Abstract
The ‘nose-opening” effect of short infrared rays and the ‘nose-closing” effect of long infrared rays, reported by a few earlier authors, were confirmed in the present investigation. During infrared irradiation the temperature of the nasal mucosa rose to a considerably greater extent than that of the buccal mucosa, probably because the warming of the nasal mucosa was caused principally by the heated air. The relatively deeply penetrating field of short-waves from a monode, on the other hand, heated the nasal and buccal mucosa almost equally.
The blood flow of the nasal mucosa, studied with a thermal conductivity method, was usually unchanged during and after treatment with short or long infrared rays or short-wave diathermy from a monode. In these experiments no heated air could reach the nasal mucosa during the treatments, and the result may therefore be applicable only to mouth-breathing patients.