Are you the one with the snort nose that makes people feel far away from you? Is the cost of the Kleenex affecting your bottom line?
You and Jane are almost identical. They both went to the same school, ate the same bad foods, and grew up in similar homes. They both loved dogs and slept with them. You even traded shoes and cosmetics. Jane has rarely had a cold. She says the only time she saw a doctor was for baby shots. Why is there such a difference?
As it turns out, Jane was nursed according to the old world way of going on at least until her teeth come in. Your mother probably had to work and she fed you very early. Also, your mother was more modern and she started giving you table food too early; foods that are started too soon can cause allergies. Also, her mother had the best health insurance, and from the beginning, she took him to Dr. Jones, who, to be sure, prescribed the latest antibiotic at almost every visit. Jane’s mother believed in tea, lemon, honey, and bed rest.
What we know today is that too many antibiotics for children can disrupt the normal immune response; instead of the good old white blood cells and immunoglobulins, we have a type of allergic reaction, even asthma!
We found this out when, before the fall of the Berlin Wall, children in West Germany were given antibiotics with every cold; the East German children did not. West German children contracted asthma.
But what can you do today? You have a raw, stuffy, runny nose and you can feel this thick goop going down your throat. You also worry about your breathing. The answer is your nasal cilia.
In a healthy nose there are millions of tiny cilia that act like paddles. These blades propel bacteria, pollen, and dirt from your nose to the back of your throat. There they are swallowed and dissolved in stomach acid. People who don’t have chronic sinusitis have cilia that move precisely, in rhythm, to pull out the bacteria. If they don’t, you may have a sinus infection because the bacteria stay in place and multiply.
Once upon a time, there was a list of products that slowed down, prevented or stopped the movement of nasal cilia. Unfortunately, many products can disrupt the normal movement of the cilia, including diesel exhaust and scented lipsticks.
Today a new chemical is produced almost every day that can affect your cilia. If you are using a new product and it causes excessive sneezing and coughing, it is probably affecting your nasal function.
Unfortunately, while companies are required to test their new product for toxicity, if it will kill you, they don’t test the effect on nasal and thoracic cilia. That’s why you need to make sure your cilia are working at full speed and effectively.
Once his cilia are damaged, his nose burns, he sneezes, his nasal airways become congested, and he loses sleep. Then he begins to have a thick yellow discharge, and eventually there is sinus pain. These are signs of deterioration of the cilia. The sooner you get them moving again to remove bacteria, pollen, and dust, the less change will occur in the sinus cavities. Humming, tea, and pulsatile nasal/sinus irrigation are used to restore the important nasal cilia.
What exactly does pulsatile irrigation do? Pulsating saline at a frequency that maximizes cilia movement is a common approach. As the nose is irrigated with saline, from one nostril to the other, that pulse wave frequency “harmons” and vibrates the nasal tissue to restore proper movement. For example, the Hydro Pulse is “tuned” to maximize the movement of the cilia. The pulsating action works to physically remove bacteria and pollen as well. The massaging action removes outdated lymphatic products and brings in fresh blood, which is also therapeutic. For any disease, relaxation is beneficial. The pleasant pulse wave is relaxing for many people and helps them relax for better healing. However, caution is needed. The instructions for irrigators call for a flow of less than one inch in height. But there are machines that project with extreme force; these can damage the nose. The high pressure can force infected material from the nose into the ear. The high pressure “knocks the cilia” instead of gently agitating them back to their normal speed. Again, the stream needs to be adjusted to be less than an inch high. Anything higher is too much.
Remember Jane, who didn’t get a postnasal drip? She probably has good normal intestinal bacteria that help make the immune products because she didn’t overdo antibiotics. For you, eating yogurt and probiotics is important to boost your immunity.
Other factors are sleeping well. Try setting your sleep clock to have a complex set of steps: brush your hair, brush your teeth, take a warm bath, oil your face, etc. The more steps you are given to relax and wait for sleep, the tighter your sleep clock will be. Go to bed with a teddy bear? Absolutely, if you travel a lot, that can help you sleep in different time zones. I prescribe this for men too!
Although your nasal problem may be due to an allergy, checking the pollen calendar can tell you if your sneezing is due to flowering oak trees. Then you may want to use pulsatile irrigation to remove the pollen and IgE in the nose that combines with the pollen to plug the nose. In the late stages of acute allergy, the nasal cilia are damaged and need to be restored.
Do you remember that your grandmother used to tell you to drink tea, lemon and honey, in addition to chicken soup? Today’s scientists have discovered that both contain chemicals that can restore cilia movement and help your immunity!
I hope this speech about you vs Jane helps. He’s not the only one with sinus problems. Fortunately, he can be just as sinus and postnasal drip free as Jane is.