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In wintertime, the outside air is cold and dry, while the indoor air is even dryer. As a result our nasal passages become dry, cannot protect us which makes us susceptible to germs. One of the most usual winter illnesses is common cold caused by several viruses, with symptoms like a runny nose, congestion and scratchy throat. When the virus moves to the sinuses, we develop a sinus infection otherwise called sinusitis.
The symptoms of acute sinusitis are:
One of the principal ways either to prevent ourselves from getting sick from sinusitis or to relieve early sinusitis symptoms is to promote drainage and keep nasal passages clear. Some methods to achieve this are:
Daily rinsing of the nasal passages. We can use water, morning and night, to clean the nasal passages from excess mucus and to moisten membranes. During the day, the use of nasal saline spray can effectively moisten nasal passages.
When we drink a lot of water we enhance hydration, which helps keep the mucus thin and loose. We can have a bottle of water at our desk at work or put a glass near the kitchen sink as a reminder to drink water throughout the day.
This can be achieved during a hot shower or by inhaling steam from boiling water. The steps for the second method are to boil water, then pour it into a pan, place a towel over our head and carefully bend over the pan to inhale the steam. It is important to keep some distance at first and move in gradually to a comfortable zone to avoid burns.
A good solution to keep our environment humid enough and our nasal passages moist, is the use of a humidifier at home (ideally near the bed) and at work. We should always be mindful to keep humidifiers clean and free of bacteria and mould.
Sleeping with the head higher that the rest of the body. By using pillows or a wedge during sleep, we prevent mucus from pooling into the sinuses at night.
