4 Sinus Home Remedies Recommended By A Doctor

When you have a sinus infection, it can be difficult to find a way to relieve your symptoms. Sinus infections come with pressure, congestion and pain. These infections can last for several days and leave you feeling miserable. Thankfully, there are many things you can do to ease the pain of a sinus infection and even shorten the time you’re sick!

By trying different home remedies, you’ll be able to find what works best for you. If nothing seems to get rid of your sinus infection, an ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctor can get you feeling your best in no time!

What is a Sinus Infection?

If you frequently get sinus infections, chances are you’re familiar with the unpleasantness of it but don’t know what causes it. The sinuses are air-filled spaces inside the cheekbones, forehead and nose. They help keep your nose clean by producing mucus. However, if these channels fill up with liquids, then you get a sinus infection.

These infections can be caused by viruses or bacteria. The symptoms of a sinus infection include headache, pressure above eyes and cheeks, tenderness on touching around eyes and nose area, congestion of mucous membrane around nostrils with yellowish discharge, blocked sensation in one side of face and forehead ache at night that gets better with steam inhalation or after sneezing.

Steam Inhalation

You can try steam inhalation to provide much-needed relief from sinus pain. Steaming is an age-old method of clearing up the sinuses and opening the airways blocked with mucus. You can add a few drops of eucalyptus oil or peppermint oil in a pot of hot water, and then inhale the steam to soothe the mucus membrane and provide quick relief from sinus pain.

You can also make a tea with ginger, green tea, licorice root and turmeric. Add a few drops of lemon juice to it to make it more potent and place a pot of hot water containing the herbal tea near you as you sit with your head over a bowl of hot water.

Essential Oils

Some essential oils are great for relieving sinus infections. Eucalyptus and peppermint oils are great choices. You can inhale the oil by putting it in a diffuser, which mixes the oil with boiling water and releases steam into the air. Diffusers are sold in most home decoration stores and can be easily ordered online. You can also rub a small amount of the oil on your skin.

Essential oils have many healing properties. You can try several oils and see which one works best for alleviating your sinus infection, just make sure they are food-grade and well made.

Nasal Irrigation

Another method for healing a sinus infection is nasal irrigation. In this method, you will flush your sinuses with saline solution. This helps your sinuses drain and therefore helps your sinus infection go away. There are products in stores and online that help you make this process easier. Your local drugstore will have them, as well as any online manufacturer. This method can sound uncomfortable, but you will barely feel it and it will relieve some of the symptoms of your sinus infection as well as promote healing.

Over-the-Counter Medication

A sinus infection can also be caused by inflammation. Therefore, it’s a good idea to take some over-the-counter medication. These will help bring the inflammation in your sinuses down so that they can drain the stuck fluid much more easily.

These types of medications will also help you feel more comfortable while your sinus infection is healing by alleviating some of the pain and pressure. You can get these types of medication from any pharmacy without a prescription, meaning that this is an easy solution to your infection that you can get quickly and easily.

What If My Sinus Infection Won’t Go Away?

Sometimes, home remedies aren’t strong enough to help you get rid of a sinus infection. You don’t want the pain and uncomfortable feelings of sinus problems to bother you for a long time. Therefore, if your sinus infection seems to stick around or you aren’t getting the relief you need from home remedies, you should go to an ear, nose and throat specialist. An ENT will instruct you on the best ways to cure your sinus infection and will prescribe you medicine to help the infection go away.

Sinus infections are no fun. Thankfully, there are many ways to deal with them! If you have sinus problems that just won’t go away or are worrying you, contact Vero ENT Associates at (772) 408-9556 so that you can feel better in no time.