Posts tagged sinus care

Natural medicine may aid your dry sinuses.

When it comes to the sinuses, the most common issue seems to be excess mucus. When the sinuses aren’t acting as they should and sinusitis (a sinus infection) is experienced, it generally leads to mucus overproduction and this can be a difficult issue to live with. However, as many will tell you, dry sinuses are an equally difficult problem.

During the colder months especially, we tend to look towards artificial sources of heat to stay warm. With a pellet stove, for example, we’ve found a solution that keeps costs to a minimum while also not getting too hot for any children or pets in the house. However, one of the biggest benefits of this system is also one of its greatest downfalls.

Back in the day, people would keep a pot of water on the stove to keep moisture in the air. Today, we’re doing the opposite because the stoves are sucking all the moisture from the room for every second they’re working away. For many, this lack of humidity dries the sinuses and causes all sorts of problems as a result.

Is This a Problem?

First and foremost, having dry sinuses is unpleasant so it quickly becomes uncomfortable. The longer the problem goes untreated, the bigger it becomes. Additionally, the sinuses need moisture because bacteria, fungi, and viruses are normally kept at bay by a protective layer of mucus. If this mucus has disappeared, the protection does the same and the sinuses are left vulnerable.

As you may know, this all leads to many problems, one of the biggest being a lack of smell. At first, people tend to attribute the loss of smell to something else because they can’t imagine that a stove (or any other source of artificial heat without the ability to keep moisture in the air) would cause the damage. Soon enough, a medical professional will assess their sinuses and find the problem.

Over the years, people have developed their own solutions for this issue and we have three of the most popular here today. If one doesn’t work for you, try another because the theory behind them is very positive!

• Anti-Fungal Tea: If you’re suffering from a dry nose or dry sinuses, your liquid intake should be increased anyway so long as the liquid is water or any other responsible drink. If you can get your hands on it, there’s also anti-fungal tea and this just might prove to be a fantastic addition to your diet.Known as calendula tea, it comes from the orange calendula flower and offers all sorts of advantageous properties. For example, it acts as an anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, and antiseptic solution. Alone, the tea should start to improve your sinuses but it becomes even more valuable when partnered with some herbs of your choosing.Since all the ingredients are natural, you can have this tea two or three times in a single day and you should notice a change to your breathing as the day goes on. If this doesn’t work, play around with the herbs you’re using or move on to another suggestion.
• Steam Inhalation and Room Humidifiers: As we addressed earlier, they had a simple solution back in the day and it came from a pot of water. Therefore, why not take from their lead and do the same thing? Nowadays, the market holds some fantastic room humidifiers (and even whole home humidifiers!) to add moisture to the air.If you feel comfortable, you could even try steam inhalation in combination with a neti pot. Before we get ahead of ourselves, steam inhalation is where you hold your face as close to hot water as possible. With a towel over your head to increase the intensity, the idea is to inhale the steam without getting so close you harm yourself. To improve the results, add some essential oils whether this comes from tea tree oil, eucalyptus, lemon, or peppermint. As a starting point, this steam should make the walls of the sinuses a little softer (and looser).From here, you can finish with a neti pot and this is a small container used to rinse any debris you may have from the nasal cavity. With a simple saltwater solution, you leave your sinuses in a great position to become healthy once again.
• Anti-Bacterial Tincture: If you want to fight infection and improve your sinuses, we recommend echinacea and boneset as a two-herb tincture. With a little of the tincture added to water, this should allow you to fight active infection. If you’ve never made a tincture previously, there are plenty of guides online that’ll show you how to get it right.

Summary

Regardless of which solution you try first, we urge you to keep going even if you don’t see any results the first time. Over the many years of people suffering with this issue, all three of these solutions have fantastic support in the community so they’re worth your persistence. Typically, you’ll notice a change within a few days and you don’t have to contend with the loss of smell any longer!