Many of us suffer from the wonderful effects of the allergy season. We suffer through the colds and sinus pressure looking forward to when we start to feel normal again. If you’re like one of several Tennesseans, you may be looking for some natural ways to relieve that sinus pressure.
4 Ways to Relieve Sinus Pressure
1. Hydrate
Hydrate your nasal passages. There are many ways to do this from using a saline wash, having a steamy bath or shower, or using a humidifier while you sleep. These things help thin the mucus and flush out the nasal passages, and have been proven to be effective time and time again especially in the early stages of sinus pressure. Many doctors recommend daily use of a saline solution especially when fighting cold or allergies. If taking a shower or bath, eucalyptus oil or menthol can help the process as well. If deciding to use a humidifier, make sure to keep the device clean as mold can build up and make your allergies worse. Also to note, humidifiers should only be used during dry months; if your window are starting to fog, your humidity is too high.
2. Warm Compresses
Warm compresses help do the same thing as the saline solutions as it helps hydrate those nasal passages, but it also has another added benefit. It can help relieve the pain as well, especially if you follow up with cold compress. Just be careful with how hot it can get; you don’t want to burn yourself.
3. Staying Hydrated and Eating Spicy Foods
For some of us, it might seem weird, but one of the best ways for helping your sinuses is to keep your body hydrated. This means drinking plenty of water and steering clear of caffeine or alcohol. Most dieticians recommend drinking eight 8-oz glasses a day. The goal is to have light colored or clear urine.
You can also help by eating spicy foods. Things like mustard, hot peppers, curry, etc are known to have many benefits including reducing appetite and helping open up those sinus passages. If you like spicy things, go ahead and add a little hot sauce.
4. Lymphatic Drainage Massage
Over the years, massage has been studied and used to help with things like pain, loosening muscles, and yes, decreasing sinus pressure. Salons like A Moments Peace Salon and Day Spa in Franklin that offer the lymphatic drainage massage will use a technique to feel and assess the flow in order to figure out which areas might need a little extra help to get going again. Sometimes the obstruction may be due to injury or other outside issues, and the massage just gets things back to normal.
The massage focuses on the neck and head, but can also be utilized on the lungs if needed. This is normally combined with other massage techniques to get your body feeling better and to give you more energy to do the things that you need to. To have the full effect, you may need two to three sessions to fully loosen everything up.
