Sometimes Sinus Infection symptoms can last much longer than the cold or allergies that precipitated them, becoming chronic, and the medical treatments can be unappealing (time off work for repeated doctor’s visits, repeated courses of antibiotics, surgery, more antibiotics, and then a pile of bills)—so you may want to seek a Sinus Infection home remedy. It can be painful or just irritating to constantly deal with Sinus Infection symptoms—but like many, you may also be reluctant to seek mainstream treatments, when antibiotics are already over-prescribed, to treat your Sinus Infection. Natural treatments, or home remedies, are effective at reducing the time it takes you to recover from Sinusitis, and can even cure chronic Sinus Infection symptoms.
Your sinuses are the cavities in your face, your nose, cheek bones, and above your eyes. You may suspect you or your child has Sinusitis because of the following symptoms:
- A long lasting “head coldâ€
- Chronic congestion, with mucus that is gray-green or yellow (this alone does not indicate infection)
- Pain or Pressure in your Sinuses
- Post-nasal drip, which may also cause a sore throat
- Nausea, or Vomiting (children are more prone to gag on mucus in their throats)
- A Cough
- Bad Breath
- Difficulty smelling or tasting
- Fever
- Fatigue
- Headache
Except in severe cases antibiotics will likely not be prescribed, and you have to wait out the symptoms. Improving your immune system, as well as choosing to speed along recovery with a natural home remedy, can help.
If your symptoms last for more than 8 weeks, it is Chronic Sinusitis. Depending on the severity and the amount it interferes with your life (headaches, doctor visits), your doctor may suggest more severe treatments such as surgery. In sinus surgery they clean out and drain your sinus cavities—in cases of severe Chronic Sinusitis this may be done multiple times over the course of years.
If you gently touch your sinuses, under and above your eyes, as your doctor would, you can gauge your infection—pressure indicates mucus build up, and pain often indicates an infection.
Sinusitis can be caused by allergies, an infection, particularly a respiratory infection such as a cold, or structural problems with the nose, either that it is too narrow, or that you have a deviated septum. Surgery to correct the structure of the nose may help keep Sinusitis from recurring, but surgery is not for everyone.
An easy and effective Sinus Infection home remedy is to irrigate your sinuses. Irrigating is similar in goal to that of sinus surgery, to remove built up mucus that’s allowing infectious bacteria or viruses to grow. For instructions on how to perform a sinus flooding procedure, see here.
Further, if you are prone to Sinus Infections, because of a deviated septum/narrow passageways, irrigating on a regular basis may help prevent future infections.
Untreated Sinus Infections can last for years and may lead to more complicated infections such as meningitis, and bone or eye infections. If you have severe symptoms and no treatment has worked for you, consult your doctor about your options.
