How can I ease the effects of my horrible sinus infection?

A visit to a doctor or a local RN clinic (at your local pharmacy/mall). You most likely would get much better more quickly with a Z-pac

@SpatzieLover I’ve been to the doctor 3 times already :( I know what you are talking about and it’s really not helping me. That’s why I’m so desperate.

Did you already have an antibiotic? If so, it’s time to make a visit to an Ear, Nose Throat specialist.

I do get sinus infections.actually I’m still getting over Bronchitis right now…my Z-pac just ended Your OTCs are good choices, but if this is lasting weeks it’s time to get more help.

You could use a decongestant to stop the drainage, instead of the Mucinex.

Get a chloroseptic through spray from the drugstore, it doesn’t really do anything about germs or an infection but it does leave a nice coating on the through so you can swallow more comfortably and though it tastes like ***, it does numb a bit.

Oh darling – steam, steam, steam! Your poor bod is trying to heal, all it needs is support. Get a nice big bowl, a towel and two or three drops of Lavender oil.
Put a couple of cups of cold water in the bottom of the bowl, with the lavender. Get into position: seated so that you can put your head easily over the bowl, put the towel on your shoulders.
Pour the boiled water into the bowl, then pull the towel over your head and the bowl – close your eyes! Breathe gently in through your nose and out through your mouth. The steam should not be so hot as to scald or feel uncomfortable, although it might be a surprise to your sore sinuses. Stick with it, for up to ten minutes. Do this at least three or four times daily.
The idea is to soothe, to clear and to encourage mucous. This is natural, don’t try to stop goo formation! It should at the very least make things feel more comfortable.
Good luck!

God, I used to get these all the time. Horrible, just horrible. My sympathies are with you.

So, go to your local drug store and get Sinus Rise. It does the same thing as a NetiPot, but it’s a more comfortable design, and there’s just the teeniest bit of pressure to help clear things out.
Get yourself some hard candies. I like caramel candies because they’re extra creamy, and they’ll help your throat feel a bit better.
Get your hot pack out and put it over your sinuses. It’ll get things flowing downward, and feels really, really good.
Next, go to your doctor and see if you can get some steroid nasal spray like Nasonex or Flonaise (sp?). If you haven’t had tons of infections before, they might give you some antibiotics to help it go away. If you have, then you’re just going to have to NetiPot/Sinus Rise that fucker out.
If you’re over 21, I do recommend a glass of wine or two (or whatever you like) to help with the insane pain.

I believe I have read your question before, somewhere else. Anyway….......

I am a master with the human sinuses. Riding a police motorcycle for seven years almost did me in.

I finally had my sinuses operated on and that cured my problem. Here are some of the tried and true actions that helped me. There is a sinus mask on the market that works pretty good. It’s expensive, but this will work just as good: a hot steamy towel placed on your sinuses for 20 minutes. This helps with the pain. Also, this: to a quart of tap water, place one tablespoon of table salt and stir. Turn your head to the right and sniff in the salt water until it flows out the other opening of your nose. Expect crud to come out. Do the same for the other side of your nose. Then, with the remaining salt water, that is boiling on the oven, place a towel over the back of your neck and breathe in the steamy salt water vapors for about ten minutes. Sinuses react really good to salt water.

Also, go to WalMart and buy a bottle of Afrin Nasal Spray. It works great. two sprays up each side and you can then breathe again from your nose. Also, buy regular antihistimine and take as directed.

Finally, if all else fails, call and make an appointment with your doctor. Tell him you want a prescription for Deconamine SL. This is a slow release antihistimine combo that will work for you. It’s twelve hours of relief. Also, I believe that Dristan Nasal Mist is also a good, working product. I have used it for years.

If what comes out of your nose is green or brown, you will need antibiotics. Tell your doctor.

Good luck on your sinuses.

Thank you all for your help! :)

I do not recommend Afrin as it is habit forming. I do recommend hypertonic buffered nasal saline irrigation.

Neti pot. Works great.

Steam with eucalyptus oil and lavender. Then blow your nose a lot afterwards.

Take a Claritin-D in the morning every day for several weeks; for some people it’s more effective than Sudafed. When I was flying a lot for work, I constantly got sinus infections, and the doctor told me to take Claritin 30 minutes before getting on a plane. It made a huge difference.

For the future, you might want to do some research into the possibility of a fairly recent advance which can SOMETIMES replace the need for surgery to open up the sinus passages allowing them to drain properly.

It’s called Balloon Sinuplasty. It’s very similar to Angioplasty used to open arteries for those with heart problems.

The type of surgery described by John above worked great for some but was often painful and sometimes left scarring making the situation worse for others. He was fortunate to get a good result.

But using the balloon procedure eliminates all that danger and there really are no unfavorable side effects as with regular sinus surgery.

The worst thing that can happen is that the widening doesn’t last.

Research it thoroughly and contact some ENT specialists in your area to find one who has the most experience doing this fairly new procedure.

This is what I’m currently in the process of doing because I’ve had lifelong sinus problems and I’m sick and tired of taking Sudafed daily. Plus, it raises my blood pressure.

This procedure makes a lot of sense to me personally since it’s minimally invasive compared to surgery.

But you can find out the facts and decide for yourself.

Neil-Med is another type of sinus flush type product. do not use table or sea salt. only use the pharmacutical grade buffered saline that comes with the flush bottle. theory is high volume of solution at low pressure. it works.

Afrin 12 hour is a great fix to immediately open the sinuses; however, do NOT use it more than 3 days!! It can cause a rebound effect and will make your sinuses always feel “stuffed.” Both my allergist and ENT recommended it to me, and gave me the same information about not using it longer than 3 days.

My allergist just prescribed me Pulmicort to use in my nasal irrigator. It is a steroid intended for inhalation use; however, my allergist prescribed me to put ½ a vial of it in my nasal irrigator two times a day. So far, it has worked MUCH better than Nasonex. I purchased a Sinus Pulse Irrigation System on Amazon for $80 http://www.amazon.com/Grossan-Pulse%C2%AE-Pulsatile-Irrigation-System/dp/B0012VNZ1W. It works WAY better than either the neti pot or Neil Med sinus rinse (I have used both). If you get sinus problems often, it may be a very good investment. You could also use it in a sinus rinse bottle (highly recommend over the neti pot) and that is very inexpensive. If you can’t get a doc to prescribe the Pulimcort (many are not aware of the benefits of adding it to a nasal irrigator), I would still highly recommend Nasonex. It’s worked wonders for me…until I discovered the Pulmicort.

Note about antihistimes: they are not great to use while you have a sinus infection. They will actually thicken the congestion and make it harder to drain. You are doing good with using Sudafed and Mucinex. Mucinex D has both guaifenesin and pseudoephedrine in it. Just be careful, the pseduo started to give me a horrible migrane after using it for a few days. I found that Mucincex D has worked the best for me.

Overall, I think the first step is to start nasal irrigation—if you haven’t already started. It will help you tremendously. I also buy a Nuribiotic Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE) nasal spray from Vitamin Shoppe which has been proven to naturally cure sinus infections. http://www.herbalhealer.com/grapefruitseed.html

Good luck! I am still looking for the PERFECT cure! I need sinus surgery because of a deviated septum and a bone spur. It would be a good idea for you to go to an ENT to ensure that you don’t have any issues with your septum since it can create constant issues.