See how they got cured.

When Antibiotics Fail
Phillip got a sinus infection in January. Took Antibiotic for six weeks, use Flonase twice a day, and Sudafed. Felt good in February. Infection returned in April. Had to repeat the whole antibiotic, Flonase, Sudafed once more. Again he felt better after the medications. But once more he was infected in July. Why?

Phillip is typical of the patients I see daily. As soon as the antibiotic wears off, the infection returns. This is because the nasal cilia, that normally pulse to remove the bacteria, are not functioning. Normally a bacteria lands in the nose, and is quickly moved out of the nose by the wave action of the cilia that line the nose and drain the sinuses.
In health, with normal cilia movement, the bacteria are moved out of the nose in approximately seven minutes. Then they don’t have tine to reproduce and enter the body. But when they remain in place, then they get married and have lots of offspring that cause disease.
In Phillip ’s case, because the cilia did not return to normal function and speed, he got infected again. He was placed on pulse wave irrigation –the Hydro Pulse Nasal Sinus Irrigator – and his normal cilia returned and then his infection cleared. Anytime he feels and infection coming on, he restores his cilia with pulse wave irrigation.

When The Infection Lasts Over a Year
Mary had this constant sinus infection for over a year. She had frequent nasal congestion, frequent colored mucus, nasal blockage and heavy mucus down her throat. She diligently used a Neti Pot and was careful to keep it clean. She always irrigated with distilled water. When she came to see me, she brought her recent CT Scans, which were normal. She wanted to know why she still had the sinus symptoms, since the CT Scan was normal.

Judy’s chronic problem cleared as soon as she stopped daily irrigation with the pot. The University of Pennsylvania showed that despite following instruction to keep the pot or squeeze bottle clean, these devices are growing bacteria after two weeks. In one study, 60% of the patients with chronic infection over 12 months were cured, just when they stopped daily irrigation. This is because these devices have flowback; some of the pus from the patient’s own nose gets back into the tip, and this is an ideal place for bacteria to grow. In essence, they are re-infecting themselves. Plus too much irrigation removes the good bacteria fighters in the nose such as lysozyme. I told Mary she might get well just be stopping the irrigation, but she preferred to get well as soon as possible by using the Hydro Pulse.

Blow Gently
Alexander wanted to know why he keeps getting a sinus infection every year. He exercises, eats right, watches his health. He goes to the gym twice a week and does weight lifting at home daily. Yet, comes November or December, he is sick again and he may stay sick until spring. He wants to know why he gets sinusitis, and his brother, the couch potato who eats junk food, never gets sinus infection.

I could hear Alexander blowing his nose forcibly from far away. He felt himself super-macho, and as such he blew his nose with real force! I explained that he was traumatizing his nose by blowing so hard! This is just like rubbing your eye too hard. Alexanderdidn’t need pills or sprays; he just needed to be very gentle if he has to blow his nose.

When It’s Allergy
Alicia usually has a bad allergy spring season; she is allergic to so many trees. But often, after the tree pollen season ends, she develops a sinus infection. Why does she get this every time?

I explained to Alicia that when you start an allergy season, your nasal cilia work overtime. They keep trying to move the pollen out of your nose. After several weeks, they may be exhausted. Similar to Phillip ’s example here, her nasal cilia are no longer moving bacteria out of the nose and sinuses; so they remain in place and cause infection. Alicia was able to avoid future infection by restoring her nasal cilia.

There are many other causes of sinus infection including nasal polyps, poor immunity, badly deviated nasal septum and chronic disease in the sinuses. However, most of the patients I treat are helped or cured when the nasal cilia return to their normal function of waving in synchrony and moving the bacteria out of the nose and sinuses. The advantage of using the Hydro Pulse for this is that it pulses at a rate designed to restore the cilia. Best of all, once the cilia are restored, there is no advantage to continue irrigation. Once the cilia are normal, there is no need to be more normal.