Stuffy nose? - Flush it!

This time of the year, you may encounter a cold and or a stuffy nose. Living in South Western Ohio, you may have sinus trouble all year around. Let me suggest nasal irrigation or sinus flushing. As Dr. Ben Kim's newsletter suggests, it is even a good practice on a regular base to cleanse the nasal passages. Just like brushing our teeth at night Dr. Kim instructs us to rinse the naval cavity as well.

It is as easy as cupping your hand and filling it with warm tab water. Take your nose close to your hand and suck some water up into your nostrils. Leave it there as long as possible, and then let it run out into the sink. Blow your nose into a tissue. This will help remove any dust and extra mucus from your sinus passages. You can repeat this procedure a few times until your sinuses feel clean.

This is especially helpful in the winter when we have the heat on in the house and more dust may be in the air.

When an infection is present you may want to add 1 tsp. of sea salt to 1 cup of warm water and flush with that. You can also buy a neti pot and let the water flow through your nostrils. The saline solution will help with the infection.  Below is a link to a video which shows how to do this procedure.

Other ways to clean out the sinuses are going to the sauna. I have written about this before: http://raysolution.blogspot.com/2010/04/sauna-therapy-for-arthritis.html


Here are some other websites on sinus irrigation:

http://www.chinese-holistic-health-exercises.com/natural-sinus-remedies.html

http://www.thehealthcarecenter.com/how_to_stop_sinus_infections.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsZeILCedRw (Neti pot instructions)

http://www.himalayaninstitute.org/netipot/netipotinstructions.aspx

NOTE: When your cold is lingering on and if you have a fever, you may want to consult your physician.