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Sinus Rescue

Some of us have been lucky not to have a sinus issue plaguing our every springtime, while others dread the loss of snow cover, and resent the tiny greenlings appearing out of winter's earth, because this presages sinus headaches, sneezing, runny noses, itchy eyes, fatigue, fuzzy headedness, dental pain, ear pressure and yet another miserable spring.

It is recommended that a "sinus" person start handling way before the snow disappears, say mid-March, but since most of us run around in "la-la-la" mode, thinking it won't happen again (like it has every single year since 4th grade...) most of us wait until the first sneeze and that's when the old frontal lobe kicks in with "OMG, it's sinus season." I have a few ideas for you:

First of all, like we wash our bodies, we must wash our noses. I prefer a glass to a Neti pot, because snuffing gets the salt water solution w-a-a-y up in the sinuses while a Neti pot just swirls it elegantly from one nostril to the other.

All you do is fill your small glass with the formula I will be giving you in a minute, lean over the sink, close one nostril and snuff up the water from the glass with the other. You will spit and blow stuff out of your nose and it's noisy and yucky, so do it while everyone is out of the house. Do both nostrils, of course, a couple of times.

Here is your formula: 3 oz of sea salt and 1 oz of bicarbonate of soda (the orange box with the arm on it  Arm & Hammer). Mix the powders up. Put in 1 level teaspoon of the mixed powders per cup of warm water, mix and snuff away. After you have cleaned your nose, do some rapid (as fast as you can) nose breathing for one minute to further clear. Do this first thing in the morning and if your sinuses are particularly bad, do it at night, too.

Secondly let me check you out for what kind of sinusitis you may have and muscle test to find the perfect supplements to help you. For example, your sinusitis could be fungal in origin and the most common nose fungus is aspergillus. Fungus, molds and yeast respond to different supplements than do bacteria or viruses, so it's important to know what we are dealing with. You may also have a bio-film in your sinuses, which just means that a lot of resistant bugs, or multi-layered microbial communities have happily attached themselves to your sinuses. Interlopers, for sure, living rent-free and trashing the joint. Washing your nose plus the targeted supplements will help rid you of your sinus bugs including the unwanted bio-film communities.

You could even be bug-free, but just have an allergic sinusitis, which means a hyper-histaminic reaction to whatever your personal reactor is. For example, when I lived in California, my personal reactor was acacia which bloomed in my front yard every February just in time for my birthday.

Is your chronic sinusitis caused by infection or allergy? They act pretty much the same and sometimes it's hard to separate and distinguish. However, our goal for any sinusitis remains the same and that is to 1) relieve nasal congestion and support elimination of mucus build up 2) improve immune function systemically and locally 3) resolve microbial and/or fungal infections 4) resolve inflammation of the mucus membranes 5) manage any allergic processes 6) tonify and strengthen mucus membranes.

Here are some other things you could try.

1. Take a shower before bed. Pollen can accumulate in your hair and on your body, so washing it off can help your sinuses clear and help you to sleep.
2. Stay inside during the peak pollen hours, which are 10 am to 4 pm. If you exercise, do it early in the morning or later in the afternoon.
3. Make sure you keep your pets clean and their coats short. Their coats just sop up the pollen, then you love 'em up and end up not only with lots of love back but with a huge sneeze attack and a runny nose. Keep them out of the bedroom, too.
4. Do a thorough cleaning of your windows, screens, furnace filters, rugs.
5. Go on an anti-inflammatory diet which means avoiding sugar and alcohol and upping your veggies and fruits. Your nose is already inflamed, so don't throw fuel onto the fire.
6. Limit dairy. Even if you are not sensitive to milk, all milk and the products from cows are mucus producers.

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