Do Nasal Moisturizers Like Ponaris and Pretz Work?

Dr. Franklyn R. Gergits, MBA, DO, FAOCO · Board-Certified Otolaryngologist · Fellowship-Trained Otolaryngic Allergist · 30+ Years of Experience · Clinical Focus in Rhinology and Airway Disorders

Short answer: I tell patients to give the drops a try. These products have been available for years, they are typically used after sinus surgery, and I want them used temporarily rather than indefinitely. What I will also say is that none of them has a great volume of detailed, intense research behind it, so read the product labels. And before I get to drops, there are simpler things that work better — starting with how much water you are drinking, then a rinse, then a mist.

Dry nose is a real complaint and patients in Arizona have it worse than most. We live in a desert, much of the state sits at elevation, and the air indoors is not much better than the air outside.

So people end up in the drugstore aisle looking at Ponaris, Pretz, and a shelf of gels, wondering which one is the answer.

My answer is that the product is usually the last step, not the first.

What I Would Do Before Reaching for Drops

Here is the order I actually recommend, and it starts further back than patients expect.

First, fluid intake. This is where I put the most stress, and it is the step everyone skips. You cannot moisturize a nose from the outside while the rest of you is running dry. In this climate that is not a small factor.

Then a saline rinse. High-volume irrigation does more for the nasal lining than most people expect, including for dryness.

Then a saline mist. Something like the Arm & Hammer saline mist. Lighter than a rinse, easy to carry, easy to use through the day.

Then the topical products. Water-soluble gels are the category I point people toward — NasoGel, for example, is built around a moisture-holding compound your own tissue makes. Spray mist delivery options. And yes, the drops.

One warning on this rung, and it matters more than it sounds. Stay away from anything petroleum-based in the nose. Petrolatum products carry a real risk if they are breathed in rather than staying put — an inflammation deep in the lungs that comes from inhaled oil. Read the ingredients. If it is a petroleum jelly product, it does not belong in your nostril, however many people use it that way.

Most patients who arrive asking about Ponaris have not worked through the first three. When they do, a fair number of them stop needing the fourth.

But Doesn’t the Saline Rinse Dry You Out?

This is a fair objection and I hear it. Some patients do complain about a drying feeling from the high-volume saline rinse.

It is also an old objection. An otolaryngologist named Arthur Proetz raised it back in the early 1900s — he argued that plain saline was inherently drying in the nose and recommended adding glycerin to it. Some of today’s moisturizing products still trace their formulas to that idea.

He was working from careful observation, but the modern evidence does not support the general claim. Salt water matched to the concentration of your own body fluids actually improves how well the nose clears itself, and it moisturizes rather than dries.

So what are those patients feeling? Here is the part worth checking.

Saltier-than-normal rinses can sting and irritate. A stronger salt concentration is sometimes recommended because it draws fluid out of swollen tissue, and it works — but some people find it burns or leaves them feeling raw. If your rinse feels drying, look at what concentration you are actually mixing. Switching to the standard strength may solve it by itself.

Here is what I do about it. I use the rinse myself, but I use the version with xylitol added. That seems to reduce the drying feeling considerably.

So my recommendation is xylitol before Ponaris or Pretz. Same rinse you are already doing, one additive, and it addresses the complaint at the source rather than adding a second product on top of it. Xylitol also has better research behind it than any of the moisturizers do.

What About After Sinus Surgery?

This is where these products are most often used, and sometimes I do recommend them for post-operative crusting.

Sometimes. But I feel the high-volume saline irrigation helps with that more.

And there is a more important point here that gets missed in the rush to find a product.

We want to know why there is excessive crusting in the first place.

Crusting is a symptom, not a diagnosis. If it is heavy or persistent, I may send a sample for evaluation to look for a subtle infection — something low-grade that is not announcing itself but is keeping the lining irritated.

A moisturizer applied over an unrecognized infection makes the nose feel better and changes nothing underneath. That is the scenario I am trying to avoid.

Oil-Based or Water-Based?

The two popular products differ in a way worth knowing.

Ponaris is an oil-based preparation — botanical oils in a cottonseed oil carrier, with an iodine content in the range of about half a percent, made since the 1930s. It comes as drops.

Pretz is water-based — water, glycerin, sea salt, and an extract of a plant called yerba santa.

I recommend the water-based option. The oil-based product is just drops, used sparingly, which is a different exposure than anything you would put through an irrigation — but the same caution about inhaled oil applies, which is another reason I lean toward water-based and toward using any of this briefly rather than daily for years.

On that point specifically: I would not add either of these to a rinse bottle. These are drop and spray products. Oil does not mix into saline in any case, and a high-volume irrigation is not the delivery route they were designed for.

Who Should Check With Someone First

Two situations call for a conversation before you start.

Pregnancy. Every pregnant patient needs all medications approved by their OB-GYN. That includes things sold over the counter.

Thyroid disease, or any iodine sensitivity. Ponaris contains iodine, and iodine matters if your thyroid is being managed or if you have ever reacted to it. Check with your endocrinologist.

Now let me put that in proportion, because I do not want to frighten anyone off a few drops.

This is a small amount delivered to the mucous membrane, which is not a systemic delivery. It is external to the bloodstream in the way that washing your hands is external to it. So probably not much to worry about — but small is not zero, and it is still worth discussing with the physician managing your thyroid or your pregnancy.

One more thing to read on the label. Some formulations contain benzalkonium chloride as a preservative, and there are preservative-free versions of the same product. Preservatives are worth knowing about if you are using something daily over a long stretch. That is one of the reasons I tell patients to review the labels themselves.

What Is the Dryness Actually Doing to You?

It is worth understanding why this matters beyond comfort, because patients tend to treat a dry nose as an annoyance.

The lining of your nose is supposed to stay moist. That moisture is what lets it trap what you breathe in and move it along. When the lining dries out, that system slows down, the surface cracks, and you get crusting and sometimes bleeding.

Cracked, crusted tissue is also easier to irritate and easier to infect. So a nose that stays dry for a long stretch is not just uncomfortable. It is a nose with a weaker barrier than it had before.

That is the real argument for addressing it, and it is also the argument for addressing it properly rather than papering over it with a product.

How Long Should I Use Them?

Temporarily.

That is the part I emphasize and it is the part most often ignored. These are for getting through a stretch — after surgery, during a dry season, on a long flight. They are not a daily habit for the next five years.

If you have needed a moisturizer every day for months, the question is not which product. The question is why your nose is that dry, and that is worth an actual evaluation.

Patients throughout Scottsdale, Phoenix, and Maricopa County live in a climate that is genuinely hard on the nasal lining. But a nose that will not stay moist despite fluids, rinses, and mist is telling you something, and a bottle of drops will not tell you what.

People Also Ask

Can I add Ponaris or Pretz to my sinus rinse?
I would not. These are drop and spray products. Ponaris is oil-based and will not mix into saline anyway, and high-volume irrigation is not the delivery route either product was designed for. If the rinse itself feels drying, adding xylitol to it is the better answer.

Is the saline rinse making my nose drier?
Standard-strength saline actually moisturizes and improves how the nose clears itself, so the general claim does not hold up. What can sting is a saltier-than-normal mix, which some people are using without realizing it. Check your concentration first. Beyond that, xylitol added to the rinse reduces the drying feeling — I use it myself.

Are nasal moisturizers safe during pregnancy?
Every medication during pregnancy should be approved by your OB-GYN, including over-the-counter products. The amount delivered is small and applied to the surface rather than absorbed systemically, but that is a conversation for your obstetrician rather than an assumption.

Why does my nose keep crusting?
That is the right question, and it deserves an answer rather than a product. Persistent crusting can reflect a low-grade infection, and I may send a sample for evaluation. Treating the crust without knowing the cause leaves the cause in place.

Want to Understand More

→ Should I Add Xylitol to My Sinus Rinse?

→ Which Natural Sinus Treatments Actually Have Evidence?

→ Can a Sinus Rinse Give You a Brain Infection?

→ Is NeilMed Safe — and Am I Using It Correctly?

→ Why Does Monsoon Season Make My Sinuses Worse?

→ The Airway & Sinus Wellness Review

About the Author

Dr. Franklyn R. Gergits, MBA, DO, FAOCO is a Board-Certified Otolaryngologist and Fellowship-Trained Otolaryngic Allergist with a Clinical Focus in Rhinology and Airway Disorders and over 30 years of clinical experience, first at Northeast Ear Nose and Throat Associates in Berwick and Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, and now in Scottsdale. He is the founder of the Sinus & Allergy Wellness Center of North Scottsdale, where he performs in-office balloon sinuplasty, turbinate reduction, NEUROMARK® posterior nasal nerve ablation (Neurent Medical, FDA-cleared radiofrequency ablation system), and Eustachian tube dilation under local anesthesia. He performed the first balloon sinuplasty in Pennsylvania and earned dual Entellus Centers of Excellence certifications. Dr. Gergits is the originator of the Posterior Sinonasal Syndrome (PSS) hypothesis — a clinical framework identifying pepsin-mediated posterior nasal mucosal injury as an upstream driver of chronic rhinosinusitis. Preprints available at Preprints.org (PSS: DOI 10.20944/preprints202603.0858.v1 · Mucosal Liquid Layer: DOI 10.20944/preprints202605.0727.v1). ORCID: 0009-0000-4893-6332.

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This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, and nothing here is a recommendation that any individual reader begin any product. Over-the-counter nasal products carry their own labeling, and patients who are pregnant or who have thyroid disease should consult their obstetrician or endocrinologist before use. Persistent nasal dryness, crusting, or bleeding deserves evaluation rather than indefinite self-treatment. Nasal irrigation must be performed only with distilled, boiled, or bottled water — never tap water.