAID and it's definitely here to give you stomach ulcers if you don't take it on a full stomach. Technically it works for pain, inflammation, and fever. Most people today take it as a blood thinner. You can take this with acetaminophen.

Allergy/Cold/Congestion Medications:

Diphenhydramine/Doxalamine: First Generation Antihistamines. These are great for nighttime allergies, coughs, insomnia, nausea, and itching. Most people get drowsy from these, but some people get really hyper, especially kids.

Cetirazine/Loratadine/Fexofenadine: Second Generation Antihistamines. These work for allergies and itching and don't cause as much drowsiness.

Phenylephrine/Pseudoephedrine: Decongestants. These work by mimicking epinephrine, making the blood vessels in the nose and sinuses smaller. This makes the nose and sinuses less stuffy, but it raises blood pressure (so don't take if that's a problem for you). Pseudoephedrine is also restricted- you must be an adult to purchase and you can only buy so much. You have to talk to a pharmacist to get it because it can be used to make methamphetamine.

Triamcinolone/budesonide/fluticasone Nasal Spray: These are steroid sprays. They work similarly to the decongestants but only in the nose, and generally don't travel to the rest of the body.

Guifenesin: This is an expectorant, not a decongestant. It works by thinning the mucous in the lungs and airway. This makes it easier for you to cough it up. You have to drink a lot of water with this for it to work, though.

Dextromethorphan: This is a cough suppressant. It works by blocking signals in the brain that tell you to cough. Pretty much everything interacts with this one so if you take any medications talk to your doctor first. Depending on where you live you may have to talk to a pharmacist to get this one due to the potential for abuse.

Digestive Medications

Loperamide: This is an antidiarrheal. It works by decreasing the amount of squishing around your intestines are doing, which helps you hold your diarrhea and lets you continue to function. It is an opioid, but is not absorbed from your digestive tract so it doesn't make you high.

Bismuth Subsalicylate: This works for diarrhea as well, but also nausea, heartburn, and the prevention of traveler's diarrhea. Don't take if you're allergic to salicylates or aspirin. Taking this for an extended period of time can also cause bismuth toxicity.

Calcium Carbonate: This is an antacid. It is very basic pH wise, so can help change the pH of stomach contents pretty quickly. This is usually used for heartburn. If you take any other medications, this can prevent you from absorbing them if you take them within two hours. Using for long periods can cause rebound heartburn when you stop taking it.

Cemetidine/Famotidine/Ranitadine: These are gastric acid reducers, and they work by blocking the type of histamine that is necessary for the production of stomach acid. They are usually used for heartburn and ulcers.

Omeprezole/Esomeprezole: These are also gastric acid reducers, but they work by blocking a different part of the very complicated way our stomachs make acid. After years and years of taking these you might get some bone density problems.

Bisocodyl/Senna: These are laxatives. They work by increasing the movement of the intestines. It's important not to take these consistently unless you can't poop at all without them, or you seriously will not be able to poop without them.

Docusate/Propylene Glycol: These are stool softeners. They work by increasing the amount of water in the intestines. These are pretty safe to take all the time if you need to.

Simethicone: This is a surfactant. It works by accumulating all the gas bubbles in the intestines so they can be expelled. It's usually used for painful gas.

Topical Medications:

Clotrimezole/Miconazole: These are antifungal preparations. They treat yeast infections, athletes foot, jock itch, and ringworm.

Triple Antibiotic Ointment: This is a cream that contains antibiotics. Ostensibly you're supposed to put this on small cuts to decrease risk of infection. IRL just clean it with soap and water and then put some vasaline on it. Studies have shown it works just as well.

Hydrocortisone: This is a steroid cream. You put it on itchy things (bug bites, poison ivy, etc...) and it makes them not itch as much. This one actually works and is generally better than diphenhydramine creams that can't be used on poison ivy.

Permethrin: This is an insecticide. It will help get rid of head and body lice.

Zinc Oxide: This is a skin protectant. It helps prevent diaper rash and chafing. It also makes things feel better once you've already chafed. Technically it is also a sunblock, but it will make you look like a ghost while you're wearing it.

Family Planning:

Levonorgestrel: This is known as the morning after pill. It works by blocking ovulation, so that a sperm and egg cannot meet, preventing pregnancy. It can be taken up to 5 days after unprotected sex, though it works better the sooner it is taken.

Devices:

Blood Sugar Meter/Strips/Lancets: These help measure the amount of sugar in your blood. They are usually used by people with diabetes.

Blood Pressure Cuff: This measures blood pressure automatically with a cuff around the upper arm or wrist. It is usually used by people with high blood pressure.

Ketogenic Test Strips: This measures the amount of ketones in the urine. Ketones are a byproduct of fat breakdown, usually found when the body cannot breakdown carbohydrates for energy and begins to break down fat instead. Usually people who are on a ketogenic diet or people with diabetes use these.

Peak Flow Meter: This measures the amount of air that can be used by the lungs. They are usually used by people with asthma or COPD.

Great, Which Ones Do I Need?

I'd recommend look over the list and see which ones would be most useful for you, and start with those. Over time, collect ones that would be most embarrassing to not have, and then the ones that you're pretty sure you'll never use.

Note that in a dry, unopened package (including inside blister packs), drugs last well beyond their expiration dates. So if you don't use a certain med all that often, get a smaller package of it.

Great, Which Ones Can I Take at the Same Time?

Good question. I'm going to say that if you take any prescription medications, you always want to check with your doctor before taking anything OTC. However, I recommend you use an interaction checker like this one if you want to take more than one OTC med at the same time. One can be found here.

Note:

Loperamide CANNOT be taken with cimetidine/ranitidine/famotidine. This causes bad heart rhythms.

Don't take two meds from the same category together (like cimetadine with ranitidine, or ibuprofen with naproxen, or diphenhydramine and fexofenadine unless a doctor tells you to).

Most antacids (calcium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate) will prevent the absorption of other medications, so take them two hours apart from anything else you take.

Don't drink alcohol with loperamide, detromethophan, acetaminophen, or any antihistamines.

[reydeyflummyx759z]

Testing the Stars

CW: Mess

Ft. Sarsaparilla Contreras, a best friend, and Misaki Musoubana...

In an adventure filled with dick moves and manipulation.

This was definitely a new approach.

I wanted to capture Misaki's perceived nature and true nature... A sneezy wolf in sheep's clothing.

CHAPTER ONE...

Saks is Free Real Estate!

Misaki Musoubana, the epitome of Tokyo's elite, strutted through Los Angeles with the eyes of a hungry tiger. As she pondered into Saks Fifth Avenue, she relished how everything looked. She whisked through the luxurious racks of the boutique with the grace of a gazelle, her long black hair bouncing gently in rhythm with her confident stride. Her greenish-blue eyes sparkled with the excitement of finding the perfect ensemble for the upcoming gala. The spring air was a minefield of pollen and dander, but she'd never let it show.

Not in public.

Not with her best friend, Sarsaparilla "Ria" Contreras, who had the unfortunate timing to be in the throes of her own fashion emergency.

"Misaki," Ria whispered, her hazel eyes full of concern, "are you sure about this? You just got paid..."

Misaki's hand shot up, silencing her friend with a delicate yet firm gesture. She took a deep, unnecessary sniff, her prominent nostrils flaring like the petals of a particularly irritated orchid. "Posh, darling. It's fine. Besides, we ought to live a little, no?" Her high-pitched, nasally British accent was as soothing as a serrated knife on velvet.

Ria, with her short blond hair with blue undertones and a small, straight nose adorned with a septum piercing, looked skeptical. She knew Misaki's allergies could turn a delightful day into a sneezing symphony. "Well, it is pretty dusty," she protested, her voice a sweet blend of worry and doubt. "Are you sure going to such a high end store was a good idea?"

Misaki's hand fluttered to her nose again, her fingers lingering briefly before she spoke. "I've got this new nose spray, darling. The latest in hypoallergenic technology. It's supposed to be the bee's knees, so no need to worry about me turning into a walking tissue factory." She flashed a dazzling smile, her mole on her right cheek seeming to wink in the store's soft lighting.

The two friends continued their shopping spree, Ria's eyes darting around the store as she searched for the most avant-garde pieces that would make heads turn at the gala. Meanwhile, Misaki's nose began to itch with the intensity of a thousand mosquito bites. She tried to ignore it, focusing on the fabrics that whispered against her pale skin. Yet, with every breath she took, the scent of freshly dry-cleaned clothes and the faint hint of floral perfume wafted in, setting her allergies ablaze. "Hh... Hk'nxt!" Misaki stifled a sneeze with sheer willpower.

"What was that noise?"

Misaki's eyes watered, and she gave a delicate sniff. "Nothing." She lied, her voice nasal and strained.

Ria's gaze searched her face, and she looked ready to argue further, but Misaki was already moving on. "Look at this," she cooed, holding up a dress that was the color of a moonlit night. It shimmered with beads and sequins, the fabric whispering promises of elegance and opulence. She held it against her body, and the fabric clung to her curves like a second skin. "It's divine, don't you think?"

Misaki's nose twitched again, and she swiped at it with the back of her hand, the urge to sneeze growing stronger. "It's a bit... Old, isn't it?" Ria suggested, eyeing the garment with suspicion.

"Old?!" Misaki scoffed, her voice pitched high enough to shatter glass. "This is vintage, darling. The kind that makes a statement!" She held the dress closer to her large chest, as if protecting it from Ria's uncultured critique.

"Okay, if you say so..." Ria rolled her eyes and followed her friend's lead.

But the dress was the least of her worries. The itch in her nose had spread to the back of her throat, setting off a tickle that grew with every breath. Her eyes watered more, and she could feel her sinuses swelling shut. "hhHEHH’TSHIEWWW!!!" she finally couldn't hold it in, the sneeze exploding from her like a firecracker, the dress momentarily forgotten.

"Holy crap, bless you!" Ria's exclamation pierced the air, a stark contrast to the elegant ambiance of the boutique. She watched as Misaki's entire body convulsed with the sneeze, her eyes squeezed shut and her head thrown back, the force of the explosion sending a spray of saliva into the air. It was a stark reminder that even the most put-together of socialites weren't immune to the whims of the natural world. "Are you okay?"

Misaki's nostrils flared in preparation for another sneeze. She pinched her flaring nostrils shut, eager to continue shopping. "Ria, darling," she gasped out between clenched teeth, "I'm fine." Her voice, a melody of adenoidal sweetness, became a strained nasally dirge. Misaki couldn't believe it. Her eyes watered, and her long pointed nose took on a life of its own. There was no hiding it. She was going to have a damn allergy attack. The sneeze - or sneezes - could either be contained or become a full-blown, nose-blowing fiasco. Sadly, Misaki's urge to just sneeze her life savings away was all but inevitable.

They moved on, her eyes darting around the store like a caffeinated squirrel searching for a nut. A cloud of fine dust rose from a rack of fur coats, and she couldn't resist running her fingers along the fur. "Misaki!" Ria's voice was a warning siren. "Oh my goodness, look at this... It's so exquisite!"

Unfortunately for Misaki, her nostrils couldn't take the billowing cloud of dust. Her large breasts heaved involuntarily, the black low cut blouse stretching with the fabric. With a poised forefinger and thumb, Misaki pinched her quivering nostrils shut. To her horror, a squelching wet sound resulted from squishing them together. The pressure built... And... "Hghh'IGHXT!! Nggght! Huh-MMmpt-shh!" Misaki stifled three sneezes in rapid succession. Damn it, her asthma was probably going to join the misery too.

Ria, bless her heart, tried to remedy the situation. Unfortunately, running her hands through the furry fabric, real or no, was a death sentence waiting to happen. "Ooh, Misaki! Try this on!" What Ria pulled out, to Misaki's horror, was a mink jacket. Yes, the mink was divine and shiny. But to all who knew her, Misaki was dreadfully allergic to fur.

Misaki's greenish blue eyes looked at the fabric. The itch she tried staving off rekindled its potent flame.

"Ria. Are you sure about thihh-this?" she said, her voice nasal and tight. Misaki's voice wavered with sneezy hitches. "It's nea--hhhihhh--nearly suhhh.... Suhhh..." Two manicured fingers of poise fled under her filling nostrils.

Ria then saw the danger in front of her too little, too late. "Misaki, don't --,"

"Huhh... Huhh'KKKNNNT! Huhh'KKKSSHT! HAKKK'Kkntt!!" The squelched sneezes sounded horrendously unsatisfying and harsh. Misaki was about to provide a sultry retort to her bestie for trying on the damned mink jacket. Realizing resistance was futile beneath the spray of freshly produced sneezes, Misaki played along with her body's whims. "Heh-heh-ehh-ahh-AHHHH!"

Ria's hazel eyes widened in horror. "Oh shit, you're --,"

"--Hih'HIHH'hHH... EEEEHHHkKK'SHhHhEEE-HEEW!!" The mess of a sneeze that burst from Misaki was a tawdry attempt at being, what was it? Demure. Cute. Poised. Refined. Misaki prayed - no - pleaded to the gods that her sneeze session would stop. The sneeze was so sinfully loud that it caused more than a few bewildered shoppers to pause. Saks Fifth Avenue was definitely not the place to blow a gasket. Even the people giving out wine samples turned away.

"Okay, Misaki, I think that's enough sh--,"

"HEHH... IIssch'SHHYIEW! AHht'SHIIEW! Hhht'shhHIEW!" It was at this point she found out: Ria fucked up big time. The resulting sneezes sounded like a wounded dove, high pitched, nasally and shrill. Then... Misaki has a sinister idea. The taller woman removed the jacket, the contents slithering to the floor. The billowing dust of mink snaked up Misaki's sensitive nostrils.

Ria saw Misaki groping for a dress she practically cried for within the last three weeks. An $850 lavender mini dress with a heart shaped opening for the chest area got snatched from the rack. Ria realized that her friend was going to do the unfathomable. "Don't you dare--,"

"Hehh!! HAAESCHHHH-yYIEWWW!!" Misaki, to Ria's horror, decided to pull a dick move, which consisted of sneezing all over the beautiful dress... And everything else she wanted. The moment Misaki lifted the fabric of the mini dress to her nose, a brief flash of a knowing smile beamed before her nostrils flared wildly, and sneezed heartily into it. "Hghhhh... HGHHHH'GSZCHHHIEWW! Hah'TSSshhyeEWW!! Huh... HUT'SCHHHIIIEW! CHIIIEW! 'SCHHHIEEEWW!!" At this point, the spectacle was palpable.

What a scene.

A Japanese British woman sneezing into a bunch of new and expensive clothes to kill the price tag felt gross and disrespectful to Ria.

"Misaki, for fuck's sake!" Ria's sweetness turned sour, her eyes narrowing into slits. "You're going to get us kicked out!"

And Misaki didn't give two shits. She wanted - no - NEEDED everything. With a resigned sigh, Misaki's sweetness fell to oblivion. "Respectfully, Ria dear, I fucking need this." Misaki practically dragged her friend with the clothing of choice into a dressing room, completely unsolicited.

"Ew... What the fuck?"

"Girl's got issues...."

"Robbie, let's go." A myriad of people were at the store, hearing a snotty firecracker blow up.

In the dressing room, Misaki's plight worsened. In fact, her normally pristine Hime cut looked disheveled and sprinkled with the last several allergic sneezes. "Okay, what the FUCK are you doing?!"

"Reaching for the stars, sweet... Hea... Ahh... HASHHH'YYYIEEWW! HESCHHH-IIEEWW! HKPTSCHHHIEW! HKK'TSCHHIEW! ISSHHH-ShYYyIEWW!" The sneezes sounded like a shrieking little girl's, shrill and high pitched at the end. "God, everything's bloody dust... DustIiieh-HHHH!!"

"Don't you fucking DARE!!" But it was far, far, far too late. The lavender silk dress, a once pristine canvas of elegance, now bore the brunt of Misaki's drenching sneezes. Her prominent nose was a twitching, snotty mess, and Ria could only stand there, horrified. She knew that look in Misaki's eye—it was a blend of desperations and spite. Through hell or high water, Misaki was going to manipulate this situation to her 'advantage,' and there was no stopping her.

Misaki's nasal shrieks grew in volume and frequency, each one echoing through the plush walls of the dressing room. Her body, usually a bastion of poised elegance, jerked with each spasm. She could feel the eyes of the other shoppers burning into her back, judging her lack of decorum. "Ughh... HEDZCHHHHHOOOO! HEGHHZCHHHH'IEIU! HDDDDGHHH-SHYyIUUU! AEEESCHHHIEEW!!" But the itch in her nose had become an all-consuming need, a siren's call that she couldn't ignore. The dressing room had become a battlefield, with her allergies the enemy and the clothes her unwilling accomplices.

Even Misaki's high pitched nasal explosions turned into undignified howls for long lost control. Through the smell of roses and sneezes, Ria braced herself. She knew the manager was going to be beyond pissed.

Misaki, in a fit of desperation, threw the soiled garments over Ria's head. "Ew, what the hell?!" Of course, little did Ria know, this was Misaki's calculated plan the entire time. She had zero intention to buy anything, if at all.

"Take these to the counter and ask for a discount, darling," she ordered, her voice muffled and nasal. "Tell them it's an ehh... Merr... GeHHH!!"

"Come off it, Misaki--,"

The dove's nostrils flared twice their already large size, her sneezes drenching the poor embroidered handkerchief. "AEEESCHHHIEEW! HuhhRESSSCHHH-iew! ASHHH-IIIEW! HAHH-RESHHH-IIIEW! HAAHH-EDDZCHHH-SHHIIEWWW!"

"Okay, stop it--,"

"Use that sweet, innocent act of yours." Misaki's greenish blue eyes sparkles with mischief and watery evil. "It's a fashion emergency, so chop chop." She ordered like a mother ordering a child.

Ria's hazel eyes narrowed, the haze of the dust and fur settling around her. "But, Mi-,"

"Just. Fucking. Do it." Misaki's tone darkened to pure poison. "Or I'll break your God damn phone." Knowing how vicious Misaki's older sister was, Ria knew better than to cross a bona fide tigress in sheep's clothing.

Ria's jaw clenched, but she knew when Misaki had reached her limits. With a huff, she gathered the soiled garments and stormed out of the dressing room, the clothes leaving a trail of sneezed-on sparkles behind her. With a sheepish expression, Ria braced for the inevitable, feeling the wetness on her hands. "Sorry about that, Vinnie. She wants everything."

A sweet, burly redhead - apparently named Vinnie - looked at the clothes in disgust. All 10 garments and a purse faced Misaki's allergic wrath. The man gave three looks at each garment. "Well .. that'll be $167.88. Can you tell your friend to feel better for me?"

"I sh--"

Misaki emerged from the dressing room, her long nose reddened and chapped. "AH-ESCHIEW! HASHHIEW! HAT-SCHHIEEWW!" The furious clicking of heels turned away from Ria, exiting the store with haste.

Ria's expression crumbled. "I will..." And give her a piece of my God damn mind, she thought.

The moment Ria paid for the items, she saw Misaki blowing the absolute heck out of her perky, refined nose. The moment she emerged from her expensive handkerchief, her nose looked absolutely red and swollen. Her eyes were watery, her cheeks flushed, and her face was an absolute disaster. "Thank you, Ria darling," she sang, her voice nasally and smug. "You're my favorite pup." The patronizing pat on the head made Ria feel like she was all but a lapdog.

This had to stop. "This is the last time I'm taking you anywhere."

"ESCHH'iIEEEWWW!!" Misaki's nose was a battleground of itchiness and irritation. She couldn't even breathe properly, let alone maintain the poised composure she was known for. Each step she took through the bustling streets of Los Angeles felt like a marathon in a desert of pollen. The air was thick with the scent of spring's unwelcome embrace, and she could feel her sinuses screaming in protest. "Hih'HCHHHIIEWW!" The sneezes had turned into a symphony of despair, a nasal concerto that would make even the most stoic of composers weep.

"Are you even listening to me?" Ria's voice pierced through the haze of Misaki's misery, her hazel eyes flashing with a rare hint of anger. But Misaki was too far gone, lost in the relentless maelstrom of sneezes and sniffles to care about the consequences of her actions. Misaki stumbled out of Saks Fifth Avenue, her handkerchief a soggy mess in her hand. The pollen-filled air outside did little to alleviate her suffering, the springtime bloom a cruel reminder of her body's treacherous betrayal.

Misaki's expression wavered a little. "You were the one who suggested the outing. Hence, you pay the price." With a chuckle, Misaki fanned her face with the handkerchief and sneezed heartily into it. "HASCHHHIEEW! ASHHH-IIIEW! HII'SHIIIEW!"

"Good Lord..." Ria's eyes narrowed as she followed her friend's chaotic sneezing. "You're despicable."

"Huh?" Misaki gave a knowing look.."The next place we're headed is the dry cleaners. Don't worry. It'll be fine, darling."

Ria's face contorted into a grimace. "What the--"

"Oh, I know you'll play along, dearie." Misaki smiled with a beaming, conniving grin. "You always do."

Ria couldn't believe it. Misaki had always had a flair for drama, but this was a whole new level of extravagance. "You're unbelievable," Ria grumbled, holding the bag of discounted, sneezed-on garments like it was a sack of dirty laundry.

Of course, when they walked towards Misaki's beautiful black Buick, Misaki made a beeline for the passenger side. "Come now. Drive off like you're proud."

Ria rolled her eyes, slammed the door shut, and revved the engine, feeling the vibration in her core. The scent of freshly cut grass wafted through the open window, and it was all Misaki could do not to sneeze again.

The grassy smell felt like Ria's answer to the ordeal. Misaki gave an accusatory glare at the windows. She clamped a manicured hand over her mouth and nose, her eyes squeezed shut as she tried to breathe through her mouth. It was like trying to keep a dam from breaking with nothing but a handkerchief. "Hegh... Hegh-CHIIEW! HESCHHIEEW! HAAH-SCHHIEW! Hehhh-AHH-CHIIIIEWW!" The sneezes ripped through Misaki like a tornado, leaving her gasping for air and her eyes streaming with tears.

"Jesus..." Ria groaned, "Okay, after the dry cleaners, where do you want to go?"

"Fleming's." A proud answer that Ria couldn't believe came out of her mouth. "We deserve the victory food. Plus..." Misaki gave her friend a smile. "You've been a good little kitten so far."

"If you say so." The ride to the dry cleaners was a silent symphony of sniffles and sneezes. The pollen had claimed its prize, and Misaki was the hapless victim. Ria felt a pang of pity, but she knew her friend's true nature. She had to draw a line in the sand, or she'd be forever cleaning up after her messes, both literal and figurative.

.....

And...

Part 1 is finished.

This was fun!

[an-expected-journey-to-jeju]

Journal entry #11

Boy am I on a roll for journal entries.

So I am currently sick right now with a really bad cold(?) I say that with a question mark cause it might be a mixture of things. I spent the whole night sneezing and blowing my nose so I didn't actually get to sleep until maybe 3am? It boggles my mind how my nose can be runny, congested, and dry all at the same time. It was also (obviously) hard to breathe which made it harder to sleep cause I had to breathe through my mouth which I am not used to. So anyway, I ended up going to the hospital today (it's a clinic, but everyone just calls it the hospital) I was happy that I was able to read and understand the sign that said 이비인후과 (ear, nose, and throat clinic). I got to have a tiny camera inserted into my ears, nose, and throat.

Doctor: Are you right-handed?

Me: yea, why?

Doctor: because your right ear is clean and your left ear is full of wax

I got a literally jump scare when I saw the screen that showed my left ear. Luckily, the doctor cleaned it all out, so now I have clean ears! It was also pretty freaky getting to see the literal inside of my throat. I could see the little flaps open and close when I breathed. My nose, he said, was very inflamed and my throat was weak. He said that I should avoid alcohol, smoking, coffee, orange juice, spicy and salty foods, and overly greasy food. One cup of coffee a day is okay. I'll try my best but I cannot make no promises.

In the end, the doctor said it's probably rhinitis/allergies, and that I would need to use a nasal spray twice a day and take allergy pills as well for a week. It costed me around $65~ dollars for the clinic and $30~ for the medicine unfortunately, but it's a lot better than America. As a student, I automatically get private insurance and then after six months I'll get national health insurance. The thing with the private insurance is that the school didn't give me any details, numbers, cards, etc... It was totally fine though, the nurses just said to bring the receipts to school and they would reimburse me. I think even Koreans have to pay when they go to the clinic, but not a lot. The insurance covers the majority of the cost. I would say that I miss not paying anything back in Canada but I waited ten minutes to see the doctor here.

Ten minutes.

After the hospital I went to the library to meet up with the students. I spent the whole time studying. I learn and understand so much better when I'm able to just be alone and study. I'm so glad school is over. I think having to go to classes extinguished my determination a bit, but now that I'm on break and I have more free time, I am getting that determination to learn Korean back. I'm also organizing my English classes better as well. I had no time to really plan out anything but now I can focus more time on it.

Well that's it from me! I really hope I get better soon, I hate being sick.

[bitletsanddrabbles]

Tips For Portraying Allergies In Writing

There are all sorts of posts out there on how to portray things in writing. Emotions, action, dancing, being drunk, competitive ping pong, etc. And enough people have allergies that you'd think this doesn't need one...but I realized today that it kind of does. First off, there are different kinds of allergies. I can't speak to a lot of them - such as food allergies* - because I don't have that problem. Feel free to reblog this and expand. Second off, there are a lot of different symptoms for different allergies and they crop up differently in different people. For instance Mum and my cousin are both allergic to cottonwoods, but while they both have eye problems, Mum's itch and are accompanied by a scratchy throat while my cousin's just water like crazy.

So today at work as I was struggling to eat my last break snack in between breaths, I decided I'd make a post with some details of allergy suffering that are a bit more interesting than the usual 'the person with hay fever sneezed and looked through watery eyes'.

Here we go. Feel free to use any of this, to add to it, to provide medical reasoning, to commiserate, whatever.

You can develop allergies. I feel like most people know this, but it bears repeating because it can be an interesting detail. When I was younger, I went through a phase where orange juice made me break out in a rash, but that went away. I was first tested for actual allergies in my 20s and had nothing. I am now allergic to dust mites and grass pollen. I had a former coworker who developed an allergy to chocolate...which she loved. You can have lots of character angst with this! Also people who have known you for a long time frequently display a certain degree of surprise unless they've gone through a similar experience.

Everyone knows how to cure allergies. EVERYONE. The second you say you're suffering, you will be treated to an endless barrage of 'Oh, use this steroid spray! It fixes everything!", "You need X brand of saline nasal spray. It's the only thing that works!", "Have you tried Y brand antihistamine? I swear by it!" Never fails. Now, if you've developed your allergies, it's best to listen to all of this and look into it. I've tried all of the above except the nasal sprays because I am super leery of anything that might mess with my sense of smell. The saline sprays don't work for me, but I've found one brand of antihistamine that...helps. Usually. Depending on the day. Once you've been dealing with them for awhile, though, you've heard most everything and the whole things just gets very annoying.

Meds can stop working. This can be abrupt or gradual, but when there's only one thing that works for you, it sucks big time.

Symptoms are generally not consistent. They will be better or worse depending on the time of day. They will change over the course of the allergy attack. I'm not sure all of the reasons for this. A lot of people have problems in the morning, when allergens have managed to settle in their system overnight (and if your problem is dust mites, bedding is a huge place for them!). I also get them really bad at night, to the point that when I first started having problems a coworker was convinced I needed to dust my bedroom because nothing I said could convince her that 'night' meant 'after sunset regardless of location' and not 'in bed'.

Combining the last two points, the meds that work well on one set of symptoms may not do so well on later ones. Last Wednesday when the pollen level spiked and I woke up in the middle of the night unable to breathe, one pill had me back to normal. The next two and a half days were itchy eyes, low grade sinus pressure, and just enough post nasal drip to be uncomfortable and make my throat scratch, but it would have been So Much Worse without the meds! As we've moved past that stage and into the 'well, there's not much actual pressure, but my sinuses are packed with concrete and I sound like it', they've stopped doing anything, which is super annoying. Why? See the next point.

As stated above, it's quite common to have allergy laden characters sneeze every time they're near an open window, but somehow, unless it's a cartoon, they never pull out a handkerchief or grab a facial tissue to deal with the after math. I've four handkerchiefs that need washing from the past three days at work. People really don't address other issues. Having to sleep with your mouth open, which leads to bad tastes, dehydration, poor sleep, etc., for instance. Or, the one I alluded to in the intro - having to choose between breathing comfortably and eating. One of the reasons soup is such a good go to at this point is that you don't have to chew, so the fact you basically have to inhale, intake food, swallow, exhale, inhale again is a bit more doable. Actual chewy foods are terrible and eating neatly with your mouth closed is not happening, sorry. Brushing your teeth is also incredibly unpleasant.

Year round allergies can still have 'seasons'. Dust mites, for instance, see upswings in autumn, when everyone turns on their heating units and leaves are falling everywhere, etc., and spring...which I believe is mating season. I know my doctor told me why that one, but I can't quite remember. Pretty sure it was mating season.

While having people give you 'must use' remedies is annoying, there is still a certain comfort in other allergy sufferers, especially ones who show the same symptoms in much the same manner. One of my coworkers who also has grass allergy asked me a question today in a not-quite-so-nasally-but-still-congested voice and immediately responded with recognition and sympathy to the tone of my reply. We spent a good several minutes comparing notes and yup, same symptoms start to finish. Misery does indeed love company.

And that's all I'm being able to scrape out of my sinuses brain right now. I may add more later, as things progress, or other people say things that remind me of other things or...you know. Whatever. In the meantime, I hope someone finds this useful.

*it's worth noting that while I'm not actually allergic to food, I have a weird and annoyingly inconsistent sensitivity to tomato products. Pizza sauce has never bothered me, but tomato based spaghetti sauces run the gamut from 'fine' to 'my lips tingle' to 'I have a mouth full of fire ants that have flayed the skin off of my tongue'. The same product will give different results on different days, although fortunately the last one only happened twice when well meaning friends served me 'nice organic tomato sauce'. Best guess is it's something to do with the acidity.

[coconutcows]

[image ID- a screenshot of text saying “Many people think that their nose gets congested from too much thick mucus. But, usually, your nose gets stuffy when the tissues lining it become swollen. The swelling is from inflamed blood vessels. Your nose can become stuffy because of a cold, the flu, and allergies. - end ID]

I just got over a head cold/sinus infection. Best advice I can give is get the mucus out as best as you can. It’s where the dead germs are so get them out, cough them up, blow your nose whatever is easiest for you. As uncomfortable as it can be, nasal spray also helps longer for relief.

IM GOING TO PUNCH A HOLE IN SOMEONES CAR

[riya101]

How To Choose the Right Sinus Infection Treatment for Your Symptoms?

Sinus infections, or sinusitis, can be incredibly uncomfortable, often causing symptoms such as facial pain, nasal congestion, and headaches. If you’ve ever experienced these symptoms, you know how disruptive they can be to your daily life. While many people may try to manage sinus infections on their own, seeking the right treatment is crucial to ensure a full recovery and prevent future complications. 

This blog post will guide you through how to choose the right sinus infection treatment based on your symptoms, and why consulting a sinus specialist doctor early on can help you get the relief you deserve.

What is a Sinus Infection?

A sinus infection occurs when your sinuses—the hollow spaces in the bones around your nose—become inflamed or swollen, usually due to a viral infection. However, bacterial or fungal infections can also lead to sinusitis. In addition to the common cold, other factors like allergies, environmental irritants, and nasal polyps can contribute to sinus infections.

The most common symptoms of a sinus infection include:

Nasal congestion or stuffiness

Pain or pressure around the face, especially around the eyes, forehead, or cheekbones

Thick, yellow or green nasal discharge

Headaches

Sore throat

Coughing, which may worsen at night

Reduced sense of smell or taste

When to Seek Treatment for Sinus Infections

While some sinus infections clear up on their own within a week or two, others can persist for weeks, leading to chronic discomfort. If your symptoms last more than 10 days or worsen after initially improving, it’s time to seek professional help. A sinus infection that does not improve may be a sign of bacterial sinusitis, which requires specific treatment, such as antibiotics.

Even if your symptoms are mild, it’s still important to consult with a sinus specialist doctor to determine the best course of action. A healthcare professional can help diagnose the cause of your sinus infection and recommend treatments that can speed up recovery and alleviate discomfort.

Types of Sinus Infection Treatment

Choosing the right treatment depends on the type and severity of your sinus infection. Here’s a breakdown of common sinus infection treatments and when they are typically used:

1. Home Remedies for Mild Sinus Infections

For mild sinus infections or when you first notice symptoms, over-the-counter treatments and home remedies can be quite effective. Some options include:

Saline Nasal Spray: This helps clear out mucus and allergens from the nasal passages.

Steam Inhalation: Breathing in steam can help relieve congestion and loosen mucus.

Warm Compress: Applying a warm compress to the affected areas of your face can help reduce pressure and alleviate pain.

Hydration: Drinking plenty of fluids helps keep mucus thin and easier to expel.

These treatments can provide relief for those who have minor sinus infections or want to manage their symptoms before seeing a doctor.

2. Medications for Moderate Symptoms

If your sinus infection lasts longer than a few days or your symptoms become more intense, your doctor may recommend medications. Some common options include:

Decongestants: These can help reduce nasal swelling and allow mucus to drain more effectively.

Pain Relievers: Over-the-counter pain medications, such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen, can help manage pain and inflammation.

Nasal Steroid Sprays: These sprays reduce inflammation in the nasal passages, making it easier for air to flow and mucus to drain.

These medications can be helpful in managing symptoms but should be used as directed by your doctor to avoid any unwanted side effects.

3. Antibiotics for Bacterial Infections

If your sinus infection is determined to be bacterial, a sinus infection treatment plan will likely include antibiotics. While most sinus infections are viral and won’t benefit from antibiotics, bacterial infections require them to help clear the infection. Your doctor will determine the right type of antibiotic based on the severity of your infection.

It’s important to complete the full course of antibiotics, even if you start feeling better before the medication is finished. Stopping antibiotics early can result in the infection returning.

4. Surgery for Chronic Sinus Infections

In rare cases, chronic or recurring sinus infections may require surgical intervention. This is usually recommended when other treatments haven’t worked, and the patient experiences ongoing issues like nasal polyps or blockages that prevent proper drainage. Common surgical procedures include:

Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery (FESS): This minimally invasive procedure helps to clear blocked sinuses and improve drainage.

Balloon Sinuplasty: A less invasive option that uses a balloon to open blocked sinuses.

Surgical intervention is considered a last resort, but it can provide long-term relief for patients with chronic sinusitis.

The Importance of Consulting a Sinus Specialist Doctor

Choosing the right sinus infection treatment is crucial to your recovery, and sometimes, it’s best to seek professional guidance early. A sinus specialist doctor has the expertise and knowledge to accurately diagnose your condition and recommend the most effective treatments.

Here are a few reasons why early consultation with a sinus specialist is important:

Accurate Diagnosis: Sinus infections can have similar symptoms to other conditions, such as allergies or nasal polyps. A sinus doctor can pinpoint the exact cause of your symptoms and suggest the most appropriate treatment.

Prevent Complications: Untreated sinus infections can lead to more serious complications, such as a chronic condition, ear infections, or even meningitis in rare cases. Early treatment can help avoid these issues.

Personalized Treatment Plan: A sinus doctor can tailor the treatment based on your specific symptoms and medical history, ensuring a quicker and more effective recovery.

Sinus infections can be painful and disruptive, but the right treatment can help you feel better quickly and prevent long-term complications. Whether you’re dealing with a mild infection or a chronic issue, knowing the right treatment for your symptoms is key. If you’re experiencing persistent or severe symptoms, consulting a sinus specialist doctor is the best course of action. A professional can help diagnose your condition and recommend the best sinus infection treatment plan, ensuring you’re back to your normal life as soon as possible.

[theface12]

Hayfever Injections: Relief for London Allergy Sufferers

Breathe Easy Again with Hayfever Injections

For those who suffer from hayfever, spring and summer can feel like a nightmare. Sneezing, itchy eyes, and congestion can make daily life unbearable. hayfever injections offer a powerful alternative to over-the-counter remedies. Typically administered once per season, hayfever injections work by reducing the body’s immune response to allergens.

In contrast to tablets or nasal sprays that provide temporary relief, hayfever injections offer lasting comfort, allowing you to get back outside once more without symptoms spoiling your day. The treatment is quick, safe, and especially helpful for those who are not suited to antihistamines. With little side effects and rapid application, it’s no surprise more and more people are using hayfever injections to reclaim their lives.

Say Goodbye to Stubborn Fat with Fat Dissolving Injections

Struggling with fat that just won’t shift, despite a healthy lifestyle? Fat dissolving injections may be the solution you’ve been waiting for. These innovative treatments work by breaking down fat cells, which are then naturally removed by the body. Fat dissolving injections are ideal for areas like the chin, stomach, thighs, or flanks — anywhere that has resisted diet and exercise.

A key benefit of fat dissolving injections is their precision. Unlike traditional weight loss methods, which may result in generalised fat loss, these injections target specific trouble spots. The result? A more sculpted, defined appearance without surgery or downtime.

Discover the Best Fat Dissolving Injections for Targeted Results

With so many options on the market, how do you know which are the best fat dissolving injections for your needs? It’s crucial to choose treatments that are medically approved, performed by trained professionals, and tailored to your unique body type. The best fat dissolving injections typically include premium formulas like Aqualyx or DesoFace, which are renowned for their effectiveness and safety.

Prior to treatment, a consultation aids in establishing the most effective areas to work on and how many sessions will be needed. When selecting the best fat dissolving injections, always look at the experience of the practitioner, client feedback, and aftercare assistance. With the correct provider, the best fat dissolving injections can completely change your silhouette through effects that build over a few weeks and last in the long term.

Restore Youthful Volume with Dermal Fillers

Ageing is a natural process, but that doesn’t mean you can’t age gracefully. Dermal fillers are a popular non-surgical option to restore lost volume, smooth out wrinkles, and contour facial features. Whether you’re looking to enhance your lips, cheeks, jawline or under-eye area, dermal fillers can provide a refreshed and youthful appearance almost instantly.

Composed of hyaluronic acid — a substance that occurs naturally in the skin — dermal fillers are not only safe, but also moisturizing and revitalizing. Results usually last for 6 to 18 months, depending on the area of treatment and type of filler used. Minimal downtime and discreet, natural-looking results make dermal fillers one of the most popular aesthetic treatments in the UK today.

What Are Dermal Fillers Cost Factors?

One of the most frequently asked questions we get is: “What are dermal fillers cost variables?” The answer depends on several factors. Firstly, the area being treated — lips generally require less product than cheeks or jawlines, so cost varies accordingly. Secondly, the brand and quality of the filler matter; premium products with longer-lasting results naturally come at a higher price point.

Other dermal fillers cost considerations include the skills of the practitioner, clinic location, and treatment difficulty. Yes, it’s easy to get tempted to look for the cheapest option, but when it comes to aesthetics, quality is what you should look for. A well-known and reliable clinic guarantees the safety, accuracy, and results you deserve. Finally, dermal fillers prices should be thought of as an investment in yourself — one that enhances confidence and self-esteem.

Conclusion

From reclaiming your summer with hayfever injections, to body sculpting with fat dissolving injections or choosing the top fat dissolving injections, the aesthetic treatments available today are powerful tools for feeling better inside and out. Add that to the anti-ageing wonder of dermal fillers and dermal fillers cost knowledge, and you have everything you need to make an informed choice. The path to confidence begins with the proper treatment — and the proper professional. If you’re thinking about any of these, always speak with a qualified, reputable clinic to get safe, effective results designed specifically for you.

[dunloppharmacy]

Seasonal allergies can make everyday activities feel uncomfortable, but the good news is that there are many over-the-counter (OTC) solutions available to provide relief. If you’re struggling with symptoms like sneezing, itchy eyes, or congestion, a visit to your retail pharmacy in Clarksville, Tennessee, can help you find the right products to ease your discomfort. OTC medications like antihistamines, nasal sprays, and decongestants are commonly used to treat these symptoms, and your local pharmacy is the best place to start your search for relief.

[aariskin]

Best Allergy Doctor in Jaipur | Specialized Allergy Treatment

From severe respiratory problems to sneezing waves, allergies can make life difficult. Finding the Best Allergy Doctor in Jaipur is essential if you are having allergy problems and need professional medical help. To help you live a symptom-free life, an expert allergy doctor can diagnose the condition, identify triggers, and provide quick treatment.

Understanding Allergies and Their Impact

When the immune system overreacts to things like dust, pollen, pet dander, specific foods, or drugs, allergies result. Typical signs and symptoms include:

Runny nose and sneezing

Watery or itchy eyes

Hives or skin rashes

Breathing issues

In extreme situations, swelling

Asthma, sinus infections, and in severe situations, anaphylaxis, can result from ignoring allergy symptoms. By consulting with Jaipur's top allergy doctor, you can be certain that you'll receive the care you need before your issue becomes worse.

Why You Need a Specialized Allergy Doctor

An allergy expert, sometimes referred to as an allergist or immunologist, offers a more comprehensive approach to treating allergy problems than a general practitioner, who may only offer short-term respite. Jaipur's Top Allergy Physician will:

Review your medical history in detail.

Conduct allergy tests, such as patch, blood, or skin prick tests.

Determine which particular allergens are causing your problems.

Create a customized treatment strategy.

Describe long-term management techniques.

An allergy specialist can help you properly manage your symptoms and enhance your quality of life with a tailored strategy.

Common Allergy Types and Their Treatment

1. Allergic reactions to the lungs

These include allergies to mold, dust mites, pollen, and pet dander, which can result in asthma and allergic rhinitis. Antihistamines, nasal sprays, and allergy shots (immunotherapy) are available forms of treatment.

2. Allergies to Food

Shellfish, wheat, dairy, and nuts are common food allergies. Mild rashes to severe anaphylaxis are among the symptoms. By using allergy testing and elimination diets, the best allergy doctor in Jaipur will assist you in determining which foods cause your symptoms.

3. Allergies of the Skin

Allergens including metals, cosmetics, and scents can cause conditions like eczema, contact dermatitis, and hives. Antihistamines, topical creams, and lifestyle changes are all part of the treatment.

4. Allergies to Drugs

Antibiotics and painkillers are among the drugs that can cause allergic responses. To identify safe substitutes and offer emergency management strategies, an allergy specialist will perform testing.

5. Allergy to Insects

Serious allergic reactions can result from insect stings, such as those from wasps or bees. Desensitization therapy, emergency epinephrine injections, and preventative measures are all part of the treatment.

Finding the Best Allergy Doctor in Jaipur

It can be difficult to choose an allergy doctor, however the following advice will help you choose the best allergy doctor in Jaipur:

Verify the credentials: Make sure the physician has relevant experience and is a registered allergist or immunologist.

Examine patient reviews to gain a better understanding of the doctor's experience and methodology.

Seek Out Up-to-Date Testing Facilities: For precise treatment, a reputable allergy expert should provide cutting-edge diagnostic testing.

Consult for Personalized Treatment: Rather than using a one-size-fits-all strategy, pick a physician who offers customized treatment strategies.

Availability and Accessibility: Verify that the doctor's office is open and has flexible hours for appointments.

Best Practices for Managing Allergies

Managing allergies necessitates lifestyle changes in addition to medical treatment. Here are some pointers:

Maintain Clean Indoor Air: To lessen exposure to dust and pollen, use air purifiers and change your bedding frequently.

Track Your Diet: Pay close attention to food labels and steer clear of cross-contamination if you have dietary allergies.

Take Prescription Drugs: Adhere to your doctor's advice on immunotherapy, nasal sprays, and antihistamines.

Emergency Preparedness: If you suffer from severe allergies, keep an adrenaline injector on hand.

Keep abreast of seasonal allergies by keeping an eye on pollen forecasts and avoiding the outdoors during the most allergenic seasons.

Conclusion

The best course of action if allergies are interfering with your day-to-day activities is to speak with the best allergy doctor in Jaipur. A specialist physician will identify the underlying cause of your allergies and develop a customized treatment strategy. You may effectively manage your allergies and lead a better, symptom-free life with the correct medical advice and lifestyle modifications.

Don't let your allergies stop you! Take charge of your health by scheduling an appointment with Jaipur's top allergy doctor right now.

[valencelabs]

Uses Of Phenylephrine Hydrochloride: Valence Labs

Phenylephrine hydrochloride is a widely used medication known for its effectiveness in relieving nasal congestion and managing symptoms of colds, allergies, and sinusitis. This article delves into the various applications of phenylephrine hydrochloride, its benefits, precautions, and frequently asked questions to provide a comprehensive understanding of this essential drug.

What is Phenylephrine Hydrochloride?

Phenylephrine hydrochloride is a decongestant that works by constricting blood vessels in the nasal passages. This action reduces swelling and makes it easier to breathe. It is often found in over-the-counter (OTC) cold and allergy medications, available in tablet, capsule, liquid, or nasal spray forms.

Common Uses of Phenylephrine Hydrochloride

Nasal Congestion Relief: Phenylephrine is primarily used to alleviate nasal congestion caused by colds, allergies, or sinus infections.

Sinus Pressure Reduction: It can help relieve sinus pressure and associated headaches.

Ear Congestion Relief: Phenylephrine may be used to reduce ear congestion caused by colds or allergies, particularly during air travel.

Adjunct in Combination Medications: It is often combined with antihistamines, cough suppressants, or pain relievers in multi-symptom relief medications.

How Phenylephrine Hydrochloride Works

Phenylephrine is a selective alpha-1 adrenergic receptor agonist. By stimulating these receptors, it causes vasoconstriction, narrowing the blood vessels in the nasal passages. This results in decreased swelling and improved airflow through the nasal passages.

Dosage and Administration

The dosage of phenylephrine hydrochloride varies depending on the form and the patient’s age. Typically, adults and children over 12 years are recommended to take 10 mg every 4 hours as needed, without exceeding 60 mg in 24 hours. It is essential to follow the instructions on the packaging or as advised by a healthcare professional.

[kdlmedtech]

How to Choose the Best Nasal Wash Syringe for Allergies

If you suffer from seasonal allergies, dust sensitivities, or sinus congestion, a nasal wash syringe for allergy relief could be a game-changer. Nasal irrigation is a time-tested method to clear nasal passages, reduce congestion, and relieve allergy symptoms. Unlike traditional nasal sprays, nasal wash syringes allow you to control the flow of saline solution, ensuring a deep and thorough cleanse.

But with so many options available, selecting the best nasal wash syringe can feel overwhelming. From different sizes to varied designs, knowing what features matter most can help you make an informed decision. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the benefits of using a nasal wash syringe, key factors to consider, and how to properly use one for maximum relief. By the end, you’ll be well-equipped to choose the right tool for your needs and breathe easier every day.

Why Use a Nasal Wash Syringe for Allergies?

Nasal wash syringes work by flushing saline solution through your nasal passages to remove allergens like pollen, dust, or pet dander. This process, known as nasal irrigation, can reduce congestion and irritation without the need for medications. Research, including studies from health organizations like the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, shows that regular nasal rinsing can ease allergy symptoms effectively.

Unlike antihistamines, which may cause drowsiness, or decongestants, which can dry you out, a nasal wash syringe offers a natural approach. It’s a straightforward tool that puts you in control of your allergy relief, making it a popular choice for those seeking alternatives to pills or sprays.

Benefits of Using a Nasal Wash Syringe

Using a nasal wash syringe for allergy relief comes with several advantages:

Effective Irrigation – Unlike spray bottles, a syringe provides controlled pressure, ensuring a deep cleanse.

Reduces Congestion – Flushing out allergens and mucus helps clear nasal passages for easier breathing.

Drug-Free Relief – Ideal for individuals seeking natural home remedies for allergy relief without medications.

Prevention of Sinus Infections – Regular rinsing helps reduce bacteria buildup, lowering the risk of sinus infections.

Customizable Use – You can adjust the saline concentration and flow to suit your comfort level.

Nasal irrigation isn’t just for allergy sufferers. If you live in a dry climate, work in a dusty environment, or frequently experience sinus congestion, a nasal wash syringe can significantly improve your breathing quality.

Key Features to Look for in a Nasal Wash Syringe

Not all nasal wash syringes are created equal. To find the best nasal wash syringes, consider these factors:

1. Material and Design

Look for medical-grade, BPA-free materials to ensure safety. Soft silicone tips can prevent nasal discomfort and provide a better seal.

2. Size and Capacity

Syringes come in various sizes, typically ranging from 30ml to 100ml. Larger capacities reduce the need for multiple refills during use.

3. Ease of Use and Cleaning

A syringe with clear volume markings and an ergonomic grip makes application easier. Also, ensure the design allows thorough cleaning to prevent bacteria buildup.

4. Adjustable Flow Control

Some models offer variable pressure options, which can be beneficial for individuals with sensitive sinuses.

Choosing a high-quality syringe ensures a comfortable and effective nasal rinse experience.

How to Choose the Right Nasal Wash Syringe for Your Needs

Selecting a nasal wash syringe depends on your specific needs. Here’s a simple breakdown:

For daily allergy relief – Choose a medium-sized syringe (50-70ml) with a soft-tip design.

For sinus infections – Opt for a larger syringe (80-100ml) with controlled pressure settings.

For children – A smaller syringe (30-50ml) with a gentle flow is best.

For travel use – A compact, leak-proof design is ideal for portability.

Step-by-Step Guide on Using a Nasal Wash Syringe

Prepare the Saline Solution – Mix sterile or distilled water with non-iodized salt.

Fill the Syringe – Draw the saline solution into the syringe.

Tilt Your Head Slightly – Lean over a sink and tilt your head sideways.

Insert the Syringe Tip Gently – Position it in one nostril.

Apply Gentle Pressure – Slowly push the solution through, allowing it to exit the opposite nostril.

Repeat for the Other Nostril – Switch sides and repeat.

Blow Your Nose Gently – Remove excess saline and mucus.

Clean the Syringe – Rinse with warm water and let it air dry.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Using Nasal Wash Syringes

Using Tap Water – Always use distilled or previously boiled water to prevent infections.

Applying Too Much Pressure – Excess force can irritate nasal tissues.

Neglecting Proper Cleaning – Failing to clean your syringe can lead to bacterial buildup.

Overuse – Using a nasal wash syringe more than twice daily can dry out nasal membranes.

Skipping the Right Angle – Keep your head at a proper tilt to avoid discomfort.

By avoiding these common mistakes, you ensure a safe and effective nasal irrigation experience.

Conclusion

Using a nasal wash syringe for allergy relief is a simple yet effective way to manage allergies and sinus issues. By selecting the right syringe, following proper technique, and avoiding common mistakes, you can experience clearer breathing and better overall health. Source : How to Choose the Best Nasal Wash Syringe for Allergies

[petlover121]

Is Your Bird Sick? These Essential Medications Could Save Its Life!

As a responsible bird owner, ensuring the health and well-being of your feathered friend is a top priority. Birds, just like any other pets, are susceptible to various diseases and infections that require immediate attention. Knowing which bird medication to use for different health issues can make all the difference in saving your pet’s life. In this guide, we’ll cover essential bird medicine, their uses, and where to find trusted products like Kwik Pets.

Common Bird Health Issues and Medications

1. Respiratory Infections

Birds can suffer from respiratory infections due to bacteria, viruses, or fungal exposure. Common symptoms include wheezing, nasal discharge, coughing, and labored breathing.

Recommended Bird Medications:

Enrofloxacin (Baytril) – A broad-spectrum antibiotic effective against bacterial infections.

Doxycycline – Used for treating respiratory infections caused by Chlamydia.

Itraconazole – Antifungal medication for aspergillosis, a common fungal infection in birds.

2. Parasitic Infestations

External parasites like mites and lice, as well as internal parasites like worms, can severely affect your bird’s health.

Recommended Bird Medications:

Ivermectin – A popular antiparasitic used to treat mites, lice, and worms.

Fenbendazole – Effective against roundworms and other internal parasites.

3. Digestive Disorders

Birds can suffer from digestive issues due to poor diet, infections, or parasites. Symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting, or loss of appetite.

Recommended Bird Medications:

Metronidazole – Used to treat infections caused by protozoa like Giardia.

Probiotics – Help restore gut flora and promote healthy digestion.

4. Nutritional Deficiencies

Improper diet can lead to vitamin and mineral deficiencies, causing weakness, feather plucking, and poor immunity.

Recommended Bird Medications:

Calcium and Vitamin D3 supplements – Essential for strong bones and eggshell formation in breeding birds.

Multivitamin supplements – Help maintain overall health and immunity.

5. Skin and Feather Problems

If your bird is plucking feathers or has itchy, inflamed skin, it may be suffering from allergies, mites, or infections.

Recommended Bird Medications:

Aloe Vera-based sprays – Help soothe skin irritation and promote healing.

Antifungal creams – Used for fungal infections like ringworm.

How to Administer Bird Medicine Safely

Administering bird medication can be challenging, but following these tips will ensure proper dosage and effectiveness:

Oral Administration – Use a syringe to deliver liquid medication directly into the bird’s beak.

Topical Application – For skin infections, apply medicated creams or sprays directly to the affected area.

Water-soluble Medications – Some bird medicine can be mixed with drinking water for easier consumption.

Pill Form – If prescribed in pill form, crush and mix it with soft food.

Always follow your veterinarian’s instructions and dosage recommendations to avoid overdosing or underdosing.

Where to Buy Trusted Bird Medications

Finding high-quality bird medication is crucial for effective treatment. Kwik Pets is a trusted source for a variety of bird medicine, including antibiotics, antiparasitics, and vitamin supplements. Always purchase from reputable pet stores or consult your avian veterinarian for the best recommendations.

Final Thoughts

Caring for a sick bird requires knowledge and prompt action. By understanding the right bird medication, you can ensure a faster recovery and a healthier life for your pet. Always seek expert advice from a veterinarian before administering any bird medicine, and purchase from reputable suppliers like Kwik Pets to ensure quality and safety.

FAQs

1. How do I know if my bird needs medication?

If your bird shows symptoms like lethargy, loss of appetite, difficulty breathing, or unusual feather plucking, consult a vet immediately for diagnosis and treatment.

2. Can I use human medicine for my bird?

No, human medications can be toxic to birds. Always use vet-approved bird medicine specifically formulated for avian health.

3. How long does it take for bird medication to work?

The effectiveness of bird medication depends on the illness and type of treatment. Some antibiotics may show improvement within 24-48 hours, while other treatments may take longer.

4. Is preventive medication necessary for birds?

Yes! Using supplements, probiotics, and parasite preventives from Kwik Pets can help maintain your bird’s health and reduce the risk of diseases.

5. What should I do if my bird refuses medication?

Try different administration methods, such as mixing medicine with food or water. If refusal persists, consult your vet for alternative options.

[tobrukonly]

Comprehensive Guide to Treating Headaches and Sinusitis 🤯🤧

Headaches and sinus infections (sinusitis) are common health issues that can significantly impact daily life. Whether you’re experiencing a tension headache, migraine, or sinus-induced headache, knowing the right treatment can make a huge difference. In this guide, we will cover causes, symptoms, and the best treatments for both headaches and sinusitis. 👇👇

🔹 Understanding Headaches 🤕

📌 1. Types of Headaches

There are different types of headaches, each with unique causes and symptoms:

✅ Tension Headache — The most common type, caused by stress, poor posture, or eye strain. Feels like a tight band around the head. ✅ Migraine — A severe headache with nausea, sensitivity to light/sound, and sometimes visual disturbances (aura). ✅ Cluster Headache — A sharp, painful headache occurring in cycles, often around one eye. ✅ Sinus Headache — Caused by sinus inflammation and congestion, leading to pressure around the forehead, cheeks, and eyes.

🔹 Effective Treatments for Headaches 💊

📌 1. Medications

💊 Pain relievers — Over-the-counter medications like ibuprofen (Advil), acetaminophen (Tylenol), or naproxen (Aleve) help reduce headache pain. 💊 Triptans — Prescription medications like sumatriptan (Imitrex) are effective for migraines. 💊 Beta-blockers & Antidepressants — Used as preventive treatment for chronic migraines.

📌 2. Home Remedies & Natural Treatments 🌿

🔹 Cold compress on the forehead ❄️ — Helps numb the pain and reduce inflammation. 🔹 Massage & acupressure 💆‍♂️ — Massaging the temples, neck, and shoulders can relieve tension headaches. 🔹 Hydration 💧 — Dehydration can trigger headaches, so drink plenty of water. 🔹 Caffeine ☕ — A small amount of caffeine can help relieve migraine pain but should be used in moderation. 🔹 Essential oils 🌿 — Peppermint and lavender oil can help relieve tension headaches when applied to the temples. 🔹 Regular sleep schedule 😴 — Poor sleep can lead to chronic headaches.

🔹 Understanding Sinusitis 🤧

Sinusitis occurs when the sinuses become inflamed or infected, leading to congestion, pressure, and headaches.

📌 1. Causes of Sinusitis

🦠 Viral infections — Common colds or flu often lead to sinus infections. 🤧 Allergies — Pollen, dust, and mold can trigger sinus inflammation. 🦠 Bacterial infections — Can occur when mucus builds up in the sinuses. 🌫 Environmental irritants — Smoke, pollution, or strong odors can irritate the sinuses.

📌 2. Symptoms of Sinusitis

✅ Facial pressure and pain around the forehead, eyes, and cheeks. ✅ Nasal congestion and discharge (yellow or green mucus). ✅ Headache that worsens when bending forward. ✅ Loss of smell or taste. ✅ Cough, sore throat, or bad breath.

🔹 Best Treatments for Sinusitis 🤧💨

📌 1. Medications

💊 Nasal decongestants — Medications like pseudoephedrine (Sudafed) help reduce swelling in nasal passages but should not be used for more than 3 days. 💊 Antihistamines — If allergies are the cause, loratadine (Claritin) or cetirizine (Zyrtec) can help reduce inflammation. 💊 Pain relievers — Ibuprofen or acetaminophen help reduce headache and facial pain. 💊 Antibiotics — Only needed if a bacterial infection is present and symptoms last longer than 10 days.

📌 2. Home Remedies & Natural Treatments 🌿

🔹 Steam inhalation 🌬️ — Inhale steam from a bowl of hot water with eucalyptus or peppermint oil to clear congestion. 🔹 Saline nasal rinse 🧴 — Use a Neti Pot or saline spray to flush out mucus and bacteria. 🔹 Stay hydrated 💧 — Drinking plenty of fluids helps thin mucus and promote drainage. 🔹 Use warm compresses 🟡 — Placing a warm towel on the face can relieve sinus pressure. 🔹 Sleep with an elevated head 🛏️ — Helps prevent mucus buildup and improve breathing. 🔹 Vitamin C & Immune boosters 🍊 — Strengthening your immune system with vitamin C, honey, and herbal teas can help prevent sinus infections. 🔹 When to See a Doctor? 🏥

🚨 Consult a doctor if you experience: ✅ Severe headaches that do not respond to medication. ✅ High fever with sinus infection symptoms. ✅ Frequent migraines that affect daily life. ✅ Swelling or redness around the eyes with sinusitis. ✅ Blurred vision, dizziness, or numbness with a headache.

🔹 Prevention Tips to Avoid Headaches & Sinus Infections 💡

✅ Stay hydrated — Dehydration is a common headache trigger. ✅ Manage stress — Practice meditation, yoga, or deep breathing exercises. ✅ Improve posture — Poor posture can lead to tension headaches. ✅ Avoid allergy triggers — Reduce exposure to pollen, dust, and strong odors. ✅ Get enough sleep — Lack of sleep increases the risk of headaches and sinus infections. ✅ Eat a healthy diet — Avoid processed foods, artificial sweeteners, and MSG, which can trigger migraines.

🔥 Conclusion

Headaches can be caused by stress, dehydration, migraines, or sinus infections. Treatment includes pain relievers, hydration, and relaxation techniques.

Sinusitis is caused by infections, allergies, or nasal congestion. Treatment includes steam inhalation, saline rinses, and decongestants.

Preventing both conditions requires hydration, stress management, good sleep, and avoiding known triggers.

💬 Do you suffer from headaches or sinus infections? What remedies have worked for you? Share your experience below! 👇😊