Got Allergy? Don’t Get a Sinus Infection

 

 

This spring promises to be the worst allergy season of all, according the the American College of Allergy. This is because when you have  excessive rain and early spring, you have all the trees start blooming at once with more pollen than usual.

 

Worse than any allergy symptoms is getting a sinus infection; and that sinus infection can be avoided.

 

In allergy the nose blocks breathing; that swollen tissue will also block sinus openings.  Blocked sinuses are a perfect breeding ground for bacteria. The longer the blockage, the more opportunity for chronic sinusitis to develop, and this allergy season promises to be a long one.

 

There are currently thirty seven million persons with chronic sinusitis in the U.S. Many of these cases followed the  allergy season.

 

How to prevent the sinusitis after allergy? Fortunately many persons do well with allergy medications that reduce nasal blockage.  There are over the counter antihistamines and prescription only antihistamines. Which one works best for you varies with the individual.

 

There are nasal sprays that work. Flonase and Nasocort  are cortisone related. Many persons do well with these. The antihistamine sprays such as Astepro and Patanase often work faster and have the advantage of not being a cortisone product. Sometimes you have to try them one at a time. I often try one of the antihistamine type sprays first.

To avoid becoming a sinus statistic, work to keep your nose open. This is essential to keep the sinuses draining.  You may prefer an inhaler such as Vick’s or Benzedrex. If you use Afrin spray, follow the directions.

 

Sleep and bed rest helps your resistance. Use the medications that help you get a good night’s sleep. Benadryl is an OTC  antihistamine that has a side effect of drowsiness. Taken at night this may not only open your nose but also help you to sleep.  Some persons may be too sleepy to drive next day.

 

After weeks of allergy, your nasal cilia have been working overtime to attempt to remove the pollen; they get exhausted. Try bed rest. Try to activate them with hot Tea, Lemon and Honey and Chicken Soup. Use humming at a low tone, “oooommm.” Place your fingers alongside your nose. The more vibration you feel the more benefit to your cilia. Pulse wave irrigation at the vibration rate that restores nasal/sinus cilia works well.

 

If you can spend some time away from pollen to give your nose a rest, that can open the sinuses and get them to drain.

 

After weeks of sneezing, if you develop pain in the cheeks or upper teeth, get a fever, and your drainage turns yellow or green, that may mean a sinus infection. The pain comes from sinus blockage with increased growth of bacteria.

 

Sinus symptoms following an allergy season gives you a window of opportunity to clear the condition before tissue changes take place that might require future surgery.  Medical care at this point can prevent the tissue changes that take place within the sinus cavities that may cause a lifetime of misery. This is the time to work to prevent that complication.

 

Sinusitis following allergy attack is not the same as an acute sinus infection, because with allergy  you have serious sinus blockage and exhausted nasal cilia that has been building up for weeks during the allergy symptoms. When this is neglected, a chronic sinus condition may develop, that could have been prevented.

 

To prevent a  sinus infection after you allergy has lasted weeks, do the Hot Tea, Lemmon and Honey, Chicken Soup, bed rest and humming. Use the Hydro Pulse® Nasal/Sinus Irrigator to restore nasal cilia. The speed of pulsation of the Hydro Pulse is designed to move cilia back and forth like a gentle wave, to restore their vitality. Think of it as a massage to get rid of the unwanted bacteria.

 

For many persons taping up the tip of the nose opens the nose for better airway. Use ½ inch tape, attach at the bottom and raise the tip up comfortably and attach to the dorsum.

 

 

 

Don’t let your allergy become a sinus disease.

 

Why You Don’t Get Allergy Relief with Your Medication

 

Some of the patients I see have read about allergy but do little things that prevents them for having Allergy Relief with their medication.   Many of my new patients come to me after reading my book, Free Yourself from Sinus and Allergy Problems.  Yet, they have not achieved satisfactory Allergy Relief. Often it is because they have overlooked simple principles of Allergy Relief.

 

Jim S. has a beautiful Dogwood tree outside his bedroom window. When it blooms he loves to take pictures and post them. He sleeps with his window open.  He is having serious allergy symptoms.

Jim: Sleep with your window closed. Change clothes when you come into the house. Wear a nose filter when you are outside where there is pollen.

 

Fred S. goes to the Mall where it is air conditioned and relatively pollen free. When he does, his nose gets plugged. In the evening he feels worse.

Fred: When you have allergy you don’t tolerate temperature changes. Wear a jacket when you enter cool places. Don’t get chilled.

 

Marie T. loves to get dolled up and go on dates. But during allergy season her sneezing cools her date’s ardor. But when she shops she is okay.

Marie: during allergy season perfume makes your allergy worse. Use unscented lipstick and avoid any perfume. Have a nice time.

 

            Alice R. is okay when she wakes up, but once she gets out of bed, she is sneezing and hacking.

Alice: With allergy your natural thermostat doesn’t work well. You need to warm your body before you get out of bed. Keep a thermos of HOT tea and drink it before you get out of bed. Yes, breakfast in bed.

 

Julia is in real trouble. She did everything: dust proofed the bedroom, took allergy shots, prescribed pills, and nasal sprays and still is sneezing all day.

Julia: your body is exhausted. You need to go to bed and rest for a weekend and get lots of sleep. Then your natural immunity will regenerate. (this worked for Julia)

 

Robert T. took shots for the local pollen. But he didn’t dust proof his bedroom  because his test for dust was only weakly positive.

Robert: even if you are not specifically allergic to dust, you still need to avoid dust. Get your bedroom dust free.

 

Ionizer

Beatrice S. was using the latest heavily advertised mail order bedroom air filter. Not only it didn’t work, but her asthma got worse.

Beatrice: I checked. That filter you got ionizes the air. Ionizers make allergy and asthma worse.

 

Distilled Water

Sam S complains that he has tried the Hydro Pulse ® nasal /sinus irrigator and he hasn’t gotten allergy relief.  When he irrigates, it burns too much and he has to stop. Yet he uses distilled water, never tap water or even bottled water. He has tried all kinds of expensive water but it still burns when he irrigates.

Sam: I checked. You are using water without salt. You MUST use salt or enhanced salt to make the solution isotonic. That means that the salt concentration matches the salt in your nose.  (Once Sam added Breathe.ease XL enhanced saline to the irrigator solution, the irrigation felt fine and he was able to benefit.)

 

Note: about once a month someone calls to complain that the irrigation isn’t comfortable even though they use PURE DISTILLED Water. They have to be reminded to add enhanced saline, the Breathe.ease XL®  packet to the basin 500 cc basin of warm water.

Distilled water? For most locations, ordinary tap water works okay, unless you are unusually sensitive to the chemicals.   

 

These are the little things that can make or break your response to allergy season. Simple actions such as I have detailed can prevent you from having Allergy Relief.

 

If you win the Lottery, a good idea is to spend you time on your yacht away from the pollen.