Healing Your Sinuses

I wrote this post in August, but for some unknown reason, I didn’t hit the Publish button then.

I started tackling my sinus headache problem back in March. My early strategies were based off article I read on various websites. Nothing too scientific. Well, I figured it was time to do something I should have done a lot earlier and that was read a book my a medical profession with expertise in the field.

Harvard Medical School Guide to Healing Your Sinuses (Harvard Medical School Guides)
Harvard Medical School Guide to Healing Your Sinuses (Harvard Medical School Guides) by Dr. Ralph Metson

I learned a few things from Healing Your Sinuses. The most important thing being that my self-experimentation is actually a good thing. The author recommends a step-wise approach starting with the simplest treatments first and then progressing to the most advanced. Two initial steps that do not require medical assistance are:

  1. Diet and Lifestyle
  2. Irrigation

Diet and lifestyle is the approach I am testing right now. Common irritants to the sinuses include smoking, alcohol, wheat, and milk. So this book validates my most recent 30 day test, which involves going dairy-free. This makes sense since I already know alcohol and wheat cause me to have sinus headaches.

For irrigation, I have been using the Neti Pot and experimenting with a sinus spray. The book states that irrigation is a highly effective strategy and I learned I could double the amount I’m currently using.

The rest of the book covers the over-the-counter medications, antibiotics, steroids, and surgery.

2 Comments

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  1. Huh, I hadn’t heard of the alcohol/sinus connection. I will have to keep that in mind!

  2. @Ali – Alcohol has always been hard on me. Beer (gluten) and those high in histamines (cider) are especially problematic. Vodka and gin seem to provoke the least response. I wish I found their taste interesting.

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