suggestions for fighting sinus congestion

along with

2. Benadryl - antihistimine (upside, drys out your head, makes you drowsy so you can sleep, downside, makes you drowsy)

along with

3. Zicam - zinc gel (upside, it may stave off sinus infections, downside, it may be an expensive placebo)

along with

4. Frequent use of saline solution - spray it in your nose, blow your nose. Upside, cleans out your nose, soothes the lining of the nose. Down side, none really. What's not to love about spraying water up your nose and blowing it out?

also, worse case scenario: hearing loss

I have mentioned it before, but I find nasal irrigation to be extremely helpful. However, I do this using warm salt water in a Waterpik machine, with a "Grossan tip" attachment. So you won't be able to use this method right away. (You turn the waterpik into the lowest setting, stick the attachment into one nostril, and the water pushes the mucous out the other nostril. Then you do the same thing from the other side.) You can do this by trying to inhale water from your hands, as well, but I never found that worked for me. Do not try nasal irrigation if you are truly completely clogged up and basically can't breathe through your nose.

You can try inhaling steam. Boiling eucalyptus leaves and then inhaling that steam has gotten results for me, but it will destroy the pan you boil them in.

In addition to a decongestant, you can try a mucous thinner.

Would you be referring to the "Canada" thread, by any chance?

I wouldn't normally have posted about something this "me me me" in orientation but I know others on this board have had sinus problems before (Ned had a good thread once I remember), and I thought it would be a good place to compile these rememdies for future reference.

(x-post I have pollen allergies but also mold allergies, which is what's messing with me right now)

And yeah I'm kinda avoiding milk right now as I'm of the body/blood type where my body turns it into mucus rather readily.

put lemons, lemon juice, chilli, and fresh ginger in boiling water, drink, pour more water on the dregs

I have sinus problems almost constantly, but they've never been able to get it to go away completely with medication (also: no medical insurance, so they can't do all that much). So my doctor told me to start taking 60mg tablets of pseudoephedrine (100 for $5 at the school pharmacy), and that helped out a ton. Plus, I lost about fifteen pounds.

Also, what teeny said. That sort of thing does seem to help, at least temporarily.

I remind you, as well, that all types of smoke can irritate the sinuses.

Also: miso soup (no not thru the Waterpik thing), and sushi with MUCH wasabi.

I used to have some bubble bath with much eucalyptus & mint & stuff in it, specifically for hot steamy baths at such times -- have NO idea where you'd find that, though.

Oh wait, you said "sinus" congestion. sorry.

Then, two weeks later, it came back IN SPADES - full on chest blech, soreness all over, whopping sinus headaches, lots of raspy wet coughing followed by the egression of nasty looking blobs from various holes. Called doctor, gave him the skinny, asked for the good stuff, was given a prescription for Zithromax. Five doses for $70 (as I have no health insurance) - TOTALLY WORTH IT. For two days, before I got the pills, I felt like someone was filling me up with disease every night, making me stiff and sore and sweaty (and not in a good way). After the Zithromax kicked in, stuff cleared up nicely and quickly. I also used some Day & Nyquil - the Nyquil definitely helped at night. Also, the first night I took the antibiotics, I had some chili from Wendy's - that helped, too. And I drank like a fish, mostly water (though I didn't drink any hot liquids until Day 3, when I had lots of tea AND a big bowl of chicken broth). By Day 5, I was 90% OK, and ready to go back to work! Good thing I got sick on the weekend!

Sudafed works. Steam works (I don't bother with eucalyptus). Sometimes one dose of steam (I only do about five minutes) and then a second one a few hours later is enough to do the trick. After steaming you could put some saline in there to really loosen it up. Be careful with the saline though, because bottle can get infected by touching your nose.

Errr, what the fuck??? Surely the opposite of what you want? Do you not have sick-pay in America?

Anyway.

WASABI:

Is not a good cure, it gives a sensation of clearing the sinuses, but it actually makes them worse.

Many people don't, no. And some who do get it docked out of their vacation. Fuck America.

Really? It doesn't have that effect on me, thankfully. I don't get nauseous easily.

I wonder if there's a yogic blackhead removal technique.

My mum had constant sinus infections up until about last year, when antibiotics simply stopped being effective and her GP prescribed acupuncture. It's meant to have a relatively high success rate and it worked for her. I have also found the Nasonex spray to be effective.

I use saline solution like a motherfucker. Ready to try Sudafed.

Hot drinks. Hot spicy soup. Burn the fucker out. (by which I mean the clog)

We used a big-ass vaporizer in my childhood, but I'm not buying one.

What about vicks vapo-rub. Smells so nice too, before you go to bed.

ugh, another kiddie touchstone

Stick head over boiling teapot, then stick head in freezer (since it's not cold outside anymore). Hot/cold/hot/cold is supposed to help babies with the croup, maybe it'll work on you too?

I don't do it but I'm getting all nostalgic. I swear by hot drinks. Honey and lemon esp. Drink it quick, get a tissue.

Don't kid yourself, Morbs, we are ALL babies when we're sick.

COLD, sore throat on top of sinus shit.

Also none of the above is working very well.

Then stick with none of the above.

uh, ha ha?

ok, not so funny.

Generally, when a cold virus is active, you're going to have a lot of mucus. Decongestants work some, but they do it by shriveling your mucus mebranes, which is mighty harsh. Your call.

The sore throat may be a bacterial infection starting. A simple salt-water gargle may help with that. A good clue about the presence of bacteria is the color and consistency of your phlegm. Yellow is bad. Green is very bad. The more solid it is, the worse it is, too.

Bacteria can relocate further down and give you bronchitis or bacterial pneumonia. Ginger and lemon tea is nice for its antibacterial propoerties as it bathes your throat.

Aspirin, acetominophen or ibuprofen for the pain.

Don't expect miracles. You're sick.

When I had will-to-live-crushingly-painful sinusitis a few years ago, I switched from decongestants to an expectorant. I had been on some serious antibiotics for some time without entirely killing the beast and it was only when i switched that it started to help.

thx, I'm on expectorants at the moment. Not going near antibiotics.

My approach is basically sinus shock and awe. Eat some garlicky food, drink two big glasses of water and then steam yourself while sucking a Halls. Repeat.

Breathing exercises: breathe in through nose, hold, breathe out through mouth.
Also: half pint of orange juice first thing in the morning before eating/drinking anything else. Coffee/hot drinks to liquify the snot.

Oh, and sleeping with a raised pillow.

1/5 apple cider vinegar, 4/5 warm water, sprayed up the nose two or three times a day. It stings a little, but really help open things up. I hope this speeds up the process. This is the most disgusting sickness I ever had. The constant gooey yellow smell of death is testing my patience.