The Road Home

The Road Home
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Monday, September 8, 2014

Is Your Head Stuffy?

I do my best not to use medications for my stuffy sinuses. There are times that I'm okay, but many times my sinus cavities are just stuffy, and if I don't take care of them, I am very prone to sinus infections, even after surgery to decrease that problem. For a number of years I used over the counter medications such as Sudafed (before the clamp down because of use to make Methamphetamine), Muscinex (which works well, but affects my whole body), and Flonase (Fluticasone, generic prescription) which is a steroid nose spray. It was just easier to take a pill or inhale a mist than to try something different.

We had a great ENT (Ear, nose and throat doctor) in Alaska that introduced us to a sinus wash. The air in Alaska is very, very dry and that made us even more prone to sinus infections, since it tended to really dry out our nasal passages. Once we started using the sinus wash, it helped a lot. 

There are several different types of sinus wash techniques. The Neti Pot has been around for a long time. It's not something we have tried, even though for a while, Frank just used a bowl of saline in the shower. Once I got used to the really weird feeling of squirting water up my nose, I prefer a sinus wash bottle. It is simple, quick and effective.

The first sinus wash bottle we bought had individual packets to mix in each application. When we realized the contents were salt and baking soda, we started mixing our own. Before we used the last packet, we measured the contents. A slightly heaping 1/4 teaspoon works just fine. So now we fill a little bowl with salt and add a pinch of baking soda.

The directions for use are printed on the bottle. This is our backup, just in case the original one finally bites the dust. We have been using it for nine years. After each use, we rinse it with hot water. One thing we learned was to leave the bottle sitting upright with the lid off between uses, just for air circulation. Periodically, it can be cleaned with a vinegar solution. When cleaning, a narrow tube cleaning brush works on the straw portion and a regular bottle brush works well on the bottle.

A friend asked me if we used sterile water when we mixed up the solution. Our ENT indicated tap water is fine for this procedure, even following sinus surgery. I use warm water as close to body temperature as possible. Cold water just doesn't seem to work as well.

After we started using the sinus wash we found out that a young lady we knew swore by them. She was a very active, athletic young woman that had serious allergies and asthma. Once she discovered and started using a sinus wash, she had fewer asthma attacks and was able to decrease the medication she was taking for these two issues. She found that washing out the irritants that kicked up her allergies not only helped alleviate some of those symptoms, but in turn, decreased her asthma reactions as well. I don't know if this would be the case for others since I do not have any serious allergies, or suffer from asthma, but I did think it was very interesting.

Using a sinus wash instead of pills or nose spray, is a little more work and not always convenient. It is definitely easier to swallow a pill or squirt a mist in my nose. But in our efforts to decrease our chemical intake, this is a low-tech, no medication option. And along those lines, when the time comes when we don't have easy access to the plethora of over the counter medications, this may be a very important option. If we have access to water and salt, we can treat allergies, sinus congestion, colds and any other ailment that comes along to decrease the air flow in our nasal passages. Is it a cure all? No. Is it a sustainable way to help increase our health without bombarding our bodies with yet more chemicals? Yes. Happy breathing.

Until next time - Fern

16 comments:

  1. Hi Fern, I use a neti pot occasionally and I make sure to boil (and cool) my water first out of an abundance of caution. There have been cases of amoebic brain infections caused by tap water use in neti pots. You can find articles with a google search.

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    1. I have heard the same thing from others, Sara. When we checked with our doctor who originally recommended the sinus wash, he indicated tap water was fine, so that is what we have used all these years, in many different locations, without any adverse affects. Thank you for sharing your technique.

      Fern

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  2. And for a related problem, involving runny noses and the coughing that results from same, having a teaspoon of unpasteurized honey daily from a local source truly works for my husband, who suffered badly for about eight years after we moved from the western part of the country to the South. He takes it with a spoonful of organic apple cider vinegar in water, also said to have healing properties.

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    1. I used to drink local honey and cider vinegar in a little warm water everyday for arthritis, C.M. I had to quit when the vinegar starting hurting my teeth. We have always tried to keep a stock of local honey.

      Last night I realized my stuffiness was actually turning into a cold, yuck.... So this morning I have added garlic/honey (there is a post on it under Herbal Things) and herbal tea with chamomile, meadowsweet and Lemon Zinger to my routine. Unfortunately, I have also had to add in the nasal spray and Muscinex. I'm glad we still have access to the over the counter medication when we need it. Thank you very much for sharing your remedy.

      Fern

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    2. Fern, I was pretty sure you'd know about raw honey, but thought someone less familiar with home remedies might benefit. I do hope you get over this cold quickly and feel better soon. I wonder if you could grow elderberry where you live? I think that's what we bought in tincture form that is supposed to help with colds, etc.

      And congratulations on the new stove!

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    3. I planted my first elderberries last year, C.M., and this year found a couple of wild patches. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to harvest until most of them were gone, but I got a few and made about half a cup of elderberry syrup. I haven't tried any yet. Since there is so little, I wanted to save it, in case one of us came down with something worse than this mild cold. Good advice, thank you. Keep it up.

      Fern

      P.S. The stove is working great!

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  3. Hi, Fern. I, personally, do not suffer with any allergy problems but my DH sure does. He and his son. Have you every heard of drinking a mullein tea? It sure works quickly (so they tell me) and tastes good as well.

    Here is a little info on it. You can go to many websites for further info, including WebMD.com. Hope this is a help to you and some of your readers. Again, MANY thanks for all you and Frank do to help us all along. Also, so thankful Frank is healing well and is wise to take it easy for some time yet. Marilyn in SW MO

    Mullein is a biennial, taking two years to complete its growing cycle. The large, fuzzy, sage-green leaves grow low to the ground the first year and are quite unmistakable; the second year the plant sends up a tall flowering spike that can reach six feet or more in height. HERBAL PROPERTIES AND USES: Medicinally, mullein is a demulcent, emollient and astringent herb. While the whole plant holds mild sedative/narcotic properties, the leaves and flowers are useful for treating conditions of the chest, lungs and bowels. Moreover, it may aid in calming cough and reducing the symptoms of asthma and spasmodic coughs in general.

    The tiny hairs that make the leaves soft and fuzzy can be irritating so any teas must be strained and filtered carefully to remove the hairs. Leaves should be harvested during the first year of growth.

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    1. Marilyn, I have read about mullein and we have some growing wild on our place. I have kept an eye out for it, but I have never harvested or used it. Picking, preserving and using it is somewhere on my long list of things to do. Thank you for providing this detailed information for all us.

      Fern

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  4. My wife has used the squeeze bottle for six months now, after major sinus surgery. She also uses the packets in the water. The dr told her to use distilled water, and cold out of the tap was preferable to heating it. We had been heating it in the microwave for a few minutes.
    Maybe because our tap water is heavily chlorinated was the reason he told her to use distilled. Anyway, after 6 months of 3 times a day, which came after very complicated sinus surgery, she is finally well. She'd had a very stubborn sinus infection since last September.
    Jeff in OK (Norman)

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    1. Thank you for sharing this, Jeff. I hadn't heard of a recommendation for cold water, I always feel like warm does a better job. I will have to try that and see if it makes a difference. I'm glad your wife is not suffering with the infection anymore and has healed up. It is miserable to have a continuous sinus infection or just constant, serious congestion.

      Fern

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  5. At the first sign of a cold (sore throat, weird sinuses) we start spraying colloidal (ionic) silver in our throats. This knocks it out within two days.

    Bob
    III

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    1. I have heard of people using colloidal silver, Bob, but not of spraying it in your throat. This is good to know, thank you.

      Fern

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  6. I swear by Sambucol (a brand of elderberry juice usually found in a health food store - a bit pricey but worth it). First sign of a sniffle - I double down on it, and 98.9% of the time whatever was trying to jump on me, goes away! Plain elderberry juice works as well, but I don't always have access to it. ~Sassafras

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    1. I hadn't heard of Sambucol, Sassafras. I have a very small amount of elderberry syrup I was able to make this summer, and hope to be able to make a whole lot more next year. Thank you for the new information.

      Fern

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  7. I have used a sinus rinse for many years. The best additive I have found was recommended by an ENT, and I've since gotten all of my family members using it as well. It's called Alkalol, and is essentially similar to a liquid Vicks VapoRub. I add a few ounces of it to my sinus rinse, and also carry some in a spray bottle to help loosen stuff up when my allergies are bad. It is over-the-counter, but I've found that you often have to ask the pharmacist for it, as they keep it behind the counter. I'm not sure why.

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    1. I hadn't heard of this additive before. Thank you for sharing it with us.

      Fern

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