Let’s discuss natural treatment of sinusitis, a common condition that affects millions of people around the world. The sinuses are small, hollow cavities located behind the forehead, cheekbones, nose, and eyes. They are covered with jelly-like mucus, which protects the body against microbes. But sometimes it so happens that any bacteria or allergens trapped in the nose can cause mucus accumulation. This unfortunately blocks the sinus opening. Now the excess mucus allows the bacterias or germs to multiply in the sinus cavity. This leads to infection and pain.
Usually sinus infections are caused by virus and are cleared within two weeks time. Let us see exactly what happens. You have four pairs of main sinuses, maxillary, frontal, ethmoid, and sigmoid sinus. Out of these, maxillary and frontal sinuses are large. They drain into a nasal cavity through a small nasal pipe. During sinusitis, there is an inflammation in the sinuses.
During sinusitis, there is an inflammation in the sinus cavity or in the passage. Due to the congestion and swelling, the nasal passages get blocked, and the sinuses cannot drain. And this causes further congestion and irritation in the nose and causes facial pain.
Today, we will explore the causes and symptoms of sinusitis as well as natural treatment options.
Causes of Sinusitis
Sinusitis can be caused by various factors, including common cold, allergic rhinitis, which is the swelling of the lining of the nose, small growths in the lining of the nose. These are called polyps, a deviated septum.
Another cause of sinusitis would be deviated septum, which is a shift of a nasal bone. Another cause could be immune system deficiencies or medications that suppress the immune system.
Symptoms of Sinusitis
Symptoms of sinusitis can vary, but some common ones include facial pain or pressure, headache or heaviness in the head, stuffy or running nose, discolored drainage, loss of smell, cough or congestion. Some patients may have fever, bad breath, fatigue, and even dental pain. So if you are feeling uneasy and struggling with sinusitis, let’s look at some natural ways to alleviate your symptoms.
Yogic Treatment for Sinusitis
Yogic management with four lifestyle pillars, which includes aahar, food, vihaar, relaxation and recreation, aachar, behavioral pattern, and vichar, thought processes.
Aahar, which is about the right type of food.
Eating a balanced and healthy sattvic diet can help to keep your immunity level strong. Have foods high in vitamin C and vitamin D. Make it a practice to eat hot food. Include ginger in your food. Drink lemongrass tea. During lunch, eat fresh curd, which is not sour, and definitely have a glass full of buttermilk. Drink plenty of fluids. Avoid alcohol and smoking. Avoid cold drink and other mucus producing foods such as daily products. In any case, form a habit of drinking half a glass of warm water after eating your food.
Vihaar is about rest and recreation and sleep.
Getting enough rest is very essential because too much sneezing and running nose can make you feel tired. Avoiding over-exertion can help the symptoms to subside easily. If you are not able to sleep well at night due to all these symptoms, better take a nap in the afternoon to recharge yourself. Practice conscious relaxation techniques like shavasana or makrasana, or sitting and relaxing, which is nishpan dabha, whatever you feel comfortable with. Sometimes during severe sinusitis, you may not be comfortable lying down. Then you should in any case practice nishpan dabha. Take 20 to 30 minutes of brisk walk in nature early morning or evening. Increase your blood circulation with activities like climbing stairs or playing sports such as badminton, table tennis, etc.
Read more about Health on, https://beinghealthyyy.com/
Achar is about right routines.
Establishing healthy routines can help to support immune system and reduce inflammation. Here are some tips for establishing some right routines. Take steam inhalation, adding a few clean cabbage leaves to the boiling water, which helps in clearing the nasal passage. Take few drops of eucalyptus oil on your handkerchief and smell throughout the day.
Apply hot water bag or heat pad on your face to ease any pain in the sinuses. Use saline nose drops at home. Dry your scalp completely after air wash. Cover your head while sleeping. Avoid direct breeze of fan or blast of AC on your head. Learn and practice yogic kriyas like jal neti and sutra neti, kapal bhaati and karna ranjan bhaati. Jal neti and sutra neti are very effective because they clean the passages.
They also allow the sinuses to drain effectively and remove excess of mucus. If jal neti is practiced regularly, it is good preventive measure for sinusitis. A few words of caution here. Remember, jal neti sutra neti should not be practiced when the nasal passage is blocked or when person has infection and fever. It is also important to learn these techniques from an experienced teacher.
Kapal bhaati helps to irrigate, ventilate the sinuses by throwing out stale air and allowing fresh air to enter. Every morning and evening, take sun on your face with your eyes closed and then practice ranjan bhaati. It could be kapal ranjan bhaati, karna ranjan bhaati. That should be done. It helps to increase circulation and allows effective drainage of mucus.
Keep a diary to keep track of factors that triggers sinusitis if it is caused by allergies so that you can avoid those triggers. Practice forward bending asanas like yoga mudra, vachimottanasana, hastapadasana to help host nasal drainage of the sinuses.
But in acute sinusitis, forward bending asanas can increase the headache. So, avoid them in that case. Do asanas which increases circulation such as jastikasana and bhujangasana. Practice pranayama like bhastrika, anulom nilom and surya bhedana. At the time of sinus attack or headache, focus on your breath and practice yogendra laya.
Vichar is about right thoughts.
Sometimes sinusitis becomes aggravated due to emotional reactions. So, it is important to practice techniques like breath awareness to keep the mind calm. If there is any difficulties in your life, learn to accept it and manage it with best of your capacity. Have faith in a higher power and surrender to it completely. Express your emotions to your family and like-minded people.
If you have allergic sinusitis, try to remove extra things which are gathering dust inside your house. A dust could be one of the very strong triggers that causes recurrent infection. If possible, avoid keeping pets in your house. Pets could be outside in the garden but not in your house.
Also read, https://www.healthline.com/health/sinusitis
Let go of stress and negative emotions by becoming mindful. Develop pratipaksha bhavana by avoiding negative self-talk and to cultivate positive self-image. Remember sinusitis is a common condition that can be treated naturally with the combination of yogic lifestyle management. By eating a right food, getting plenty of rest and recreation, establishing the right routine and cultivating the right thoughts, it is possible to release inflammation, boost the immune system and elevate the symptoms of sinusitis.