THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 2, 1995 TAG: 9502020019
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JAMES SCHULTZ, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
WHAT EXACTLY WAS the deal Sunday with all those bandage strips on the noses of Super Bowl players? Was it a whole lotta plastic surgery going on, or one too many after-hours barroom brawls?
None of the above. We're talking Breathe Right Nasal Strips, the latest in nostril-expandin', sleep-improvin', competition-enhancin', one-of-a-kind, health-and-sports accessories.
National Football League players by the dozens have been trying out the strips, believing they will improve air flow that's limited by mouthguards or nasal congestion. NFL trainers have been quoted as saying some players wear the strips to bed, for deeper and better sleep.
``I just thought all the players had busted noses,'' said Sandy Protich, manager of Conte's Bicycle & Fitness Equipment, Inc. in Newport News. ``Myself, with allergies, especially with the cold weather, I can't get enough air into my nose sometimes. I'd be interested in trying them out.''
This past fall, the company that makes the device, CNS, Inc. of Chanhassen, Minn., sent several hundred boxes to all 28 NFL team trainers. On Sunday, winning San Francisco 49ers running back Ricky Watters and wide receiver Jerry Rice wore Breathe Rights. So did losing San Diego players Natrone Means and Isaac Davis.
Breathe Right is a Band-Aid-like strip reinforced with embedded plastic tabs, similar to those used to stiffen shirt collars. A strong medical adhesive attaches the strip snugly to the soft area above the flare of each nostril, lifting and expanding nasal passages for more air flow.
``You're dilating the space in the back of the nostril, pulling on the cartilage where the nose meets the face,'' said CNS board chairman and CEO Daniel Cohen. ``An extra millimeter (of space) makes a huge difference in making breathing easier. You expend less energy to pull air in.''
In 1991, inventor-engineer Bruce Johnson approached CNS, a distributor of sleep disorder diagnostic equipment, with his creation. Cohen says two years were spent improving the product, figuring out how best to manufacture the strips in volume, and shepherding Breathe Rights through the Food and Drug Administration's exacting approval process.
By the fall of 1994, the strips were shipped out nationally, to the NFL and drug store chains.
``When people see it they say, `No way will this thing work.' Then they put it on and they're shocked,'' Cohen said. ``It works right away. You've got a great word-of-mouth sales opportunity.''
Based on his experience with patients, Dr. Catesby Ware offers a qualified Breathe Right endorsement. The director of the Sleep Disorder Center at Eastern Virginia Medical School and Sentara Norfolk General Hospital says the strips appear to relieve some of the worst symptoms associated with snoring and sleep apnea.
``There are dramatic stories - more so from the spouse than from the patient,'' Ware said. ``It does open up your nose. Breathe Right appears to reduce snoring.''
CNS makes no scientific claims about its product, other than an assertion that ``airflow resistance through the nose is reduced by 30 percent.''
Judging by sales at Barr's Pharmacy, on 17th Street and Atlantic Avenue in Virginia Beach, increasing numbers of consumers are convinced the strips work. Barr sells an average of 10 boxes of Breathe Rights per week, and sales are slowly growing through word-of-mouth.
``I had one guy tell me they saved his marriage,'' said Rick Hall, Barr owner-manager. ``They are effective. They do the work. A lot of people still don't know about them.''
Breathe Right currently retails for between $5 and $6 for a box of 10, and is available at most chain drug stores. The price is likely to drop, says Cohen of CNS, as the product becomes more widely known and stocked on store shelves. ILLUSTRATION: The 49ers' Jerry Rice, above, and Ricky Watters breathed easier
at the Super Bowl.
KEYWORDS: TRENDS by CNB