Sinus Infections - Editor's Choice

Prior to using oregano oil blend (OOB), whenever I felt a cold coming on, I would gargle and/or use a qtip with 50/50 Hydrogen Peroxide and water to swab the inside of my nose. This worked well to hold off most infections, but there were times that swabbing the nose was not enough to reach the deepest regions of the sinus cavity.

I had been googling the topic and stumbled across people inhaling or using the neti pot to solve the problem. Since I wasn't interested in using a neti pot, it seemed logical to me to somehow get the OOB vapors into my nose and throat. The good news is that it was VERY EASY, and quick. All I had to do was microwave half a cup of water in a mug for 2 min and put 2 drops of OOB in it. Once it was ready, I would take 20 to 30 deep breaths (working my way up to it, since the first few inhalations sting) over the next couple of minutes (with eyes closed, otherwise it will sting your eyes). The great thing about OOB is that it has multiple traits. It's anti-microbial, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidant. But the thing that really surprised me is that it's also an anesthetic/analgesic.

So, while the first 10 sniffs stung, after a while the stinging went away and OOB's analgesic property kicked in. Any pain or discomfort in my sinuses or throat was pretty much eliminated, and that lasted many hours. If the pain lingered I would do another round. That alone (the pain relief) would be enough to recommend the regimen, but it also hits the viruses and bacteria causing the problem. Wow! And to cap it all off, each “treatment” costs about 3 cents.

To be clear, if your pain is in your sinuses, inhale via your nose. If it's in the throat, inhale through your mouth. With throat pain, I would also do the water/peroxide gargle to hit it from both sides.

Without any doubt, this is the MOST powerful thing in my arsenal to fight colds and viruses. It's truly amazing. And I'm shocked that there's not been more written on the Internet about this. Most people recommend putting a few drops of OOB under the tongue, but I've tried that, and it doesn't compare to the immediate benefits of inhaling it. I hope you try this out and reap the benefits. God Bless you all!

He was desperate, so he tried 4 parts distilled water to 1 part 3% hydrogen peroxide, flushed sinus with neti pot and then let it bubble in nose for 5-10 minutes, (burns a little). Suddenly a profuse amount of mucous began to bubble out, flushed several times, and let it set afterwards each time, at which each time large amounts of thick mucous bubbled out of his sinus. All through the day, it would continue to pour profuse amounts of thick mucous.

This was finally the answer, Praise God some relief.

I did my 7 doctor rounds for my sinus infections no luck... So, I did research and cured my sinus infection naturally and so fast. I was amazed by it! I think the magic is in the tea tree and oregano oil.

Directions:

Get 1 clean sterilized glass quart jar fill it with four cups ( 4 cups makes one quart) of distilled or filtered water. I boil the water for ten minutes to sterilize then you MUST let if cool down to room temperature.

Then add

• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
• Then add only one drop of Oregano Oil and add one drop of Tea Tree oil. These two oils are strong so one drop of each is all you need.

Pour the cooled solution into neti pot. I used this solution a couple times during the day and then again right before bed.

Here is the key:

When I pour this solution into my sinuses using my neti pot, I stand over the sink and I tilt my head slightly downward in the sink and then I take a deep breath in using my nose while pouring the solution into my sinuses. Then I hung my head upside down for 15 minutes and moved my head side to side and back to get the solution deep into my sinuses. Keep a towel handy in case it begins spilling out.

After 15 minutes I release the solution into the sink and spray the sink with disinfectant. I truly hope this helps someone as much as it has me.

I decided to come here and saw the Hydrogen peroxide cure and decided to take a shot in the dark.

I have a plastic neti pot. I know that table salt is a no-no, but it's what I had available, so that is what I used.

I used 1/4 teaspoon of salt and two teaspoons of hydrogen Peroxide in warm distilled water and cleaned out each nostril.

I did that when I got home from work and did it again before I went to bed. I also did it this morning before work.

The "sick infected" feeling that I had along with the chills; GONE! I slept all night! I could taste my food again and could smell again which told me that my husband had lied to me about smoking in the house, because I smelled it! He got an earful! LOL!

I will do this again when I get home from work. I am in awe of this inexpensive and highly effective treatment! For about $1.00, I am almost 100%, where a visit to the doctor along with scripts, would have cost me about $400 or more.

After getting a cold, this time in the middle of summer, I decided to give HP sinus rinse a try. Based on the everyone's input, here are some tips that help cleared up my sinus infection in about two days.

* Always have these supplies on hand so you don't have to run to the market when you feel a cold coming on.

(1) Unopened one gallon of distilled water which is only fresh for about one week after it's opened. (Do not use filtered drinking water, RO or tap water.)

(2) Premixed sinus (salt) packets (they come in 100 packet boxes) from the drug store near the neti pot section. (Do not use cooking salt.)

(3) 3% HP

(4) Baking Soda

(5) Clean disinfected dispenser: neti pot, sinus rinsing bubble or use your nostrils to suck up the liquid mixture from the edge of a cup's edge (a short cut that may require some skills).

* Don't vary too much from 1 teaspoon of 3% HP for 6 oz of distilled water or you risk an ineffective solution or getting your sinus burned. If you are afraid of getting burned, use 1/2 teaspoon of 3% HP and work your way up to 1 teaspoon. Don't be tempted to add more HP thinking it will be more effective. When I tried to add more HP, it stings badly and swelled up my sinus for a couple of hours. Add a pinch of baking soda if you have it in your kitchen and stir to dissolve the solids.

* Get in front of a sink, upon flooding your sinus tilt your forehead down towards the sink drain (watch out for the tap, lol), then turn you right ear towards the drain for a few seconds then your left ear. These positions enable the solution to flood different parts of your sinus. Lift your head and allow the solution to drain drain from your nostrils. Wipe what ever that comes out so you don't contaminate the area near your nostrils with tap water. If you want to blow your nose do not blow hard and do not block one nostril to blow out the other since too much pressure may cause the solution to seep into unintended tubes connected to your sinus. To rinse the area between the sinus and the throat, you should keep an upright position throughout the flooding and keep your mouth open. The draining will gravitate towards your throat so it can be redirect to your month to be spit out into the sink. Do not swallow the solution.

* You might want to do this rinse upon waking up, just before bedtime and optionally an additional rinse in between. You should see the mucus clear up within a day. I hope it works for you as well it did for me :-)

After a lifetime of sinus misery, stumbled on this idea. Sinus infection for past 6 mos. Began steaming with plain water 1 week ago. Helped a bit. Tried the vinegar and water steam and it is amazing. Clearing up my sinuses, can breathe almost normally for the first time in years. So impressed, have begun drinking a small shot of vinegar once a day. Very happy with the results.

Here's what I do: dip a couple of cotton swabs in h2o2. Insert the swabs into the nostrils...one nostril at a time (I do both at the same time.) Ease the swabs back until only an inch is sticking out...and leave them for a minute or so. (Often it makes me sneeze.)

After you remove the swabs give your nose a good blow. Voila! I do this two or three times a day if I'm sick. It's definitely great before bed if you're congested. And it keeps a sinus infection from grabbing hold.

The problem was not the vinegar/Neti pot process. I had used way too much vinegar. I just did it again, using only 4-6 DROPS of vinegar. The thick nasal mucus immediately started to drain; and it went from thick white/slightly yellow tint to clear. And my breathing is clear and my sense of smell is working again.

FYI, when blowing your nose, pinch/press close one side and blow the other. Then do the same on the other side. Do not blow hard, it will force infectious agent into the ear canal, and create another problem. Instead inhale through an open mouth and huff blow in a 1,2,3 pattern until the 1 nasal side is cleared and do the same on the other side.

Then mix in a teaspoon of Baby Shampoo and give it a shake to make it sudsy. The baby shampoo will help to dissolve the bio films that protect the bacteria from both the salt solution and antibiotics.

Use this to rinse your sinus, but especially hold some of the mixture in, tip you head upside-down and really let the mixture get into the upper sinus. Breath in through your nose at the some time to bubble and wash the mixture. Tilt your head one side for 20 seconds, then the other. Let the mixture out, then squeeze some more up there, but this time hold your head parallel to the floor then tip one side for 20 seconds, then the other. This will address the sinus cavities under your eye sockets. Use up remaining mixture to flush.

Then you need to mix another neti pot mixture adding some peroxide.

Start with 1/4 teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide and go up from there depending on tolerance. Repeat whole procedure to target upper and middle sinus cavities.

People have posted about the pain of the sinus wash. I can tell you that when your sinus is infected the wash does hurt. Just washing an open wound would hurt or sting. But...if your sinus is healthy, it does not hurt. You can feel the peroxide bubbling and oxygenating, but it's not at all painful. So with your sinus infection, start with a small amount of Baby Shampoo and Peroxide and work up to larger amounts. As your sinus begins to heal, you will find you can tolerate more of the peroxide.

I would like to add, when you use peroxide, it doesn't just wash out the bad bacteria, it washes out ALL bacteria, good and bad. So it's a good idea to use some probiotics. Some people put the probiotic powder into a saline solution and flush the sinus to in the hope that some of the probiotics will stay put and re-colonise the sinus with good bacteria. I personally put the powder on the back of the tongue at night when I'm going to sleep and let it naturally migrate its way up into the sinus.

- Hope this helps. xx

So, last year, after speaking with a friend who had much success boosting her own immune system by using probiotics, I decided to also give probiotics a try and vowed to commit to using natural therapies whenever possible to try to boost my immune system back to health. And then, just as things seemed to be going so well, I caught an aggressive upper respiratory bug that was going around my office. As was typical for me, the virus itself ran its course in about 7 or 8 days, but I was left with a horrible sinus infection that just seemed to keep hanging on and was getting worse. It was making life miserable an just about knocked me out.

Since it was the height of cold and flu season, I was unable to get an appointment with my doctor, who would have just prescribed antibiotics for the sinus infection anyway, something I had worked the whole year to avoid. Then, I stumbled across an article about adding 1 tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide to your regular neti pot solution and thought what the heck, I would give it a try.

The formula is this: I empty one dry saline mix packet (I get the over-the-counter packets, they're pre-mixed, easy to use and buffered right so they don't sting) into a clean, sterile neti pot first, add 1 tablespoon hydrogen peroxide (no more than that or it will be uncomfortable and could irritate the lining at the back of the nasal passages), then fill the rest of the pot to the inside rim with distilled water, put the lid on and give it a few shakes to mix it well. Then use the rinse as usual. I do half the solution on one side of my nose, then switch and use the remaining half of the solution on the other side, for a full sinus rinse.

I did this 3 times a day for 5 days - Once when I got up in the morning, once when I got home from work, and once right before bedtime. I could immediately feel (and see) the difference when adding the hydrogen peroxide to the neti pot rinse.

Within 3 days the sinus infection was gone and within 5 days the swelling in my nasal passages had abated and my nasal muscus was back to clear. After that, my cough cleared right up as well because I had no more infection seeping down into my lungs from the sinus infection.

I have not had a sinus, ear or lung infection since. I continue to add a tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide to my regular neti pot solution in this way whenever my sinuses feel a little "iffy." It could be allergies, or it could be a virus. Either way, adding in the hydrogen peroxide has worked wonders for me.

In addition to this sinus rinse, I also use several drops of straight hydrogen peroxide in each of my ears for about 10 minutes each side to ward off cold and flu whenever I have been exposed to sick people. It works great to keep the ear canal clean and free of wax buildup, too.

I am a firm believer in hydrogen peroxide and its healing properties and I will also be adding Bill Munroe's inhalation technique to my repertoire of holistic remedies in the future.

I'm a convert, can't believe how great the grapefruit seed extract worked! Thanks again for everyone's testimonials, otherwise I would have never tried it. Paying it forward.

To clarify, for natural remedy rookies like myself that may read this:

- grapefruit seed extract (gse), 4 drops added to your nasal irrigation salt water...make sure not too much salt or it will irritate your nose. I use about 8 oz. water, enough salt to taste it but not strong, 4 drops gse. Stir and squirt into each nostril three times each day until symptoms gone.

- apple cidar vinegar taken orally with 8 oz water, 1 table spoon acv.

-echinacea taken orally mixed in water, 2 droppers of .5 ml, twice a day

Hope this helps other sinusitis / sinus infection sufferers as much as it did me!

I started researchin natiral cures and remedies and came upon this site. THANK MY LUCKY STARS!!!!!! I started ACV 2 tsp in 8 oz of warm water with honey. After the first dose, my I noticed drastic improvements. I was able to blow my nose and feel my sinus open, snot actually came out! After 2 days, my ears opened. Every time I took the ACV the condition improved!!!!!!!! After a week I could sleep through the night comfortably, breathe easily through out my day, and then I started oil pulling with sesame oil. Things got even better. Even though I felt fine, and the stuff still coming out of my nose was clear, the first time I did the oil pulling LARGE amounts of super icky green and yellow snot came out of my nose.

Also as a result of the OP I have noticed my skin improving, I no longer need moisturizer and it's cold outside! To top it off i've recently started with kelp and BSM. The kelp is for the iodine that can be lost while taking Apple Cider Vinegar and the molasses for iron. Now thanks to the great information i've found on this site ACV has become a staple in my home. ALSO I've lost 5 pounds. Super!!! Thanks for the help!

I used 1 tbsp (or more) of raw, unfiltered, unpasteurized, apple cider vinegar with "mother" in a small glass of water every couple of hours. Found this at the health food store. I don't even know what "mother" is!

It is now 15 hours in - the headache is gone, I can breathe and my cold symptoms are disappearing. Note: I am also using chewable vitamin C tablets to supplement. I had to share this with someone. I have suffered with this problem off and on for years. Deviated septum sometimes clogs up 1 side of my nose. George

This remedy is fantastic and gave me immediate relief! Thank you to all who posted their sinus infection remedies. After trying out a bunch of remedies without much luck, this one cured my sinus infection very quickly. I also took grapefruit seed extract as well and I think that helped as well.

A neti pot (or the plastic kind you find in the pharmacy, which is what I used) filled with:
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon hydrogen peroxide (3%)
and warm water

cured my sinus infection in a few hours. I did this twice a day and continue to do it at least once a day for my remaining sinus congestion.

I am grateful I didn't have to resort to antibiotics!!!

The benefits: 1) When you irrigate, the hypertonic saline acts as a solvent and washes the mucus crusts and other debris from your nose. 2) The higher salt concentration pulls fluid out of the swollen membranes and shrinks them. This decongests and improves the air flow into your nose. The sinus passages begin to open. 3) Studies have also shown that high concentration salt water improves cell function (ciliary beat pattern).

The recipe: 1) Choose a one-quart glass jar that is thoroughly cleansed. 2) Fill with bottled water. 3) Add 2-3 heaping tablespoons of pickling/canning salt, NOT table salt as it contains a large number of additives. Sea salt may also be used. 4) Add 1 teaspoon Arm & Hammer baking soda (pure bicarbonite). 5) Mix ingredients together and store at room temperature. Discard after one week. If you find the solution too strong, you may decrease the amount of salt to 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons. With children it is often better to start with a milder solution and advance slowly.

The instructions: 1) You should plan to irrigate your nose with hypersonic saline 2-3 times per day. 2) You may use a small glass cup like a shot glass. 3) Pour a small amount into the shot glass or small cup. DO NOT contaminate the quart solution. Many people prefer to warm the solution slightly in the microwave but be sure the solution is NOT HOT. 4) Stand over a sink, close the left nostral with the left thumb and hold the small glass container under the right nostral. 5) Tilt your head back slightly so that you can slowly inhale the solution. The solution will start flowing into your throat. Close the right nostral with the left index finger to trap the saline inside the nostrals as you remove the small glass cup. 6) Keep the nostrals closed and tilt your head forward into the sink to allow the solution to enter the upper sinus cavities for several seconds while breathing through your mouth. 7) Open your nostrals & mouth to allow the saline to flow out. 8) Gentle blow your nose into the sink being careful not to force the saline into the ear canal. 9) Repeat for the left nostral. 10) Repeat for each nostral until clear. 11) For younger children, you may want to place the solution into a pump spray container such as Ocean Spray, clean bulb/ear syringe, large medical syringe (30cc) or water pick with irrigation tip. DO NOT FORCE your child to lay down. It is much easier to do in a sitting or standing position.

Hydrogen peroxide can be added to the solution in small amounts increasing to the 50/50 ratio recommended for mouth rinse as directed on the bottle.

Guaifenesin (Mucinex or other brand) is an expectorant that also assists loosening phlegm & thinning bronchial secretions.

Hypersonic saline nasal irrigation along with Guaifenesin at the first signs of congestion have kept my sinuses infection free and avoided antibiotics for years.

Here's to your good health.

Two weeks ago my cheek blew up badly and eventually a salivary stone 1/8" by 5/16" came out of the duct. I thought the problem was solved but the swelling persisted. It got so bad that the pain eventually drove me to a doctor. He found another stone was in the duct, about 1/8" by 1/8". The larger stone had a point on it which I was able to grab with tweezers and pull out but this one doesn't and I'm still working on it. But I'm able to push it aside and let the gland drain. Although it fills back up, when drained I was amazed to find my hearing improved and my sinus on that side drained and I could breathe freely.

I had always thought there was a reason for the initial swelling but when I mentioned that I read about salivary stones on the internet and asked an oral surgeon if that could be the problem, he actually got mad and said things like "everyone thinks they're an expert because they read it on the internet". I had asked nicely and couldn't believe his response. I had been miserable for weeks and felt like throwing a punch in his direction but I just left the office. My guess is that he lost a bundle when net stocks crashed.

I wanted to leave this message to show how a seemingly unrelated problem can cause sinus and hearing symptoms... I think an infection has been dragging me down for years and although it's not over yet I feel better than I have for a long time since I've gotten most of the infection out. So check for hard lumps in the gland, from what I've read these stones are more common than most believe.

I found I wasn't sure how much of each thing I needed, so I ended up with way too much, but here's the recipe I used, you can figure out how to scale it down:

1 cup boiling filtered water (tap water run through my Brita filter)
3 Tablespoons Natural Sea Salt
3 Tablespoons 3% solution Hydrogen Peroxide

I boiled a kettle of water to make sure I killed off anything in there that might get me a WORSE infection, poured out 1 Cup into a measuring cup, stirred in the sea salt until it dissolved, then added the Peroxide, stirred it up, let it cool down to just warm. I sterilized a child's medicine dropper (holds 1 tablespoon of liquid) with rubbing alcohol, and then used that to suck the solution up from measuring cup. I then leaned over the arm of my couch with a towel under my chin and on the floor (this IS a little messy), so that my head was hanging upside down, and then gently squirted a full dropper into each nostril, one at a time, gently shaking my head to move it around, held it as long as I could, then sat up, let it finish dripping out, and GENTLY blew my nose. My left nostril was the real culprit this time, so I did the procedure on it twice. The whole thing took less than 15 minutes to prepare, cool solution and administer, and I felt almost instant relief. Within a half hour, after GENTLY blowing my nose several times, I felt 100% better! I was still a little skeptical, but when I woke up this morning, I felt great! I don't know what it is that makes this solution work, but it does! It probably didn't hurt that I also made sure to take some vitamins, drank a half a gallon of grape juice and had chicken soup for dinner - liquids and vitamins in your system surely help your body combat something like this. It's also important to note that I was very careful to make sure that everything I used to prepare this remedy and put it into my sinus cavity was STERILIZED. The morning after I still have some slight congestion and have had to blow my nose a few times, but the mucus is almost clear, I can actually GET IT OUT, and there is no headache or toothache - AT ALL. Hope this helps someone else, I feel SO much better, and I had been looking at what I knew was another week to ten days of worse misery.