New studies support a Richmond man’s claims that flushing your nose daily can protect against COVID-19 and other diseases that develop in the nose and sinuses.

Photographer and home builder Robert S. Liverman, 54, has been spreading that information on social media sites such as TikTok, Instagram and Twitter, as the Free Press first reported in October 2020.

Since then, separate yearlong studies at Vanderbilt University and the Medical College of Georgia have independently verified Mr. Liverman’s insight that a daily nose spray can be effective even for those who are not vaccinated.

The findings are significant given that COVID-19 infections continue in Richmond and across the nation despite a significant reduction in caseloads.

Dr. Kyle Kimura of Vanderbilt University began championing the idea of nasal flushing early in the pandemic. He first posted his view in April 2020 and began a study in August 2020.

Dr. Kimura reported in October 2021 that clinical testing found that using over-the-counter nasal sprays “can decrease viral shedding” from the coronavirus, and that adding a tiny amount of baby shampoo to the spray “would further neutralize the virus.”

“While a unanimous treatment has yet to be discovered,” Dr. Kimura wrote in his paper, a number of studies “looking at the effect of nasal saline (found) decreased virus shedding in patients treated with saline irrigation compared to the control group.” In other words, the nasal irrigation reduced the viral infection and a person’s ability to spread the disease, he stated.

A similar result emerged from a multidisciplinary medical research team at Augusta University, the Medical College of Georgia, Georgia State University and Edinburgh Napier University.

In a clinical paper issued in August 2021, the seven-member team reported that “nasal irrigation offers a safe and over-the-counter measure with potentially vital public health impact.”

Their 12-month clinical trial involving 79 people ages 55 and older demonstrated that the use of nasal spray resulted in a significant reduction in deaths and severe illness in the “high risk age group with pre-existing conditions,” the team stated.

Based on their findings, the team estimated that widespread use of such nasal sprays could have kept 1.2 million people infected with COVID-19 out of hospitals, an 18 percentage point drop, that would have resulted in reduced “pressure on Intensive Care Unit capacity as well as stress and risk to health care providers.”

Mr. Liverman, who has never been vaccinated and has worn a mask only when a store or business made it mandatory, welcomed the confirmation.

He said he came up with the idea after reading reports on 2020 research soon after the pandemic began that found that the nose was the invasion point for COVID-19 and that the virus developed in nasal cavities over seven to 14 days before becoming a potential threat to the person’s health.

“It just came to me,” he said. “To stop the disease from developing, why not just do a daily nose flush like people do for allergies?”

To cut the cost, he created his own formula. He said he mixes a half teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of baking soda with a gallon of distilled water, fills a nasal spray bottle and squirts.

The video demonstration he created called “Flush for Life’ has received more than 1 million views on TikTok, Instagram and Twitter since he posted his idea in 2020.

“We have received frightening messages about this disease from the government. We’ve seen the hospitals packed with patients,” Mr. Liverman said. “And all along, there was a simple solution that could have saved everyone a lot of grief.”