Sinus Infections

I am quite prone to getting sinus infections. I get them about 4-5 times a year. They put me out of training for around a week each time. I was wondering if there was any way that I could lessen this proneness.

Lay off the blow.

Go to an ear nose and throat doctor. I had a nasty one this pasty winter. Had to spend $500 on medication to finally get some sleep and to get it to go away. Supposedly there’s something wrong with my nose that needs to be fixed that makes more prone than most people. I’ve been hit in the nose countless times, mosh pits, fights, and with a baseball bat. You however have me beat big time with infections. I’m playing on having mine fixed this summer. I believe they think i have a ?deviated septum?

FootSoldier: Up until 3 years ago, I was running 3 or 4 nasty
sinus infections a year. Until one day a friend at the gym
informed me about his brother’s near miraculous experience
with saline nasal spray. His recommendation was to liberally use
the spray 5 to 6 times a day for a few months, then after that
at least 3 times a day forever.

Well, I took his advice and haven't had an infection since!!! My take is that the spray flushes out a lot of nasty stuff that builds up (food particles, snot, pollen...etc.) as well as lubricates dry nasal passages. These built-up-nasties later become a breeding ground for infection.

My recommendation is to use the "Breathe Right" brand! "Breathe Right," unlike cheaper brands, contains glycerin which acts as an emollient - cheaper brands can be irritating and unpleasant! All this should work unless you have a deviated septum - as mentioned by D Rock.

P. S. Hope this helps!

I used to suffer the same with sinus infections, aka getting 4 to 5 per year. I discovered a website a couple of years ago that talked about how adequate water and SALT intake can improve the immune system.

Since then, I've only had 1 sinus infection in the last two years and my overall health is significantly better. Check out the website. Oh, and before anyone tries to flame me for promotion, the recipe for the water/salt combo is ABSOLUTELY FREE. The creators of the site simply want to help people.

Visit www.watercure2.com and spend a couple hours going through it. You'll be pretty amazed.

FootSoldier- I have the best solution for you. My sister gets bad sinus infections, and I have gotten a few myself. First, get to a good ENT. The next most important thing to do is called flushing your sinuses. It is similar to the other post, but you use a saline solution you can make. Start by mixing 1 cup warm water with a 1/4 teaspoon of salt and a half teaspoon of baking soda. Then get one of those blue bulbs that are made to suck snot out of kids noses. Cut the tip off so the opening can fit in your nose. Suck the solution you just made into the bulb, put the sucker in your nose and gently squeeze. You are doin it right if the solution goes out the other nostril and some down your throat. Gross, I know, but makes you feel a whole lot better. Ask any reliable ENT and you will get a similar process. Good luck.

Do you have any pets? After I got rid of my cat, my symptoms have went down tremediously. Next, examine where you live, mold and dust kill me and one appartment I lived in was pure hell. What kind of work do you do? When I was doing yard work, (raking leaves specifically) I always got a sinus infection. And finnally look into getting a humidifier. These things enable me to sleep in the dry winter, without it I don’t know what I would do. Good luck, if you keep looking you will find an answer.

If all else fails, an ear nose & throat
doctor may recommend sinus surgery, which
typically involves scraping out the sinus
cavities and widening the passages for better
drainage. This is an extremely common surgery
that’s typically very effective for preventing
recurrent sinus infections or curing chronic
ones. If you have a deviated septum problem
they can fix that at the same time.
You’d be off your feet for a week or so.
And for what it’s worth, a ENT is also
called an otorhinolaryngologist. What a great
word!

You can also say “otolaryngologist” for short (so to speak).

Actually, they’ve gone to the shorter otolaryngologist for some reason. They’re still ear, nose, and throat guys though. Maybe it couldn’t fit on their letterhead or something.

I feel your pain bro I’ve had sinus infections every six weeks for about the past year. Finally I went to the Doc he put me on Allegra and Flonase its been about two and a half months and still no problems. Good luck, outlaw.

Just curious, did anyone here look at the website I posted earlier in this thread? It would REALLY behoove you all to do so, especially the ones that have had to resort to a lot of drug use to either curb allergies or rid yourself of sinus infections.

To make it even simpler, I'll give you the formula for the "water cure" recipe. It's half your body weight in ounces per water a day, along with 1/4 teaspoon SEA SALT (under no circumstances use table salt!) for every 64 ounces of water you drink.

Keep in mind that if you drink things like coffee or alcohol, you need to add 1 glass of water for every cup of coffee or bottle of beer. Reason? These beverages are diuretics and are quite adept at reducing water in the body.

If you're physically active, it would also benefit you to drink even more water (and take in even more salt).

I KNOW that purposely adding salt to your diet sounds crazy...I thought so too...but I have not had an allergy problem in two years. It works! I used to have allergies in the worst way, too. Flonase, Claritin, Allegra, you name it I've been on it, but all these drugs NEVER provided the relief that a little water and salt did...and did it without side effects!!!

I really urge you to check out the website. Water is VERY important, but the addition of the sea salt to the diet is ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL for the program to work. There is a section on the website that talks about all the great things salt does to the body. It also unveils a lot of myths about people's perception of salt...aka it's bad for you!

Please check it out. It really changed my life. And again, the info is FREE, they're not selling anything.

Hey,

Yeah I had a good look around the watercure2 site, some interesting ideas he is throwing around. Started drinking some salt water yesterday and it did help reduce the nagging of my sore throat almost instantly.

Some questions, do you drink the 3 or so litres of salinated water daily? have you kept with it?

Have you cut down on the salt that you use in cooking and with meals now that you drink the salt water solution?

Finally can you drink too much water, I know it’s unlikely, but still.

Thanks for the bringing up the site, as I said some very interesting ideas.

Hi Mike,

Sorry I thought it’s a quarter teaspoon per litre! About 3/4 teaspoon per day then

You can take the salt one of two ways; you can mix it in with the water or you can lick it off your hand after you drink the plain water. I do the latter, but it really doesn’t matter what combination you use.

I have been doing this for two years now. At first it's very hard to drink that much water (you'll have to urinate a lot in the beginning). However, your bladder will eventually adjust itself to accomodate the increased water intake. After a couple of months, you'll most likely go the bathroom about as often as you did before you started drinking additional water.

I have NOT cut down in salt. In fact, the water cure recommends using salt liberally with food in addition to the salt you add with your water. Remember, salt in and of itself is not dangerous IF you take in enough water. In fact, it's one of the most important minerals our body needs.

In response to your last question, yes, it is possible to drink too much water. You definitely don't want to overdo it. As I said, follow the formula and increase water and salt intake as activity dictates. You'll have to tinker with it until you find the exact right formula for you.

For me, personally, I weigh 200 pounds so I take in about 120 ounces of water per day and about a full teaspoon of sea salt. By the way, you are using sea salt and not table salt, right?

Mike

What about this: http:// www.utopiasilver.com/ (remember to delete any space added in the url).

Just wanted to get your guys' thoughts.

This may sound a little stupid, but I just make sure to take my vitamins. I take a multi-vitamin (gel coated) from GNC, along with 3000 mg of Vitamin C. Since I started doing that I don’t get sick too often at all. Knock on wood. I’ve noticed that when I run out of vitamins and I don’t buy any right away, my body feels like crap.

Patricia,

As a fellow asthmatic, you should try the water/salt therapy. Before I did the therapy, I would have to take prednisone and breathing treatments every couple of months...that's how bad it would get for me sometimes.

Did water and salt cure my asthma? No. But it did make my symptoms about 10% of what they used to be. I still suffer occasional attacks, but it's nothing like it was. I also believe that water / salt therapy will help your migraines.

As far as colloidal silver, I'm not too sure what it's supposed to do. Please fill me in...

Mike

Mike,

Yep, I’m using coarse seasalt. Looked up a load of physiology and biochemistry books last night to check out the concept of fluid balance more. Would it be also wise to make sure you have a good range of potassium containing foods, ie red meat, bananas and anything else with a favourable ratio?

Still not sure on the limit of water per day. If I’m drinking three litres of salinated water daily, coupled then with at least another litre for generally mouthfuls, green tea or water to counteract the ocassional caffeine drink. So four litres of water ingested at least.
Now if I’m taking protein shakes pre and post workout, that’ll add on somewhere as well. Are there any signs of drinking too much water? Thanks

Patricia- I think this is more natural than the silver salt idea and obviously less costly. Thanks for the link though.

Mike: Thanks for info. I hadn’t even check this thread until Ko sent me an email with the link you posted. I’ll take a better look at that site. I was rather skeptical at first, but if it has helped you - I’ll give it a go.

As for Colloidal Silver, it is a "suspension of silver particles" in water and is harmless in just about any amount ingested. It is used as a mineral supplement to improve or increase the body's immune system. Colloidal Silver is also a "germ killer".

I haven't used silver in awhile, but I useto keep a bottle on hand so that I could add a drop or two into a jug of tap water - to "purify" it. Now, according to testimonials on the colloidal silver site, it has helped asthmatics and people with sinus infections. It didn't help my asthma, but I think I was suppose to inhale it rather than ingest it. Nevertheless, I did notice an improvement in my energy levels during the time I was taking a 2-4 drops of silver a day.

I'm going to try the water/salt therapy, Mike. I'll keep let you know how it's working out for me. Thanks, again.