It’s been known since the last century that antibiotics have been proven to not help you recover from a sinus infection (sinusitis) any faster than a placebo. Still, Americans spend nearly $6 billion every year on health care costs related to sinusitis, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Imagine if you could put some of that money back into your pocket and address a sinus infection from a foundational level.
How Sinus Infections Occur
Sinus infections occur when the mucous membranes in your nose and sinuses become irritated by a cold, allergy, pollutants or exposure to dry or cold air. This leads your membranes to become inflamed while stimulating your mucous glands to secrete more mucus than usual. As mucus accumulates in your sinuses, it can easily become infected.
But this is all on the surface.
All infections, including sinusitis, appear when certain health principles, such as eating a healthy diet, dealing with stress, and taking time to relax, are not followed.
This dampens the strength of your immune system and allows bacteria and fungus (another primary cause of sinus infections) to take hold in your nose and sinuses. And when it does, you can be left battling fatigue, sinus pressure, post-nasal drip, and thick mucus making it difficult to breathe.
Top Ways to Avoid Getting a Sinus Infection
- Avoid eating sugar or grains.
- Consume good quality krill or fish oil, high in omega-3 fats DHA and EPA.
- Eat coconut oil. Coconut oil is rich in lauric acid, which is known for being antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal.
- Avoid eating these top 10 food additives.
- Get proper sleep.
- Get regular exercise.
If you suffer from sinus infections and other sinus issues often, I highly recommend you also look into the emotional origins of this problem.
Emotions are directly tied to your physical health, and new advances in this field are allowing us to pinpoint very precisely which emotional challenges are spurring your physical ones.
For instance, Dr. Ryke Geerd Hamer, the creator of German New Medicine, has shown that sinus problems are triggered by an emotional “stink conflict,” which could be a severe emotional reaction to an actual odor, or a symbolic feeling that “this situation stinks!”
The sinus infection occurs once you have resolved the emotional conflict, and is actually a part of your body’s healing process. So please do take the time to get to the bottom of any emotional problems that are ailing you.
Natural Treatments for Sinus Infections
If you’ve already come down with a sinus infection, you now know that antibiotics are probably not the answer. Taking them is unlikely to speed your recovery, and will definitely contribute to the growing problem of antibiotic-resistance.
Fortunately, there is a full arsenal of tools available at your fingertips that will soothe your symptoms and get you on the road to recovery.
- Drink hot liquids, such as tea or hot chicken soup. It will help moisturize your mucous membranes, speeding up the movement of your cilia and thus washing mucus out of your sinuses more quickly.
- Apply warm compresses to your face, three times a day for five minutes. A small towel soaked in warm water, placed over your face below and between your eyes, will help increase the circulation in your sinuses, which will also help speed up the movement of your cilia.
- Irrigate your sinuses. Make sure you use a saline solution that does not contain benzalkonium. Benzalkonium is a preservative that can impair nasal function and might sting and burn. To make your own preservative-free saline solution, add one teaspoon of table salt to one pint of distilled water. Netti pots are readily available and can help facilitate nasal irrigation.
This article was brought to you by Dr. Mercola. Founder of the world's #1 natural health site.
