Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine is a Toronto naturopathic clinic dedicated to providing safe and effective treatment of a wide variety of health conditions using natural therapies and the principles of naturopathic medicine.
Acute sinusitis (acute rhinosinusitis) is well treated using naturopathic medicine. Sinusitis is a condition in which the cavities around your nasal passages (sinuses) become inflamed and swollen. This swelling obstructs the sinus openings and prevents drainage, leading to mucous buildup, resulting in difficulty breathing through your nose, a swollen sensation around your eyes and face, throbbing facial pain and headache.
The most common cause of acute sinusitis is the common cold (i.e., viral infection). Other causes include bacterial and fungal infections. If sinusitis persists, it can lead to serious infections and other complications such as asthma flare-ups, chronic sinusitis (sinusitis lasting more than 8 weeks), meningitis, vision problems, aneurysms or blood clots, and ear infection.
Professional healthcare should be sought out if your symptoms don’t improve within a few days or symptoms that become worse, you have a fever higher than 38.1 ° C (100.5 ° F) or have a history of recurrent or chronic sinusitis.
Seek emergency medical care if you have:
• Pain or swelling around your eyes
• Swelling at your forehead
• Severe headache
• Confusion
• Double-vision or other vision changes
• Neck stiffness
• Shortness of breath
Symptoms of acute sinusitis
Possible symptoms of acute sinusitis include:
• Nasal obstruction or congestion, causing difficulty breathing through your nose
• Thick, yellow or greenish discharge (mucous) from the nose or back of the throat
• Reduced sense of smell and taste
• Pain, tenderness, swelling and pressure around your eyes, cheeks, nose, or forehead
• Cough, which may be worse at night
• Aching in your upper jaw and teeth
• Ear pain
• Sore throat
• Bad breath
• Fatigue
• Irritability
• Fever
• Nausea
Naturopathic treatment of acute sinusitis
At Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine, the goals of acute sinusitis treatment are to reduce discomfort, and identify possible triggers and causes in order to treat the present infection and prevent future recurrence.
Conventional treatments for acute sinusitis are used primarily to reduce symptoms, and include a variety of medications including saline nasal spray, nasal corticosteroids (e.g., fluticasone [Flonase®], mometasone [Nasonex®], budesonide [Rhinocort Aqua®], triamcinolone [Nasacort AQ®], beclomethasone [Beconase AQ®]), nasal sprays (e.g., phenylephrine [Neo-Synephrine®], oxymetazoline [Afrin®]), and over-the-counter decongestants (e.g., Sudafed®, Actifed® ) and pain relievers (e.g., asprin, acetaminophen [Tylenol®], ibuprofen [Advil®, Motrin®]). Rarely, antibiotic or antifungal medications and immunotherapy may also be used. These treatments may have short- or long-term side effects and for this reason, you may choose to try natural treatment to possibly avoid use of conventional medications, or together with conventional medications in order to decrease dosages of conventional medications required to manage your acute sinusitis symptoms.
Naturopathic treatment of any chronic health concern must be recognized as a process that involves identifying specific treatment goals, developing a thorough understanding by your naturopathic doctor of all factors affecting your health, including physical, psychological, emotional and lifestyle factors, development of a comprehensive treatment plan and execution of that plan through periodic monitoring and adjustment.
At Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine, a typical approach to acute sinusitis treatment may be to first identify and address underlying factors in your lifestyle (e.g., regular exposure to irritants such as cigarette smoke) or general health (e.g., hay fever or other allergic condition, gastroesophageal reflux disease or immune system disorder) that may be contributing to your symptoms and causing recurrence, to relieve presenting symptoms using hydrotherapy and eliminate infection using antibacterial and immune system supporting botanical (herbal) medicines.
Where appropriate, a number of therapeutic options are available, to be used alone, or more often in a complementary fashion, including:
• Botanical (herbal) medicines
• Nutritional supplements
• Hydrotherapy
• Homotoxicological medicines
• Homeopathic medicines
• Acupuncture
• Bowen therapy
• Cleansing protocols
References
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Acute Sinusitis [Online]. [cited 2010 Jan 9]; Available from: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/acute-sinusitis/DS00170 .