Quick Sinus Relief: Natural Remedies for Congestion

Apple Cider Vinegar

Posted by Jaimi (Orlando, FL) on 06/06/2008
★★★★★

WOW! I have come to love the wonderful product of ACV. I have had severe allergies and sinus problems since I could walk. Chronic bronchitis, sinusitis, tonsilitis (they have lonce since been removed), rhinitis, etc... I have always taken prescription medication. However I am 8 mos pregnant and have not been able to take anything but over the counter Tylenol products. For the past 3 days I have been down and out with a severe sinus migraine, congestion and pressure. Nothing worked and I am sleep deprived! Adding these symptoms to 8mos of pregnancy spells MISERY for sure. I was desperate so I hopped online and what do you know? I found the same product that cured my husband of his pesky wart will also clear my sinuses. I only wished I found this info sooner! I took 1 tbsp of ACV with 8oz of water and downed. Then I made a mixture and put it in my veggie steamer (ACV is also a great residue cleaner) and sat over it for about 5mins. Everything started to clear up within the hour. I then rinsed with saline solution and I can breathe out of both nostrils! My headache is almost gone and the pressure almost nil! Oh and by the way the ACV steam bath is great for oily skin. I noticed a difference immediately after the face bath. I was then curious to see if this was a known rememdy for acne/skin problems and sure enough it is!!! In fact, Earth Clinic was the first hit.
I am amazed that such a simple, inexpensive product can do so much. Thank you dearly for this site.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Posted by Jaimi (Orlando, FL) on 06/06/2008
★★★★★

Soda Cystals

Posted by Daniella (Beirut, Lebanon) on 05/17/2008
★★★★★

Carbicarb remedy which is a solution for many symptoms!! I had painful red itchy hands with pimples after working in the garden and i took 1/4 teaspoon of soda crystals (baking soda and sodium bicarbonate) in a glass of water the trademark is Tricel, made in the Netherlands, and in one hour the symptoms were gone. I also had running nose and the soda crystals dried my nose. My nose sometimes gets blocked and with daily use of soda crystals can return your nose to its normal condition and opened sinuses. Soda crystals does a lot! It helps my mother sleep easily, it alkalises your brain, helps your hypothalamus and help your exhausted adrenal glands to recover.This remedy and advice i got from Ted, he advised me to take daily soda crystals with a lot of water... It is helping my thyroid problem as well as i have hypothyroidism. I hope it will clean my liver too from the fats and clean it like it cleans a dirty plate. Thanx Ted for the great help you give with your advice as always. You are the best website!!! And Ted is the best! What do we do without Ted? What do we do without Earthclinic? We would probably die.. I am telling everyone i know how great Earthclinic is and they are checking your site.

Ajwain Seeds

Posted by Johnathon (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) on 04/17/2008
★★★★☆

I tried the ajwain seeds a couple of times yesterday and didn't see any results, i followed the instructions to the T, didn't experince any of the sensations that i read from other peoples testamonials, so i then tried the spicy tomato tea and only got minor results. So i made another tea about three hours later and still only minor results, it did however help me sleep better, without having to take my any pills which i normally take to help me sleep.. I woke up without any pressure in my sinuses, and no headache, so this morning a dank another tomato tea, and a couple more througout the day. Along with drinking the tea i decided to steam with apple cyder vinager which really helped loosen up my stuffy sinuses, i added thyme and fenugreek to the cyder, not sure if that helps? im going to try a few more cures from your site, and continue with the tea and steam, and keep searching till i find what works best for me...

Saline Rinse

Posted by Richie (Newport, NC) on 02/21/2007
★★★★★

I have been taking pain killers for four(4) months now, and have noticed mucus was becoming very thick and amber in color. being a person who pays attention to what comes out of my body, I became alarmed. I do not like the idea of taking prescriptions, but at the time this was my option.

Anyway, long story short; found your site, agree with most of your cures, but I also know that one size does not fit all. I tried most of your sinus remedies, payed attention to what ingredients were working, and found a simple technique to drain sinuses early morning w/little prep work. Turn on hot water, grab coffee cup, put 1 tsp sea salt, 1/2 tsp H202, small amount of hot water( enough to make paste out of sea salt) take q-tip, dip in solution until saturated, put in nostril , tilt head back and inhale deep. This will make you cry, but your sinuses will drain immediately. I suppose, just based on my own exp. that when taking meds, the binders in the meds that can't/ or don't get broke down find something else to bind to in your body. For me, it has been my mucus. Which also lends me to believe that the cure is worse then the disease, because we don't know how long these things can stay in our system or what else they are attaching themselves to that can become problematic over the course of your life

Vicks

Posted by Amanda (Coats, NC) on 05/01/2007
★★★★★

I found that putting a table spoon full of vicks vapor rub in a pot of hot water and bringing it to a boil when the pot comes to a boil turn it down to low and hang your head at a safe didtange from the pot and put a towl over your head and breath in breathe deeply with your nose. it will be difficult to breathe in at first but it gets easier with each inhelation of your nose. HOPE THIS HELPS SOMEONE

Salsa, Cayenne, Garlic

Posted by Ken (Arlington, VA) on 02/03/2007
★★★★★

I have been getting more involved in home remedies. Just worked out the sore throat issue then I had to focus on the sinus drainage which will also contribute to having a sore throat due to the thick mucus running from the sinuses down to the back of the throat. I read that you can use tomato juice and certain herbs. This is what I had to do since I do not have tomato juice in my home. One cup of medium spicy salsa, 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, 2 teaspoons of minced garlic, 1 tablespoon of honey. I heated this up (covered) in the microwave for 2 minutes, let it set for 5 minutes. Then I drained all of the juice into another cup (leaving out any salsa chunks) then I slowly drank the spicy concoction. Man, did the drainage begin. REMEMBER: when sinuses are draining, always blow your nose and spit out the mucus. You will start to get rid of any bacteria that might have collected in the membranes during the time of mucus build up. Also try to drink clear fluid. I prefer warm lemonade with 1 teaspoon of garlic juice. It really does the trick.

Tea, Garlic, Cayenne, Ginseng, Royal Jelly

Posted by Ken (Arlington, VA) on 02/03/2007
★★★★★

Simple remedy that is working for me to assist in ridding your body of sinus issues and assisting in the reduction of sore throat is just this.... 1 cup of litely presweetened tea, 1 teaspoon of minced garlic, 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, 1 vile of ginseng and royal jelly. Heat in the cup for about 2 minutes, let set for another couple of minutes and slowly drink. You will start to feel the sore throat go away while your sinuses drainage. It also appears to help me relax. Always remember to discard of any excess mucus in order to get rid of the bacteria that has collected in your sinus cavities during the time of mucus build up. Good luck to everyone.

Neti Pot Remedy

Posted by A.C. (Atlanta, GA) on 01/07/2007
★★★★★

I had a cold for about a week and a half. It finally developed into one of the worst sinus infections I have ever had---to top it off, I am 6 months pregnant. After 2 days of pure misery, I went to the doctor. He gave me an rx for an antiobiotic. After 2 days of taking it and pseudoephedrine round the clock, I was still miserable. My head pounded, my nose was totally clogged on both sides, and my head felt like it was going to explode. Desperate to try anything, I went to Walgreens and purchased "SinuCleanse"--a product complete with a neti pot and saline packets. I used it every 2 hours for the first day, along with drinking the ACV/water mixture 2x's/day, and by the second day, I had relief. I could breathe and could tell my head was starting to clear up! By far the best thing that I had tried! Thanks for your website! It has helped tremendously!

Neti Pot Remedy

Posted by Carla (Syracuse, NY) on 05/19/2007
★★★★★

My ears were plugged solid due to a head cold. I happened to watch 'Oprah' that day and saw a Dr using a 'sinus wash' to clear out sinus. He used a 'nose biday (sp?)' with warm salt water. I found in my house a sippy cup with a straw attatched. Stand over the sing. Tip your head sideways and pour the warm mixture in & up that nostril...until it starts coming out the other nostril. I found it helpful to push the back of my tongue up against the back of my throat so it wouldn't come down my throat. When the mixture starts coming out of the opposite nostil, stop. Do the other side. The blow the hell out of your nose. IT WORKS! OMG I was so happy to HEAR again after a week!!

Oregano Oil

Posted by Jennifer (Albuquerque, NM) on 12/03/2006
★★★★★

I tried ACV, the spicy tomato tea, the onion halves with brown sugar, and the garlic soup. Especially the tomato tea and ACV brought some temporary relief from a month-long cough and sinus congestion that I'd had almost as long. As far as I'm concerned, though, the #1 choice and remedy should be Oil of Oregano. I bought a jar last Tues. and began taking three per day with meals. I am so encouraged and feel at least 95% well again. After doing some research on it I now know that this is an amazing product! Perhaps it doesn't work the same for everyone but it has done so much for me in six days. I've also been using a good quality colloidal silver in a nasal spray bottle. This has probably worked alongside the Oil of Oregano for the sinus congestion. It cured a month-long cough/bronchitis and sinus congestion. I'm wondering now if I could have increased the dosage of Oil of Oregano to say four a day. I've stayed at 3/day since I couldn't find any info. to let me know if more would be too much of a good thing. Any thoughts on that?

Grapefruit Seed Extract

Posted by Sherry (Weatherford, TX) on 11/19/2006
★★★★★

I suffered for years from chronic sinusitis that would last for months at a time with little or no relief. I was taking Cipro until my Dr. voiced his concern for my future. He told me that because I am allergic to Penicillin and I was taking the strongest prescription of Cipro available with little effect, if I got a bad infection, there would be nothing that they could do for me. This made me look for an alternative natural cure. I found out about GSE online and immediately bought it. I had been suffering at that time with an episode of sinusitis that had lasted for over 2 months straight with facial/head pain. I was desperate! I mixed it with water and a little salt and sniffed it as instructed, and within 30 minutes I felt and actually heard crackling in my sinuses. I started feeling relief, and by the next day I felt better than I had in years! It totally subsided within about 3 days. I have not had sinusitis since that day. Anytime I feel any sinus pressure or a cold coming on, I reach for the GSE. I bought the bottle 4 years ago for $18 and I am still using the same bottle. What a great and inexpensive cure!

Ajwain Seeds

Posted by Mamta (Indiana) on 10/27/2006
★★★★★

i haven't taken any off the counter medicines for colds since 5 yrs !! and my condition was pretty bad when i came to the US. we got Ajwain seeds from an indian store or you will find it in the indian section of a chineses food store . Ajwain is indian oregano but very strong. everytime i get a cold and chest is congested...i take one tsp of ajwain and roast it on a flat pan. once it starts to smoke , quiclky put in a kitchen tissue and take deep inhalations, it makes you sneeze since all the nerve in the nose are raw from the cold....but in 5 minutes it all peaceful, no more colds. and RELIEF...esp. helpful in asthmatic attacks.....also have a strong concaction of ginger,black pepper, clove, basil and cinnamon...boil it in water for 5-10 min and after it cools a bit put a tsp of honey and have it hot. honey should not be heated. according to Ayurveda all these thing reduce phlegm in the body.... enjoy

Cayenne

Posted by Devon (USA) on 12/26/2006
★★★★★

Just a quick amendment to what I said earlier.

USE ONLY ONE TABLESPOON OF PEPPER IF NOT A LITTLE BIT LESS. One tablespoon per cup was pretty hot. And if you use that recipe it's a fairly big batch so you can save what you don't use and reheat the mixture in the microwave if you need it later. If you are using the stuff I used (the kind of red pepper sprinkled on pizza instead of whole peppers) I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND STRAINING and possibly even use a cheese cloth. If the stuff gets in the back of your throat it can really tickle.

Cayenne

Posted by Devon (Scottsdale, AZ) on 12/26/2006
★★★★★

This is a very good temporary solution. Some people claim that it helps with sore throats but I'm still testing this theory. I found these steps to be particularly effective.

1. Heat about one cup of water to steaming and add about 1 tablespoons of red (cayenne) peppers. Stir for approximately one minute and press the peppers with a spoon as you would a teabag for added heat. (Easy Tip: The peppers do not have to be fresh and I actually used the bottled kind that people sprinkle on pizza)

2. Strain. (You may chose not to do this if you like chunky water.... EWWW!)

3. Try not to burn your mouth! Blow on the mixture for a little bit (just like you would tea!) and gargle for at least 20 seconds at least three or four times. (It helps to swallow a bit of the mixture)

4. Blow your nose until it's ALL outta there and you're not getting the post-nasal drip! (THIS IS KEY) Repeat every 15 minutes as necessary. My personal experience may differ from yours. Today I was diagnosed with a sinus infection and I commonly have these (about every 3 months) so I figured why not try something new.

I would also recommend a saline nasal spray to bathe the sinuses morning and night. This has a similar effect and disinfects your nose. It works! I find that the more you use these methods the more effective they are.

Cayenne

Posted by Jen (Toronto, Ontario) on 10/04/2006
★★★★★

I drank a mixture of lemon water cayenne pepper and syrup. Within a few hours, not only was my sinus clear but so was my chest and I could breathe much better.

Salt Water

Posted by Erin (San Diego, CA) on 09/15/2006
★★★★★

My 12 yr old son just did this when he woke up this morning. He has chronic allergies and sinus troubles from Sept-May and a nurse friend suggested this to me many years ago. It has worked wonders for my kids anytime allergies or congestion kick in. He went from not being able to breathe at all this morning, to breathing comfortably.