MORE: 6 Things Your Mucus Says About Your Health Infection and inflammation of the sinuses can set in, a disorder called sinusitis. When you try to sleep, it’s as if you’ve sprung a slow leak. All night long, the drip, drip of nasal fluid trickles down your throat, sending you into coughing spasms. Pressure and pain around the face, teeth, or eyes, and often a headache and a thick green or yellow nasal discharge, are the hallmarks of acute sinusitis. You may run a fever as well. Acute sinusitis is usually caused by viruses or bacteria and can last a month or longer. If you get clogged up too many times, you may wind up with a permanent thickening of the sinus membranes and a chronic stuffy nose. Less common than acute sinusitis, chronic sinusitis is caused by allergies—especially to dust, mold, pollen, and certain fungi—or other conditions and typically lasts longer than 8 weeks. Doctors generally prescribe antibiotics to clear the infection if it’s bacterial. However, they often suggest you wait it out for a week. After 7 days, about three-quarters of sinus infections will improve without prescription medications, especially if the condition is mild, with only moderate pain and a fever of less than 100°F. If symptoms are the same or worse, or if they initially improve but then get worse, it’s a good sign that the infection is bacterial. In the meantime, you can take a number of steps to feel better. Try these sinusitis treatment methods, which doctors say will help unstuff your sinuses, reduce pain and pressure, and get the air flowing freely.
Get Steam On The Run
If stuffiness hits during the day when you’re at work or on the run, get a cup of hot coffee, tea, or soup, cup your hands over the top of the mug, and sniff, suggests Howard M. Druce, MD. It won’t work as well as a steam bath, but it will provide some relief.
Humidify Your Home
Running a humidifier in your bedroom prevents your nasal and sinus passages from drying out, says Bruce W. Jafek, MD. Just make sure you clean it once a week so that fungi don’t invade your humidifier. You can use either a cool-mist or a warm-mist humidifier. Jafek suggests starting with a cool-mist machine. Though the room won’t heat up like it would with a warm-mist unit, cool-mist machines may be safer because they won’t cause a burn if accidentally tipped, he says.
Try A Steam Shower
Put a few drops of eucalyptus oil on the floor of a hot, running shower. Inhale the steam. The humidity will help to keep the mucus flowing and your sinuses drained. Note: This could be slippery, so be careful getting into and out of the shower. Also, the room may become too hot for children. MORE: 6 Things Doctors Do Every Day
Moisturize
People complain of postnasal drip, but it is not a disease, says Hueston King, MD. Your nose provides nearly all of the moisture for your lungs and respiratory system. A healthy nose produces between 1 and 3 quarts of clear, watery mucus a day. But this moisturizing mucus decreases as we age. As it decreases, you notice the other type of nasal mucus more, the sticky nasal mucus that picks up contaminants and takes them to your throat where they are swallowed and destroyed by stomach acid. That mucus is what we call postnasal drip. To replace the lost moisturizing mucus, try Ponaris Nasal Emollient. (It’s so effective that it’s stocked on the space shuttle for the astronauts.) It comes as nose drops, but it works much better as a spray, so pour it into a nasal spray bottle and use as needed, says King.
Use Medicated Nasal Sprays Sparingly
Medicated nose sprays or drops, such as Afrin or Neo-Synephrine, are fine to use in a pinch, but frequent use of these products could actually prolong the condition or even make it worse, says Terence M. Davidson, MD. It’s what specialists call the “rebound effect.” Initially, the sprays shrink your nasal linings, explains Davidson. “But then the mucosa reacts by swelling even more than before, creating a vicious cycle of use. It can take weeks for the swelling to finally subside after you stop using the sprays.”
Get Some OTC Relief
Try over-the-counter decongestants such as Sudafed, pain relievers such as acetaminophen (Tylenol), and sinus-irrigating rinses (such as SinuCleanse) to feel better.
Apply Pressure
Rubbing your sore sinuses brings a fresh blood supply to the area and soothing relief, suggests Jafek. Press your thumbs firmly on both sides of your nose and hold for 15 to 30 seconds. Repeat.
Use Heat
Apply moist heat to tender sinuses, to ease sinus pain, Druce says. Place a warm washcloth over your eyes and cheekbones and leave it there until you feel the pain subside. It may take only a few minutes.
Eat An Anti-Inflammatory Diet
The foods you eat play a tremendous part in your health, says Martha Howard, MD. Avoid wheat and dairy products as much as possible. Instead, focus on fish, chicken, and fresh fruits and vegetables. As a bonus, eating this way keeps you from consuming processing chemicals, such as dyes and additives. This anti-inflammatory diet will help ease the systematic inflammation that is contributing to your sinus woes.
Bathe Your Nostrils Daily
To flush out stale nasal secretions, Jafek suggests using saline nasal sprays or drops, such as Breathe Right or Ayr. Or make your own solution by mixing 1 teaspoon of table salt with 2 cups of warm water and a pinch of baking soda. Pour the liquid into a squirt bottle or medicine dropper, tilt your head back, close one nostril with your thumb, and squirt the solution into the open nostril while sniffing. Then blow that nostril gently. Repeat on the other side. You can also use a mister to spray the solution into your nostrils, but keep your head in an upright position. MORE: Surprising Reasons You’re Always Congested Howard had a sinus infection since she was 6 years old, and got rid of it at age 66, using NeilMed Sinus Rinse. To use the rinse, add it to water. Lean over a sink and squeeze the squishy, plastic bottle containing the rinse so the solution goes up your nose, and then blow your nose. Because it contains baking soda (along with the salt that’s in most nasal rinses), it doesn’t burn your nostrils. She also uses a product called Neti Wash Plus with Zinc, which also contains echinacea and goldenseal, two herbs with mild, natural antibiotic action. Both products are available online and at drugstores.
Foods That Help With Sinusitis
The way to find sinus relief may be through your stomach—eating foods that make your eyes water or nose run will help burst through your sinus blockage, says Druce. Here’s what he recommends: Garlic: This pungent herb contains the same chemical found in a drug that makes mucus less sticky, says Druce. Horseradish: This pungent root contains a chemical similar to one found in decongestants, he says. The bottled variety works just fine. Cajun Spice Seasoning: You probably can’t go wrong if you order Cajun food. These spicy dishes are made with cayenne chile peppers, which contain capsaicin, a substance that can stimulate the nerve fibers and may act as a natural nasal decongestant. Other hot peppers contain this potent compound as well. Look for the smaller varieties. They’re usually hotter and have more capsaicin than the larger types—or use ground red pepper (cayenne) or other ground chile powders in cooking. MORE: Spicy Foods Can Increase Your Longevity, Too
When To Call A Doctor
If you’ve tried self-treatment for 3 to 4 days and still have sinus pain, pressure, and stuffiness, you need to see a doctor to help clear up the infection and drain your sinuses, advises Davidson. “Otherwise, your sinuses could abscess into your eye, or worse, into your brain.” You may also have chronic sinusitis, which can be a recurrent or prolonged disorder lasting for months or even years. Depending on the cause, you may need to take a longer course of antibiotics than for acute sinusitis, or undergo a sinus drainage procedure or surgery to break up the blockage. A sinus specialist can perform x-rays or other tests to discover what’s causing your congestion, be it bacteria, an obstruction such as polyps, allergies, untreated acute sinusitis, or a sensitivity to medications such as birth control pills or aspirin.
Panel Of Advisors
Terence M. Davidson, MD, is a professor of head and neck surgery and director of the Nasal Dysfunction Clinic at the University of California, San Diego, Medical Center. Howard M. Druce, MD, is a clinical professor of medicine in the division of allergy and immunology at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey/New Jersey Medical School in Newark. Martha Howard, MD, is medical director of Wellness Associates of Chicago, an integrative medicine center. Bruce W. Jafek, MD, is a professor in the department of otolaryngology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver. He served as chair of the department for 22 years before returning to clinical practice and teaching. Hueston King, MD, is a clinical professor of ear, nose, and throat at the University of Florida Medical School in Gainesville. He is also a retired ear, nose, and throat specialist in Venice, Florida.
