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.
Chronic sinusitis (chronic 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. Sinusitis is described as “chronic” if the symptoms persist for eight weeks or longer, or recur regularly.
Chronic sinusitis may be caused by infections, allergic reactions, nasal growths called polyps, deviated nasal septum, facial trauma or may occur as a complication of other chronic health conditions such as asthma, gastroesophageal reflux disease or human immunodeficiency virus infection. If sinusitis persists, it can lead to asthma flare-ups, meningitis, vision problems, or aneurysms or blood clots.
Professional healthcare should be sought out if your symptoms do not improve within a week or your symptoms do not respond to treatment.
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 chronic 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 chronic 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 chronic 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, to relieve presenting symptoms using hydrotherapy, resolve infection using botanical (herbal) medicines as natural antibiotics and prevent sinusitis recurrence by supporting immune system action.
Where appropriate, a number of therapeutic options are available, to be used alone, or more often in a complementary fashion, including:
• Diet therapy
• Botanical (herbal) medicines
• Nutritional supplements
• Hydrotherapy
• Homotoxicological medicines
• Homeopathic medicines
• Acupuncture
• Bowen therapy
• Cleansing protocols
References
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Chronic Sinusitis [Online]. [cited 2010 Mar 7]; Available from: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/chronic-sinusitis/DS00232 .