If you’re a regular sinusitis sufferer then there are a number of things that you can do. Firstly, go to your doctor al the first sign of a sinus infection – you may nip it in the bud. Secondly, when an infection begins, a short course of decongestants may open up the antrum and allow proper and adequate drainage of the sinuses. But beware, decongestants should only be used for a maximum of ten days without seeking further advice from your doctor, as otherwise rebound congestion can occur to make matters much worse.
A word of caution here. If you’re on anti-depressant drugs called monoamine-oxidas inhibitors (MAOIs for short) you can get a severe reaction if you use decongestants, either by mouth or as nasal drops. You should know if you’re on an MAOI because you will already have been warned not to eat cheese. These drugs are not in common use now, but because the blood pressure is sent sky high, the interaction is potentially fatal.
If you’re an allergic person, then try to avoid the things that you’re allergic to; not always easy, but worthwhile if you can do it. Hay fever and dust-mite allergy are significant causes of nasal allergies. What we call hayfever is actually a reaction to a large number of different types of airborne pollens, and not just to those produced by grasses.
These pollens are released at specific times of the year, for example, silver birch in April to May; plane (a common tree in London) in May; grasses from May to August; and nettle from June to September. After this, in the autumn come the spores from moulds and fungi.
Many hayfever sufferers are allergic to only one or two types of pollens and spores, and the timing of their worst symptoms coincides with the release of pollen from those particular species. Pollen is so small that it needs a microscope to be seen, and being small and very light it remains suspended in the air for considerable periods of time. When it lands on the lining of the nasal passages the allergic reaction it provokes causes inflammation and swelling of the cells lining the nose, together with increased mucus production. Both these processes cause the nasal passages to become blocked.
Hayfever is worst when there is the most pollen in the air. This depends upon a large number of factors, whether the plants you are allergic to grow in your area (or up-wind), whether they are sporing at the time, and the weather conditions (which can either encourage sporing and also keep spores in, or wash them out of the air). In general, dry sunny weather encourages plants to produce spores. The amount of pollen in the air increases during the morning when the pollen is released. This pollen rises, sometimes into the upper atmosphere. The pollen count also goes up again in late afternoon when this pollen starts to descend. Rainy conditions tend to wash the pollen out of the atmosphere, but on the other hand, wet conditions before the pollen season encourage plants to produce even more pollen when eventually they pollinate.
The chief self-help principle for hayfever sufferers is to avoid the pollen to which you are allergic. Try to avoid parks, gardens, and the countryside in general; watch the weather reports, which often include a pollen count, and on days that are likely to be bad try to stay indoors with the windows shut. When driving in the countryside keep the windows closed, and when out walking use sunglasses.
If you are severely affected it may help to take a short holiday during the worst of your own hayfever season – because there is relatively less pollen in cities you may have less trouble there. The seaside also tends to have less pollen – if for n other reason than if there is an on-shore breeze it will be coming from over the water and thus blowing pollen-free air towards you. High mountain areas are also a good place to go to; up in the mountains the grasses tend to produce less pollen.
Going abroad may help. For a start the same plants may pollinate at slightly different times because the seasons may be earlier (if you go south) or later (if you go north). In addition, the plants that are common to the new area may be ones t which you’re not allergic. Often hayfever sufferers find that their symptoms g almost completely when they go on a foreign holiday.
Allergy to dust mite is like hayfever, except that it occurs all year round. Ho dust consists largely of old skin flakes that have been shed by people living in house, and dust mites are microscopically small insects that live off these flakes skin. Both of these substances can prove highly allergic to certain sensitive people, and are often responsible for the symptoms of a continual running nose, made worse by exposure to dusty rooms.
Self-help is not easy because it is impossible to remove dust completely from your home. However, a reduction in soft furnishings will help. Polished wooden floors, linoleum or cork tiling may be better than a deep-pile carpet; Venetian blinds better than curtains, and duvets better than blankets.
You can cut down the amount of dust by frequent damp dusting (dry dusting merely serves to push more dust into the air again). Regular vacuuming of the carpets helps (especially in the bedroom and under the beds), and of the curtains, and from time to time the mattress and the blankets.
Wash your curtains, and of course your blankets, regularly; sunlight kills off the dust mite so drying blankets in the sunshine will help considerably. Put clothes away in wardrobes rather than leaving them hanging on chairs or on the back of a door; and, finally, remember that the dust mite tends to inhabit wool in preference to man-made fibres. Therefore, if you choose mainly man-made fibres for your clothes, your bedding and your soft furnishings, you may reduce your long-term problems.
Passive smoking can cause a lot of problems for those who are sensitive or allergic to tobacco smoke, and is yet another good reason for banning smoking -or, at least, providing smoke-free /.ones in offices, restaurants, public transport and other public places. Even a brief exposure to tobacco smoke can block you up for the next twenty-four hours, if you are sensitive to it.
A filtered air purifier may be a useful and inexpensive option; one look at the used filter gives you an idea of the kind of dust and dirt that exists in the air of our day-to-day environment.
Many sufferers from sinusitis find that they are worse in the artificial atmosphere of the air-conditioned office. Poor quality air-conditioning produces air that is too dry, which irritates the lining of the nose. Air-conditioning produces air that is high in positive ions, and there is some evidence that these also irritate the nasal passages.
Poorly maintained air-conditioning can often recycle fumes and solvents round the office, causing problems in those who arc sensitive to these substances; both air-conditioning and (especially) domestic warm-air central-heating systems, if poorly maintained, can encourage moulds and fungi to grow in the warm, dark and sometimes moist conditions in the pipes. These produce millions of spores, and when the air-conditioning/central heating is switched on, these spores are blown out into the room air, causing further problems in those who are allergic to them.
It’s not always easy to get round problems caused by office air-conditioning. Often the windows are fixed shut; but, if you are able to open them, you may find your symptoms are alleviated by breathing in fresh outside air. Alternatively, you may be able to counter the effects of positive ions by using an ioniser. And, finally, if you always get sinus and nasal troubles when the hot-air central heating is switched on, get someone competent to check it.
If you do get a cold, resist the temptation to blow your nose hard – you may well blow infected material from the centre of the nose into the sinuses. Sucking it out again is nothing like as easy as it was to blow it in there! Do resist the temptation to blow your nose too vigorously. Just wiping it is usually quite sufficient.
Anything which causes pressure inside the nose should also be avoided. So, if you go swimming, you would do well to avoid diving or duck-diving because the pressure that is generated inside the nose can easily push material into the sinuses. Similarly, it’s inadvisable to go scuba-diving when an attack of sinusitis is brewing.
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