Acoustic therapy for allergic rhinitis and chronic rhinosinusitis: modulating microbiome, immunity and well-being

Allergic rhinitis (AR) and chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) are common respiratory conditions that significantly impact patient health and contribute to substantial healthcare burdens. While conventional treatments offer symptom relief, many patients continue to experience persistent symptoms, side effe...

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Main Authors: Jude Oluwapelumi Alao, Kelvin E. M. Lau, David White, Kevin Lee, Chris Puli'uvea, Jim Bartley
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-08-01
Series:Frontiers in Allergy
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/falgy.2025.1649031/full
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author Jude Oluwapelumi Alao
Kelvin E. M. Lau
David White
Kevin Lee
Chris Puli'uvea
Jim Bartley
author_facet Jude Oluwapelumi Alao
Kelvin E. M. Lau
David White
Kevin Lee
Chris Puli'uvea
Jim Bartley
author_sort Jude Oluwapelumi Alao
collection DOAJ
description Allergic rhinitis (AR) and chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) are common respiratory conditions that significantly impact patient health and contribute to substantial healthcare burdens. While conventional treatments offer symptom relief, many patients continue to experience persistent symptoms, side effects, or resistance to standard therapies. This highlights the growing need for novel, non-invasive, and sustainable therapeutic strategies to manage chronic airway inflammation. This review examines acoustic therapy, an emerging non-pharmacological treatment that uses sound wave-induced vibrations as a potential adjunctive therapy for AR and CRS. Acoustic therapy shows potential benefits, including enhanced nitric oxide production, improved mucociliary clearance, and modulation of immune responses by activating mechanosensitive pathways and disrupting pathogenic biofilms. Preliminary clinical findings across some trials have reported improvements in peak nasal inspiratory flow ranging from approximately 17% to 31%, significant reductions in nasal congestion and symptom scores, such as Total Nasal Symptom Score, Sino-Nasal Outcome Test-22 (SNOT-22), and enhancements in sleep quality and patient-reported outcomes. Given this limited but expanding body of evidence, we integrate interdisciplinary insights from respiratory medicine, immunology, and microbiome science to provide a translational framework for future research. We highlight the need for rigorously designed clinical trials to assess acoustic therapy's therapeutic efficacy, safety, and long-term impact. As this field evolves, acoustic therapy holds significant potential to address unmet needs in chronic respiratory diseases and contributes to improved patient care.
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spelling doaj-art-6f8652fdbdd64a3a83006169209fc39e2025-08-25T05:25:26ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Allergy2673-61012025-08-01610.3389/falgy.2025.16490311649031Acoustic therapy for allergic rhinitis and chronic rhinosinusitis: modulating microbiome, immunity and well-beingJude Oluwapelumi Alao0Kelvin E. M. Lau1David White2Kevin Lee3Chris Puli'uvea4Jim Bartley5School of Public Health and Interdisciplinary Studies, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New ZealandSchool of Public Health and Interdisciplinary Studies, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New ZealandCentre of Chiropractic Research, New Zealand College of Chiropractic, Auckland, New ZealandSchool of Science, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New ZealandSchool of Science, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New ZealandDepartment of Surgery, University of Auckland, Auckland, New ZealandAllergic rhinitis (AR) and chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) are common respiratory conditions that significantly impact patient health and contribute to substantial healthcare burdens. While conventional treatments offer symptom relief, many patients continue to experience persistent symptoms, side effects, or resistance to standard therapies. This highlights the growing need for novel, non-invasive, and sustainable therapeutic strategies to manage chronic airway inflammation. This review examines acoustic therapy, an emerging non-pharmacological treatment that uses sound wave-induced vibrations as a potential adjunctive therapy for AR and CRS. Acoustic therapy shows potential benefits, including enhanced nitric oxide production, improved mucociliary clearance, and modulation of immune responses by activating mechanosensitive pathways and disrupting pathogenic biofilms. Preliminary clinical findings across some trials have reported improvements in peak nasal inspiratory flow ranging from approximately 17% to 31%, significant reductions in nasal congestion and symptom scores, such as Total Nasal Symptom Score, Sino-Nasal Outcome Test-22 (SNOT-22), and enhancements in sleep quality and patient-reported outcomes. Given this limited but expanding body of evidence, we integrate interdisciplinary insights from respiratory medicine, immunology, and microbiome science to provide a translational framework for future research. We highlight the need for rigorously designed clinical trials to assess acoustic therapy's therapeutic efficacy, safety, and long-term impact. As this field evolves, acoustic therapy holds significant potential to address unmet needs in chronic respiratory diseases and contributes to improved patient care.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/falgy.2025.1649031/fullnasal diseasevibrationallergic rhinitischronic rhinosinusitisnitric oxidenasal microbiome
spellingShingle Jude Oluwapelumi Alao
Kelvin E. M. Lau
David White
Kevin Lee
Chris Puli'uvea
Jim Bartley
Acoustic therapy for allergic rhinitis and chronic rhinosinusitis: modulating microbiome, immunity and well-being
Frontiers in Allergy
nasal disease
vibration
allergic rhinitis
chronic rhinosinusitis
nitric oxide
nasal microbiome
title Acoustic therapy for allergic rhinitis and chronic rhinosinusitis: modulating microbiome, immunity and well-being
title_full Acoustic therapy for allergic rhinitis and chronic rhinosinusitis: modulating microbiome, immunity and well-being
title_fullStr Acoustic therapy for allergic rhinitis and chronic rhinosinusitis: modulating microbiome, immunity and well-being
title_full_unstemmed Acoustic therapy for allergic rhinitis and chronic rhinosinusitis: modulating microbiome, immunity and well-being
title_short Acoustic therapy for allergic rhinitis and chronic rhinosinusitis: modulating microbiome, immunity and well-being
title_sort acoustic therapy for allergic rhinitis and chronic rhinosinusitis modulating microbiome immunity and well being
topic nasal disease
vibration
allergic rhinitis
chronic rhinosinusitis
nitric oxide
nasal microbiome
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/falgy.2025.1649031/full
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