Treating Sinusitis At Home: Symptoms In Adults, How To Treat

2024 Author: Rachel Wainwright | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 07:39

Home treatment of sinusitis in adults and children

The content of the article:

The causes of sinusitis
How to cure sinusitis at home quickly and without puncture
1. Drug therapy
2. Inhalation
3. Flushing
4. Warming up
5. Burying
Video

Sinusitis is an inflammation of the mucous membranes of the paranasal cavities. There are four groups of paranasal sinuses.

Home therapy for sinusitis needs to be discussed with your doctor

Depending on which of them the inflammatory process occurs, the following types of sinusitis are distinguished:

sphenoiditis - in the wedge-shaped sinus;
ethmoiditis - in the cells of the ethmoid bone;
sinusitis - in the maxillary (maxillary) cavities;
frontal sinus - in the frontal sinus.

Pathology can affect one, several or all sinuses at the same time. By the nature of the course, an acute or chronic form of the disease is distinguished.

Symptoms of acute inflammation are:

persistent runny nose;
mucous or purulent exudate, nasal congestion;
headache that worsens when the head is tilted;
heaviness and pain in the inflamed sinus, in some cases - in the area of the teeth, cheekbones, cheeks or eyes;
weakened sense of smell or lack thereof;
swelling of the cheeks and eyelids;
an increase in body temperature up to 38 ° C or more;
runoff of mucus along the back of the pharynx, profuse discharge of purulent sputum in the morning;
sleep disturbance, lack of appetite, tearing, weakness and fatigue.

The development of chronic sinusitis is evidenced by such signs as:

difficulty breathing and nasal congestion;
headache;
abundant mucous or purulent discharge;
cracks and abrasions at the entrance to the nose, associated with constant leakage of exudate;
runoff of mucus along the back of the pharynx;
bad breath;
dryness in the throat.

Symptoms in the chronic form are less pronounced than in the acute form, but this type of sinusitis is much more difficult to treat. Therefore, at the first manifestations of pathology, it is important to seek help from an otolaryngologist.

Only a doctor can make an accurate diagnosis, determine the cause of the development of the disease and prescribe the correct treatment. Self-selection of drugs, procedures or traditional medicine can not only be ineffective, but also lead to the development of life-threatening complications.

Treatment should take place in accordance with the doctor's prescription for the entire prescribed course. In most cases, it is done at home and may involve the use of folk recipes. Only in severe forms of pathology or the need for surgical intervention, the patient is hospitalized.

The causes of sinusitis

Treatment tactics depend not only on the type of inflammation, but also on its etiology. Therefore, before you determine how to treat sinusitis at home, you need to find out what contributed to its development.

Polyps and adenoids are predisposing factors for the development of sinusitis

The causes of the onset of the disease can be various factors, namely:

viral, fungal, or bacterial infections;
genetic predisposition;
anomalies in the structure or injury of the nose;
disorders of the immune system;
allergic rhinitis, bronchial asthma;
deep caries of the upper teeth;
neoplasms or penetration of a foreign body into the nasal cavity;
adenoids, polyps;
hypothermia.

How to cure sinusitis at home quickly and without puncture

In order to avoid puncturing or opening the affected sinus, it is important to begin therapy for inflammation at its first manifestations. For the treatment of sinusitis at home, the patient, along with taking medications, can carry out inhalation, warming, rinsing or instillation of the nasal cavity, apply externally compresses.

Drug therapy

The main task of drug treatment is the eradication of the pathogen and the sanitation of the accessory sinuses.

If bacteria are the source of inflammation, broad-spectrum antibacterial agents are used. A sowing of the contents of the sinus may be prescribed to determine the flora and its sensitivity to different types of antibiotics. Since such a study takes on average 5 to 7 days, in the acute course of the disease, the doctor chooses a drug depending on the suspected pathogen and on the basis of the symptoms.

In cases where fungi have led to the onset of pathology, systemic antifungal drugs and immunomodulators are used to increase immunity.

With sinusitis of allergic origin, antihistamines are prescribed. They help relieve swelling and inflammation, improve cavity aeration.

Also, patients are prescribed vasoconstrictor drugs in the form of drops and sprays. They allow you to relieve swelling of the nasal mucosa and eliminate congestion, help to restore the patency of the sinus anastomosis. It is important not to exceed the recommended dosage and the duration of the treatment course, since with their uncontrolled use, the nasal mucosa can atrophy.

Inhalation

Along with drugs, inhalations are used to improve the ventilation capacity of the cavities and reduce inflammation. It should be borne in mind that such procedures can only be used in patients with chronic inflammation in the stage of incomplete remission.

Inhalation can be carried out only in the stage of incomplete remission in chronic inflammation

The simplest and most affordable method at home is steam inhalation. They require decoctions of medicinal herbs (chamomile, calendula, oak bark, sage, oregano) or water with the addition of essential oils (lemon, oregano, Siberian pine, fir, cedar, tea tree, eucalyptus). The hot liquid is poured into a container, bend over it and cover your head with a towel. Breathing in pairs is necessary until the solution cools down.

In an acute or purulent course of the disease, elevated body temperature, the presence of a cyst in the sinus or pathologies of the cardiovascular system, steam inhalation is contraindicated.

A nebulizer is often used at home for cold inhalation.

Effective for the treatment of sinusitis are cold medicinal inhalations using a nebulizer - a device that sprays active substances into small particles. As a solution, the following can be used: mineral water, pure saline solution, as well as Chlorophyllipt, Sinupret, Lazolvan, Dekasan, Dioxidin or Fluimucil-antibiotic IT, which are pre-diluted with isotonic sodium chloride solution.

At home, inhalation with potatoes is widely used. Inhalation of potato vapor helps to soften and drain mucus, reduce inflammation, and improve the respiratory function of the nose. For the procedure, boil the potatoes with the peel, drain the water and let it cool slightly. Then the patient bends over the container and, covering himself with a towel, inhales vapors for 7-10 minutes.

Before treating sinusitis at home in children or adults through inhalation, you should consult your doctor about the rules for the procedure.

Flushing

Nasal rinsing for sinusitis can be done with a syringe, nasal shower, small kettle or syringe without a needle. If these devices are not available, the solution can be drawn from the palms of the hands. You should consult your doctor about how to rinse your nose with decoctions of medicinal plants or special solutions.

Decoctions of medicinal plants can be used to rinse the nose.

Flushing is performed with the head tilted to the side so that the nostril is less blocked at the upper level. Immediately before the procedure, the nasal cavity should be thoroughly cleaned of mucus, pus or crusts.

The patient leans over the sink or bath, turns his head and smoothly, but not deeply, introduces the tip of the syringe (or other device) in one stroke. Under a slight pressure, liquid begins to flow into one nostril and out of the other. The same manipulations are performed on the opposite side, after which it is recommended to blow your nose thoroughly in order to eliminate residual fluid, particles of pus or mucus from the cavity.

Warming up

Warming agents can be sea salt, hard-boiled eggs, or molten paraffin wax. It is impossible to carry out the procedure in case of an acute or purulent form of inflammation, since complications may develop.

You can warm your nose at home with table salt, preheated in a pan.

Immediately before use, coarse salt is heated in a frying pan, eggs are boiled, and paraffin is melted in a water bath. Salt or eggs unpeeled from the shell, in order to avoid burns, are cooled slightly and placed in a tissue bag, after which they are applied to the sinus area and kept for about 15 minutes.

The molten paraffin wax is placed in a plastic bag and applied to the nose. Such a compress is kept for 10-15 minutes until it cools completely.

Burying

In the home treatment of sinusitis, it is possible to use the juice of medicinal plants for instillation into the nasal passages. Aloe, Kalanchoe and cyclamen are most often used for this purpose. The use of this method allows you to clear the sinuses of accumulated mucus or pus, helps to stop the inflammatory process.

Aloe juice is an effective treatment for sinusitis

To prepare drops from aloe leaves, they are cut off, wrapped in paper and placed in the refrigerator for several days. Under such conditions, the plant turns into a biostimulant, and the effect of its use is enhanced. It is recommended to use aloe that is more than 2 years old. After a few days, the leaves are washed under running water, the juice is squeezed out and poured into a glass container. By means of a pipette, the agent is instilled into each nostril, 2 drops 3-4 times a day.

Cyclamen juice is obtained from the roots of the plant. They are thoroughly washed, then the remaining moisture is removed with a paper napkin and rubbed on a fine grater. The resulting slurry is placed in cheesecloth and squeezed into a glass container. The juice cannot be used in its pure form, since it can burn the nasal mucosa, it is diluted with warm boiled water in a 1: 1 ratio. The prepared product is instilled with a pipette 3-4 drops into each nasal passage several times a day. Sometimes cyclamen juice is added to the composition of ointments based on Vishnevsky ointment.

To obtain Kalanchoe juice, its leaves are cut off and kept in a cool dark place for 7 days. After that, they are crushed to a mushy state and squeezed through cheesecloth. The juice is placed in a glass container and kept for 2 days for precipitation. Immediately before the procedure, it is diluted with warm boiled water in a ratio of 1: 1. A few drops are instilled into each nostril no more than 2 times a day. Kalanchoe causes prolonged sneezing, due to which mucus flows out of the nose.