Common questions or concerns about the spray
Click on the boxes below to see the answers to some common questions and concerns.
Is the spray safe?
The spray is not a medicine and is not addictive. It’s safe to use with any normal medicines you might take.
Even though it’s not a medicine, the spray is still effective! It is like cleaning your hands, but for your nose.
It helps to clean the virus from your nose.
It’s safe and could stop you needing to use medicines to deal with symptoms of a heavy infection
Side effects are very uncommon.
Some people can find that the spray tickles their nose or throat. But, these effects should be small and not last long. Many people find that these effects are better than having a full-blown infection!
More about using the spray
We recommend using the spray up to 6 times in a day, with 2 sprays in each nostril each time. Experts agree this amount is safe.
In most situations you will probably be using a lot less than this. Click here to have a look at when we recommend you use the spray.
It is fine to use the spray every day if you are around lots of people who could have an infection.
Everyone has different first signs.
It can be hard to tell if the symptoms you are getting are the start of an infection or due to something else. For example, if you have hay fever.
If you are unsure, using the spray won’t cause any harm and could help stop an infection.
You can still use the spray even when your infection symptoms are worse.
It is still likely to help you to get over your infection faster.
It just works better if you use it on early symptoms.
However, after 2 weeks of using the spray up to 6 times a day, if you’ve not seen any benefit it’s worth giving it a break. You can also stop, pause or reduce how much you are using the spray if your symptoms are making it unpleasant to do so.
Even if you are using the spray, you can still do everything you would normally do to treat symptoms and make yourself feel better.
If you have symptoms that could be COVID-19, you must follow the latest government advice.
You don’t have to!
Nobody wants infections to rule their lives.
Using the spray is very different from being ‘over the top’ or ‘obsessed’.
It just means you notice early signs of infection and situations where you might catch an infection. You then take quick, easy steps to protect your health. Then you get on with your life.
Overall, you’ll spend less time worrying about or suffering from infections.
You will also help your family and friends. If you avoid infections, then you won’t spread them.
Will it really work?
Did you know a regular cold is also a coronavirus? Although it can cause more serious problems, we catch COVID-19 in a very similar way to coughs, colds and other infections.
Things we do to reduce the number of these infections may also help with COVID-19. So using the nasal spray may be useful!
You must still follow all government adviceon preventing COVID-19 and the steps to take if you have any of the warning signs.
Sometimes it seems hard to know if it’s the spray that stopped your infection.
However, like washing your hands, it does rid viruses from your nose - so it will help!
It’s frustrating that you still got ill after using the spray.
Using the spray doesn’t always stop an infection, but it should do most times if you use it correctly.
Using the spray should mean your symptoms are not as bad and don’t last as long.
It should also help lower the number of infections you get.
It might be that you weren’t able to use the spray early enough this time or maybe your technique wasn't quite right.
Keep going and you should see some benefits.