For the first 41 years of my life I never really paid much attention to the sinuses or what they actually were. I just knew they were somehow connected to the nasal region. That was, until the day that my teenage son thrust his into the limelight. No simple sinus headaches or runny nosed chronic sniffing for him. He went straight for the big one.

It all started with a slightly puffy eyelid, which presented as a little bit more puffy the following day. By day 3, it was even more swollen and wider spread, leaving my son hardly able to open the affected eye. Off to casualty we trotted, and there learned the seriousness of the problem.

He was diagnosed with “orbital cellulitis” which is usually (not always) the result of the bacterial infection Staphylococcus aureus.

This can lead onto all sorts of nasties like blindness, if not caught and treated quickly. All I really wanted from the hospital was the diagnosis. This they provided, along with dispensing antibiotics and steroids.

My son took the antibiotics for 2 days and then we switched over to colloidal silver, but I absolutely did not want him on the steroids. Instead he took the enzyme serrapeptase several times a day. Don’t be misled, this was a serious condition, but he recovered easily and quickly over the next 2-3 days. Now some 15 years later, he has never had a repeat, or any other sinus related problem.

Given that colloidal silver is anti viral, anti bacterial and anti fungal, it hits all possible causes simultaneously when used as a natural remedy for sinus infection. Some schools of thought are now suggesting that any sinus problem is actually fungal related. Serrapeptase meanwhile consumes dead tissue and excess mucus, thereby clearing debris from the body.

From the severest of sinus problems we will now down scale to head aches, bunged up noses and allergies. All uncomfortable and misery making, and not how we are meant to feel. Sinusitis is of course an inflammation of the sinus cavities (the itis word = inflammation) so this needs to be calmed and resolved to prevent further flare-ups.

Is it Sinusitis or Allergic Rhinitis?

A word or two on the similarities of sinusitis to allergic rhinitis symptoms, as it is possible either condition could be confused with the other. However, with rhinitis, the inflammation is in the mucus membranes of the nose rather than having reached the sinus cavities.
Dr. Carolyn Dean has this to say:

“The symptoms of chronic sinusitis include: facial pain, headache, bad breath, cough, a constant need to blow your nose, a watery discharge, and nasal congestion.

When the mucus of allergic rhinitis builds up, it can block the sinuses and lead to sinusitis. The two conditions are commonly linked. When you have symptoms of sinusitis you usually end up on antibiotics. Antibiotics kill off good and bad bacteria allowing yeast to overgrow.”

As occurs so often with standard drug related treatments, one symptom (not cause) eradicated, leads to further health problems down the line.

What to Take:

Magnesium: Dr. Dean has written extensively about the benefits of magnesium for all health related problems. This is one mineral to supplement with immediately, because a deficiency of this feeds inflammation of any type, anywhere in the body.

Serrapeptase: an excellent natural remedy for sinus infection – take as prescribed on the bottle.

Colloidal Silver: take as prescribed on the bottle. Short-term usage, not for every day of the rest of your life!

Liquorice Tincture: this herb is an expectorant, so aids the elimination of excess mucus. It has anti microbial and anti inflammatory actions. Obtain from an herbalist and follow their instructions.

What To Do: Change Your Diet

Cut out dairy foods, as these are incredibly mucus forming. If this does not alter your symptoms in a few days, try a yeast free diet also. Or both at once if you feel you can. To avoid any future repeats of this type of inflammation, change your diet permanently!

Look to high raw, low sugar with good fats. Coconut oil is anti bacterial, anti fungal and anti viral, so be free with this. If you reduce your diet to a simple basic one, you can gradually add foods back in and observe how they affect you. Food is to be enjoyed, but if – like too much alcohol – it makes you feel lousy the next day, don’t you need to reconsider what you are doing to yourself?

Most of us are addicted – and I use that word purposely – to bread and other refined wheat foods. Using my son as an example again, when he was 8 years old he was put on a wheat free diet due to his asthma. At this time (1994) all that was available as an alternative to wheat bread, was a soya loaf. Happily there is a now a vast array of alternatives, but if you have not yet discovered sprouted breads then check them out. They have the consistency of a malt loaf and are very filling. These are made from sprouted wheat, and dehydrated not baked, so are therefore raw. The sprouting of the wheat has an entirely different effect on it than milling it and baking with it, so can often be eaten by those on a wheat free diet.