Home remedies for sinus problems

I’ve had a lot of sinusitis and a few sinus infections over the years. Unless it’s a bacterial sinus infection, there is nothing a doctor can do but advise you about over-the-counter and home remedies. Even if it is a bacterial infection, which in theory antibiotics should help, sometimes they don’t. Or sometimes they do, eventually, but they don’t help your symptoms in the mean time, so you still need some “home” and OTC help.

Know your enemy

Sinusitis is any kind of congestion, post-nasal drip, or runny nose situation that’s bothering you. It can also make your ears feel stopped up. We need a healthy amount of clear mucus running freely but not overflowing in order to keep our immune systems functioning. Sinusitis generally means you’re manufacturing too much mucus, or it’s too thick and therefore not flowing well. You can also have swollen sinus linings – I get these in my cheekbone (maxillary) sinuses sometimes. It feels like a pressure or even pain in your cheeks, but it’s not a mucus issue – it’s just an allergy or irritant causing the membrane linings to swell, which blocks air and mucus flow. (Amazingly enough, because this problem seems insurmountable if you’re going to the doctor and they can’t find anything wrong, etc., you can get some relief instantly by simply taking ibuprofen or any painkiller that reduces swelling. Then sniff salt water (explained below) several times a day until the swelling goes down.)

A sinus infection is more specific: it comes from bacteria or fungus getting into your sinuses and starting an infection. What any successful treatment must do is get the bacteria or fungus cleaned out – that’s what antibiotics are supposed to do. Once the offending microorganisms are gone, the congestion should break up on its own. Home remedies can sometimes both clean you out and break up the congestion, or you can use them to boost the effects of antibiotics, or you can use them strictly for congestion relief while you wait for the antibiotics to do their thing.

A general rule for telling sinusitis from an infection is whether your mucus is clear to white, or more colorful. If it’s more colorful, it’s more likely an infection. This is not a hard and fast rule at all, so don’t take it in place of actual professional medical advice.

Also, if you are using home remedies and you’re not getting any results (or are getting worse) after a few days, see a doctor.

Sinus home remedies from doctors

All of these tips came to me from doctors. Sometimes I was advised to do these things in addition to taking antibiotics. Sometimes I was told I didn’t need antibiotics and should just do these home remedies.

1. Sniff salt water. This is my #1 tip. Dissolve a little salt in a small amount of water. Get a few drops on the end of a teaspoon. Put it under one nostril (closing the other), and sniff it as far in as you can. Repeat with the other nostril. You can do this several times a day. You can do this when you’re feeling well to prevent problems. It’s just incredibly good for you.
2. Breathing steam. Humidity is helpful both in breaking up the congestion and helping your immune system clean out the bacteria or fungus. You can breathe steam in a shower, or run the hottest possible tap water into a plugged-up bathroom sink, then tent a towel over your head to keep the steam in, and breathe.
3. Drink lots of water, and then drink more, and ditch caffeinated drinks. I normally drink lots of water – I always hit that 64 ounce ideal we’re told to shoot for. Recently, I started drinking more coffee, which made me reduce my water intake without realizing it. I got sinusitis. I dumped coffee for a few days, switched to herbal teas, drank all the water I could stand, and started feeling better almost immediately.
4. Garlic! Garlic naturally fights both bacteria and fungus – something even antibiotics don’t do. Take garlic capsules or make hot steamy broths with garlic and drink them. This is my recipe – it uses hot sauce, which helps break up congestion.
5. Echinacea and Goldenseal. Yes, I have actually had “traditional” doctors recommend this herbal treatment, and personally, I’ve had great results: immediate symptom relief followed by the infection disappearing over a few days.  There’s no real “clinical” data to support using these herbs, but if you use them as directed, they should be safe, and the worst that could happen is nothing. (Unless you’re allergic to ragweed, in which case you should avoid its relative, goldenseal.)
6. Vitamin C. Again, I’m not sure there’s much clinical support for this one, but it’s thought to be the reason why orange juice was a traditional home remedy for sinus trouble. I find it helpful, especially if I start on it at the beginning of a sinus “cold.”
7. Over the counter medicine. The main trick with over the counter sinus meds is getting the right ones at the right time. If you get it wrong, you can go from a terminal runny nose to dried out sinuses, or massive congestion to brutal post-nasal drip. Pay close attention to your symptoms and read the backs of your medicine boxes/bottles to see what they’re supposed to do for you. As your symptoms shift, you may have to switch to a different medication to get the desired results. Remember: if you have an infection, these aren’t helping with the infection, just the congestion. I know it’s a lot of trouble, but if you’re a chronic sufferer, you might actually want to make some notes about how various medicines have affected various symptoms you had over the years. This will help you pick the right medicine in the future.

Bonus Tip

This one did not come from a doctor, but from a man I knew who worked in a call center. For a sore throat, mix about half a teaspoon of cayenne in some warm water and gargle it for up to a minute. It only burns when you spit it out (as it passes over your tongue), so I have a few drops of honey in a spoon ready as a chaser. Put that on your tongue and roll it around, then swallow it. Cayenne is naturally healing and so is honey – together, they really soothe your throat.

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Posted in Featured Articles, Health and Beauty on November 24, 2009