Posted: 7/19/2006 9:39:47 PM EDT
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If you've had sinus infections before, you might be able to get your doc to call in a scrip without even seeing you. Augmentin is the current catch-all. If I feel a sinus infection coming on, I hit suadfed, ibuprofen, guaifenisen, and lots of water. Oh yeah, and very hot showers, with the water on my face as much as possible. Another trick that sometimes helps is to alternate between pushing on the roof of your mouth really hard with your tongue, and then pushing on your forehead right between your eyes. It kind of flexes your skull a little bit, which can hasten drainage. Jim |
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Sinus irrigation would probably help you alot. Take a look at this thread: ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=478435&page=1 |
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I'm alergic to just about every 'standard' anti biotic.... between the Navy not wanting to pay for the exotic stuff, and being fearful of me getting sensitive to it (so they won't have it in their arsenal when it get 'really' sick), I rarely get anti-biotics... about once a year I'll get a killer sinus infection and be down (not able to fly) for about 2-4 weeks.... or occasionally more. I find what you are doing to be helpful (showers, steam, real sudaphed, etc). In addition I use menthal/eucalyptus based stuff to help clear it out. I've been perscribed Flonase and that can help some too when my sinuses aren't running like a faucet (but it takes like a week of daily use to kick in). My wife just bought a vaporizer for our little one... sniffing the vapors from it helped... But it does seem to take a good while and a lot of rest to kick those nasty sinus infections once they've set in and you don't got anti-biotics.... |
I should know better than to say a word (discussion about dairy products, current one on colon cleanses where I am seriously mis-understood and should just keep to quietly building AKs) but what the hell, somebody just about beat me to it. It's called Neti. Indian thing where you irrigate your sinus cavities and nasal passages. Ever really wonder what blowing your nose does? I don't think it does much to help anything, because I always seem to get a lot of snot out and a lot pushed way up inside my head. I want it ALL out. Huge syringe thing is good, or I take a 500 ml water bottle drill a hole in the top, put a tube in it (about 3/8 diameter) so it fits tight. Who cares if it leaks, your head has been leaking for days...the punch a small hole about 2 inches from the top of the bottle, on the side..this is your air vent and control of the pressure. So make up some flush water from non chlorinated, warm, slightly salted water. This is going in your already irritated mucus membranes, so it needs to be the right temp and Ph so it doesn't burn. It should be fairly warm, and I think the salt content is about 1/8 tsp per 500 ml (*** test it first to verify, if it's off by too much it will burn ***). Heat some water on the stove and put some in your mouth...if it burns let it cool until it seems about body temp. As for the salt, add tiny amounts until you can put a little in your nose and it does not burn. Ok now go drown yourself. Lean over a sink where your back is about parallel to the floor, you are facing straight down (this is not pretty, keep friends, loved ones, or anyone you care about out of the room because you are going to look very stupid). Insert tube into right nostril (wrap electrical tape around the tube if needed so you can insert it into the nostril with a decent seal without needing to hold it), hold the bottle in your right hand, put a finger over the air vent. Raise and tilt the bottle letting water go down the tube and into your nose, use the air hole to start and stop the flow, and the height of the bottle to increase pressure. The first time you will think you are going to die, but hang in there, once you get a pile of snot out you will feel incredible... The water should flow into your right nostril, fill up your sinuses, and flow out your left nostril. It's very strange, and you have to work at letting it flow. If it doesn't want to go, kind of snort and almost inhale. Hard to describe it, just mess with it until it goes. You might get a little down your throat, don't worry about it. Once you put about half the bottle through, reverse it by going in the left nostril and out the right. Once done, lean your head further over and exhale the rest out both nostrils. They say to do this gently...whatever works. Your nasal passages and sinused are filled daily with all the crap in the air. And this is the only way I have heard of to directly clean them out. If you have a head full of snot and you rinse it out, it's the best feeling in the world. I think doing this regularly would probably help those with recurring sinus problems, but I'm not a doc, so don't listen to me, seek professional help, always check with your doc before starting any hairbrain ideas you read on the net, blah blah blah. The Indians have a much more elegant way to snot flush: fancy snot flush with new age appeal |
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Not really a neti pot but a squeeze bottle that does the same thing. www.neilmed.com/ Grossan Nasal Wash System For people like me who have sinuses that are fubar, pulsitile irrigation is the only way to go. Grossan Hydro Pulse Sinus System For lots of info on sinusitis The alt.support.sinusitis FAQ |
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Irrigate. I just got over one. Things I've done before: 1. Get a squeeze bulb (kinda like a mini baster) and whip up something to irrigate. I've used strait water, saline, peroxide cut with water or saline. You can find different home brew formulas in hte internet. Flood sinuses and hold as long as you can stand it. 2. I scrub out a metal sink first with soap, then alchohol, and then peroxide. Then fill with wnough water or homebrew saling to be able to dunk and invert your head in it and still be able to breath thru your mouth. Let the water flood into your upper sinuses and hold as long as possible. Blow snot out and repeat a necessary. U might have to inhale a little to get water in if there's bad swelling or take afrin. #2 knocked mine out in about 2 days although there was a little lingering lung cheese from drainage while sleeping. |
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If you have a bacterial infection it would be best to see a doc for some antibiotics. After about 3 days of the meds things should start to clear up(but remember to take all of the pills) If it's just sinusitis antibiotics won't help. Also stay away from spary decongenstants. They have a rebound congestion effect and canmake sinusitis worse if used too much. |
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I have had luck with saltwater irrigation before. On a lark, I decided to try colloidal silver water and it seems to work even better. Usually I felt much better the next day, but if I didn't continue to irrigate for a couple more days, it would come right back. Have also read about tea-tree oil. |
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Douche your nose dude. It works for real. I've had sinus problems all of my life. After I started douching I haven't had a sinus infection in over two years now. I just use a little rubber suction bulb like I used to suction my kids noses out when they were little. It's very easy just to throw it in my shaving kit. Fill it up with warm saline, squirt it in your nose, hold your head back for a min or two then blow it out and repeat. Feels funny at first and if the water is too warm or cold or salty sometimes you sneeze but that ain't bad. You will not believe the kind of crap that comes out when you first start this. Now my snot runs clear and NO sinus infections ever. I think the machines might be even better but I travel a bit and it would be just another thing to have to keep up with. |
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Saline flushes are good. I haven't had a sinus infection in over 2 years since I started taking Oil of Oregano (Oreganol P73)--mostly likely at your local health food store. Or online. Couple of drops under the tongue----"love the burn"--opens everything up and kills the bad stuff. REALLY! |
HOLY CRAP you actually DID it ???? I was just kidding...  Seriously, it gets easier, and I hope you fell better. |
I suffer from chronic sinusitis, so I am a bit of an expert on sinus infections. Treating the root infection is priority one. If you go to the doctor, he will proscribe some sort of anti-biotic, usually a Z-Pak. For most people, that works fairly well. Unfortunately I have had so many sinus infections that Z-Paks don't do anything more than pez for me. Then the doc started giving me amoxycilin scrips. Anti-biotics, however, are NOT the best way to treat a sinus infection. They mess up your digestive system and kill a lot of the good stuff that lives in your body. Used too often they can lead to resistant bugs. The best way I have found to deal with sinus problems is with this:  It is a pulsatile nasal irrigator, essentially a roto-rooter device for your face. You simply take a packet of the Breathe-Ease XL powder (the breathe-ease works the best) and put it in the little tank, add some warm water (but not too warm. You don't want to shoot rocket hot water up your nose) put the end of the wand up your nose, lean over the sink and turn on the stream of water. When you breathe through your mouth and have your head positioned properly, the solution goes up through one nostril, into your sinuses, and then flushes out the other nostril. It feels wierd at first, but there is no better way to clean your sinuses. If you have trouble with allergies or chronic sinusitis then there is no better investment than one of these irrigators. Since buying one a few years ago, I haven't had a sinus infection since. I simply use the irrigator regularly, (every couple of weeks) and if I feel a sinus infection coming on I will use the irrigator three times a day which keeps my sinuses clear and gets the infection out before it has a chance to take hold. A doc will tell you that nasal irrigation is the BEST treatment for a sinus infection. There are a lot of doctor's offices that have units similar to this one in their office for just that kind of treatment. The pulsing action of the water jet on this model is a lot better than something like a netti pot because it actually causes the little cilia in your sinuses to eventually release all the gunk they are holding. You will know this is happening because five or ten minutes after you are done with the irrigator you will have water running out of your nose because the little cilia are releasing crud they held on to while you were irrigating. As far as treating the unpleasant symptoms (sore throat, runny nose, general feeling of ICK...) the best stuff I have found is Nyquil products. |
It most certainly DOES. Nasal irrigation alone can completely deal with an infection without requiring any anti-biotics. I learned this after I had so many sinus infections that a Z-Pak no longer had ANY effect on them. |
There is something called a Neti Pot that is sold usually at health food stores for about $20. It looks like a little teapot. You put warm water and about a tsp. of pickling and canning salt, mix and tilt your head over the sink and put the spout in one nostril and pour in and it comes out the other side. Reverse with the other nostril. It may take some getting used to but it really does a good job clearing sinuses and I think preventing sinus infections. |
 My wife had chronic sinus infections. She had one more often than she didn't. She went to the ear-nose-throat doc here, and he started her on this stuff called Alkalol. (It's over-the-counter, BTW.) I use it occasionally myself when I'm stuffed up. It's this stuff you can either snort up your nose, or if it's really bad, you can lean your head way back (I lay on my back on the bed and let my head hang back off the edge), and use an eyedropper to drop the stuff up my nose. It burns like hell the first couple of times you use it, but your nose will get used to it. Let it sit for a minute or three and blow it out. It cleans out your sinuses like no one's business. My wife hasn't had a sinus infection in two years now. |