I treat my sinus problems with 'upside down' irrigation, not antibiotics.

[Guest guest]

No more chronic sinus infections!!! After decades of swollen,

stuffed-up sinuses, thick yellow gunk, and miserable infections, I

finally have the condition under control. I feel great!

 

I have found a simple, inexpensive method of irrigation that

effectively treats my sinuses and either prevents or heals my sinus

infections.

 

*** HOW I DECIDE TO IRRIGATE ***

 

My sinuses first get stuffy, and then I feel like I am getting a cold.

Over the next few days my sinuses start closing up, and getting more

congested. I get a thick yellow discharge. This condition has either

led to an infection, or continued to give me misery for long periods

of time, so I start a series of `upside down' irrigations.

 

I've irrigated many times over the past two years. The result--------

I have not had to use antibiotics in the past two years, and I have

not had an untreatable infection. Every time I feel like my sinuses

might be infecting, I treat myself. The irrigation takes 10 to 15

minutes depending upon how long I want the mixture to seep into my

sinuses. Not bad to ward off infections! Every time my sinuses start

to ache, I treat them. Junk comes out, and the ache goes away.

 

*** HOW I GET STARTED ***

 

I buy a plastic saline nasal spray, for about $3, and empty it. I then

fill the empty saline nasal sprayer with a pinch of baking soda, a

pinch of salt, 3ml to 5ml of `common store bought' 3% hydrogen

peroxide and 50ml filtered water. I never exceed 5ml of 3% peroxide to

50ml of filtered water, or a one to ten dilution of 3% peroxide to

water AT MOST!

 

Mixture: 3ml to 5ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide

Pinch of baking soda.

Pinch of salt.

50ml of filtered water.

 

Hydrogen peroxide can be very irritating to the sinuses, so I am very

careful with the mixture. When I first started experimenting with the

sinus irrigation, I used more than 15ml of 3% peroxide, to 50ml of

water, and it really burned my sinuses and made my sinuses close up

much worse on both sides, and the discomfort lasted for several days.

So I never use more than one part of peroxide to 10 parts of water.

 

*** HOW I IRRIGATE ***

 

Before each irrigation, I place a towel and a tissue nearby. To do the

sinus irrigation, I kneel, and place the top of my head down onto the

floor of my shower and spray the mixture into my sinuses, which are

tilted upwards. It is really not as bad as it sounds. In fact, it

beats the HELL out of having closed sinuses and getting constant

infections and constantly taking antibiotics.

 

I place my head down on the shower floor so that my sinuses are facing

upwards, and so that I don't swallow any of the mixture and so that

the mixture soaks deep into my sinuses. The more clogged my sinuses,

the longer I keep my head down on the shower floor, letting the

mixture seep deep into my sinuses. I shake the mixture occasionally

and make sure that I spray most of it into my " upside down " sinuses. I

spray it into both nostrils. When the sinuses are filled up, as I

spray into one nostril it comes out the other. I keep my head upside

down on the shower floor for a few minutes after the irrigation in

order for the mixture to get deep into my sinuses. I don't breath

thru my nose, at all. I even shake my head and contort my face in

order to help work the mixture into the sinuses. I don't know how much

that helps, and it probably makes me look like an idiot, but who

cares-----, nobody is watching! <g> A lot of the mixture usually foams

out of my sinuses, down my forehead and onto the shower floor. A

little messy. I keep my eyes closed so that it doesn't drain into my

eyes. I DON'T BREATH IN THROUGH MY NOSE DURING THE IRRIGATION, MOSTLY

TO AVOID SUCKING SOME OF THE MIXTURE INTO THE EUSTACHIAN TUBES OF MY

EARS.

 

After the irrigation I lift my head, while it's in the shower, and let

my sinuses drain into the shower. It can look pretty bloody, foamy and

nasty. I then stand up and use the tissue(s) to clean my forehead, of

the foam, that seeped out of my sinuses during the irrigation. (This

is not something I do in front of a girlfriend that I am trying to

impress.) I don't blow my nose for a few minutes, in order to give the

mixture a little longer to do its job. After that, I blow my nose.

 

*** WHAT I EXPERIENCE DURING AN IRRIGATION ***

 

Even at 3ml peroxide to 50ml water, it can burn, or sting, somewhat.

Most of the time it just burns a little. But sometimes it burns quite

a bit (depending upon how sensitive my sinuses are at the time). I

just grit my teeth and tolerate the stinging of my sinuses, and after

a while the stinging or burning starts getting better. I found that

there is no additional discomfort after the irrigation is over, unless

I use too much peroxide. Now that my sinuses are doing so well, 5ml of

peroxide to 50ml of water hardly irritates my sinuses.

 

The irrigation usually produces a lot of foam, especially if I use 5ml

of Peroxide. Sometimes there is a mix of blood with the foam.

Subsequent irrigations might produce very little foam and a lot of

bloodish water. I guess it all depends upon the condition of my sinus

at the time of the irrigation.

 

*** MY EXPERIENCES WITH `UPSIDE DOWN' IRRIGATION ***

 

The Irrigation is not the most pleasant experience, but it isn't too

bad, and it works for me. When I first started using this type of

irrigation, I gave myself several irrigations within a day, to treat a

suspected infection, or to treat very irritated, swollen, or closed

sinuses. Then I would repeat the irrigations over the next few days

until my sinuses seemed to be responding. Then I would skip a day or

two and see if my sinuses continued to do better. The number of

irrigations I use is also based on the amount of garbage that needs to

be flushed from my sinuses and how my sinuses feel. If the discharge

is relatively clean, and my sinuses are not too bad, I limit the

number of irrigations. Relatively clean, to me, means that some of the

discharge is clear and some might be yellow, but it is not too thick.

If my sinuses aren't too bad, just a couple of irrigations for

one or two days seems to improve the functioning of my sinuses and

takes away that `getting a cold' feeling.

 

After a series of irrigations, it still can take a few days for the

sinuses to get better, but when they do, I feel great, with wide open

and calm sinuses. What a great relief to not have to use antibiotics

several times a year! I can now go for months without doing an

irrigation, and my sinuses feel great and so do I. I didn't

realize how bad my sinus problems were making the rest of me feel.

 

The first few times I did this irrigation, the discharge was real

nasty, but not any longer. I am guessing that a lot of junk gets stuck

up into the sinuses for a long time and that the " soaking, upside

down " irrigation helps to loosen most of the junk. Just recently my

sinuses were aching. I did an irrigation, and some weird junk came out

and the aching went away. I used to suffer with achy sinuses for days.

Now the aching stops after only one irrigation. There is a lot of junk

in the air, and the nasal hairs do not keep all the junk out. When it

builds up within the sinuses, it can cause discomfort. The irrigation

helps to flush it out. The irrigation really works for me!

 

*** WHY WAS I GETTNG CONSTANT INFECTIONS ***

 

It is my understanding that some infections can stay dormant in the

sinuses for years, becoming `active' infections when certain

events activate them, and then going dormant again. Antibiotics never

really killed my infections, it just treated the symptoms. To me, that

is why my symptoms kept returning several times a year.

 

*** I ALSO USE `AT HOME' ELECTRO-ACUPUNCTURE ***

 

I also have an acupuncture machine, with which I use electro-pads

instead of needles, and I treat myself for both my Asthma and Sinus

problems. I am still experimenting, and while I know that the

`upside down' irrigation takes away my infection problems, I don't

know if the irrigation has improved my asthma and sinus problems, or

the electro-acupuncture, or a combination of both.

 

I wanted to share my experiences with other sufferers. Does anyone do

a similar type of irrigation, or has anyone found a more effective and

less messy method? This seems safe and effective for me, but I have no

idea if this type of sinus irrigation would help others, or make their

conditions worse. Not being a doctor, I don't recommend this for

anyone unless they check with their doctor first.

 

If anyone does this type of irrigation, please post your experiences.

 

Tuesday, November 18, 2003