At first glance, a seemingly harmless malaise, if not treated in time, can lead to further inflammation of the sinuses adjacent to the nose (maxillary, frontal, ethmoid, and sphenoid sinuses). The patient suffers from constant headaches, nasal congestion, shortness of breath, and a feeling of pressure in the sinus and frontal sinus area.
Usually, antibiotics are prescribed for acute sinusitis in both adults and children to prevent complications. Untreated or, worse, untreated sinusitis can progress to chronic sinusitis. Therefore, it is very important to treat this condition in a timely manner. In addition to medication, there are many home remedies for treating sinusitis.
General principles of sinusitis treatment
How and what you treat sinusitis depends on your choice. However, it is necessary to know the general principles of successful treatment of this disease, whether it is traditional or non-traditional medicine.
At the first signs of the disease, it is necessary to completely refrain from outdoor walks for 3-4 days. It is better to stay at home in the warmth during these days.
It is necessary to rinse the nose several times a day, perform various inhalations, warm the areas around the nose, and take hot baths for hands and feet. It is essential to dress warmly, especially for your feet.
It is necessary to constantly take prescribed medications and various remedies recommended by folk medicine.
Treatment with folk remedies
For centuries, folk medicine has developed many effective remedies for treating various diseases. In this article, we will focus on the topic of treating sinusitis with folk remedies. From the recipes provided below, you can choose the most suitable ones for you.
Steam inhalation over boiled potatoes in their jackets is a very good remedy. To do this, pour out the water in which the potatoes were boiled, and place the saucepan on low heat for one minute to allow the remaining liquid to evaporate. Then remove the saucepan from the heat and inhale the steam, covering your head with a towel. This procedure usually lasts from 15 to 20 minutes. After such inhalation, it is necessary to clean your nose well and lie down in a warm bed, covering your face with a dry towel until it cools completely.
A wonderful remedy for treating sinusitis at home is steam inhalation with Vietnamese balm “Зірочка”. For this, just dip a matchstick tip of this balm into a saucepan with boiling water. Cover yourself with a towel and breathe in as deeply as possible. This inhalation is sufficient for 5-7 minutes. After inhalation, the same recommendations as in the first recipe are applied.
Menthol, finely chopped garlic, can be used for inhalations, either dissolved in hot water or used in its raw form. Phytoncides contained in this fragrant product are very effective for sinusitis.
Hot compresses on the nasal sinuses are very effective in treating acute and chronic sinusitis with folk remedies. Such compresses can be made:
• from boiled hard-boiled eggs, wrapped in cloth to prevent burns;
• from heated sea salt and regular river sand placed in special bags;
• from black radish juice mixed with vegetable oil. Such a compress is applied to the sinuses, covered with polyethylene film, and then with something warm.
• from rye flour and honey, two cakes are made, heated in a “water bath”, and applied to the sinuses. They are covered with polyethylene, and then with something warm.
All compresses are recommended to be kept for 20-30 minutes, after which the face should be covered with something warm until it cools completely. It is better, of course, if the patient is lying down during this time.
Nasal rinsing with various solutions is very effective in treating sinusitis at home. The main thing is that during such rinsing, the procedure should be repeated several times for each nostril. To do this, draw the healing solution as far as possible into one nostril (the other should be held closed), then allow it to flow freely, and blow your nose.
For such rinses, it is good to use the following solutions:
• with warm mineral water from which gases have been released beforehand;
• with sea salt;
• with an infusion of blackcurrant leaves, sage, chamomile, St. John’s wort, plantain, calendula;
• with a water solution of sea salt and iodine, taking no more than 2-3 drops of iodine to avoid burning the mucous membrane;
• with weakly brewed green tea, which has excellent bactericidal properties;
• with a weak solution of potassium permanganate (here, however, special care must be taken to ensure that the crystals are completely dissolved. To do this, the solution should be left to stand first, after which it should be very carefully poured into another container);
• with a water infusion of propolis.
As for nasal drops, folk medicine suggests:
• juice of Kalanchoe and aloe: it is enough to instill 2-3 drops in each nostril;
• the juice of the above-mentioned plants can be mixed with a little honey, which has excellent bactericidal properties;
• juice of boiled (not raw) red beets;
• garlic drops prepared in olive oil (for this, 5-6 drops of garlic are taken for 25 grams of oil, everything is thoroughly mixed and used 2 drops in each nostril.
Instead of drops, ordinary cotton swabs can be used, moistened and applied to the inside of the nasal sinuses.
Homemade healing nasal ointments are excellent folk remedies for treating sinusitis. Here are a few recipes for making such ointments:
• 0.5g camphor and menthol, 3g regular iodine, 30g glycerin mixed. Apply as a regular ointment 2-3 times a day;
• 0.5g menthol, 25g glycerin, 5-7 drops of garlic;
• 0.5g menthol, 1/3 teaspoon honey and 20g baby cream. It is good if you alternate these ointments throughout the day, using either nasal drops or nasal ointments.
For any cold-related illnesses, including sinusitis, hot foot baths with mustard are considered a good folk remedy. After them, you don’t need to rinse your feet. It is enough to wipe them dry and put on warm socks, which can be additionally filled with dry mustard, which will warm your feet throughout the night.
Treatment of acute, chronic purulent, and allergic sinusitis, as well as any other disease, will be successful only if you use several recipes at once and do it systematically, not forgetting, and most importantly, not being lazy.
Sinusitis: Prevention
In order not to get this extremely unpleasant disease, any person, especially prone to frequent colds, needs to prevent this disease by hardening their body (wiping with a cold towel, taking contrast or cold showers, etc.), as well as strengthening the immune system.
Only in this case, you can avoid any cold-related illnesses.