What is a sinus?

A sinus is a hollow, air-filled cavity. Humans have four pair of these cavities each referred to as the:

• frontal sinus (in forehead),
• maxillary sinus (behind cheeks),
• ethmoid sinus (between the eyes), and
• sphenoid sinus (deep behind the eyes)

Each sinus has an opening into the nose for free exchange of air and mucus.

What is sinusitis?

Sinusitis occurs when your sinuses get inflamed. The inflammation is often due to an infection, caused by a virus, bacteria, or fungus. The sinus infection causes intermittent blockage of the sinus opening.

Sinusitis can be acute (going on less than four weeks), subacute (4-8 weeks) or chronic (going on for 8 weeks or more)

What are the symptoms of acute sinusitis?

The symptoms of acute sinusitis include:

• Facial pain or pressure
• Nasal stuffiness
• Nasal discharge
• Congestion or cough
• Loss of smell

Acute sinusitis may also include some additional symptoms, such as fever, bad breath or toothache.

Why are antibiotics not effective in the treatment of sinusitis?

When the sinus cavities are inflamed, their openings narrow or become completely blocked. Antibiotics are unable to permeate the blocked sinus cavities in sufficient concentration to kill the bacteria. At the same time, more and more bacteria gain resistance to antibiotics. Furthermore, long-term antibiotic treatment is almost always followed by development of fungal infection.

Fungal infections of the sinuses have recently been blamed for causing most cases of chronic sinusitis.
Antimycotic drugs often have no long-term action and the infection lingers on.
The best antimycotic treatment is to boost the immune system because as soon as the conventional antifungal medication is stopped, the fungus tends to reappear.

Homeopathic treatment for sinusitis

Homeopathic treatment is fast acting and effective in acute and chronic sinusitis. The treatment of sinusitis does not only drain the sinuses and kill the germs but it also acts on the root cause thus preventing recurrences.

If you are prone to recurrent sinusitis, you will find two homeopathic medicines very effective in sinusitis prevention. You should take either Sticta pulmonaria or Kalium iodatum as soon as your first symptoms of a cold and a rhinitis occur. You need Sticta if you have a sensation of fullness and pain at the root of the nose, as if you were wearing tight-fitting glasses. You also have a constant need to blow your nose but no discharge comes out.
Kalium iodatum patients have the opposite symptoms - copious watery discharge from the nose, burning tears, puffy nose and eyes, frontal headache.

When purulent discharge has already occurred, other homeopathic medicines are helpful:

• Mercurius solubilis - greenish, excoriating discharge; coated tongue, foul breath.
• Hepar sulphur is one of the best homeopathic medicines for painful purulent sinusitis. Pain is worse by cold and is relieved by warm applications.
• Kali bichromicum - the discharge is sticky elastic yellow-greenish plugs in the nostrils that start bleeding when removed.
• Hydrastis - yellow sticky postnasal drip. When they try to blow their nose, the discharge doesn`t come out but flows in the throat and they start coughing.
• Mezereum - burning pains in the nose and the jaws. Yellow-greenish discharge streaked with blood.
• Cinnabaris - pain and swelling around the eyes. Eyes are scarlet red.
• Lachesis - when the flow suddenly stops triggering severe pain. Lachesis often unblocks the sinus and the flow reappears.

Also use saline nasal spray three times a day to moisten and clean out the nostrils. Blow your nose before and after spray`s application.

If you suffer from recurrent or chronic sinusitis, you need a constitutional treatment prescribed by a homeopathic doctor that will boost your immune system and prevent recurrences.

For more information about homeopathic treatment`s efficacy in chronic sinusitis click here.