Colds and Sinuses

Natural Sinus Allergy Relief

People who suffer from sinusitis will tell you what an irksome nasal condition it is. It could bring on headaches, cause eyestrain and make your nose so stuffy that it will be difficult to breathe through it. People who suffer from it try to get relief from medications that are available in the drug stores and pharmacies. When allopathic or ‘Western’ medicines fail to bring relief from sinusitis, people naturally tend to look for alternative treatments. While some sufferers try out Chinese medicines, others feel that herbal preparations, being organic might help them find relief. Since the interest in herbal treatment seems to be growing, and people are inclined to try Chinese medicines and herbal preparations, doctors trained in Western medicine have initiated research into these alternative treatments for sinusitis.

Ayurveda, a system of medicines in India, has a long history, and interest in it is growing among the people of the West, as a viable alternate treatment. Ayurvedic treatment is based on the concept that all diseases affecting the human body arise from imbalances within the body, and that once these imbalances are set right, the disease will be cured. The basic difference between Western medicine and Ayurveda is this: while Western medicine treats an ailment by identifying the symptoms and prescribing drugs to treat those symptoms, Ayurveda tries to find the cause of the disease and base the treatment on that. When a Ayurveda doctor treats a bunch of people suffering from sinusitis, he will not prescribe the same treatment to all of them. He will treat each patient according to what causes the imbalance in the body that bring on attacks of sinusitis. This means that no two people suffering from sinusitis will get the same treatment, unless the basic cause of sinusitis is the same in both of them. If the practitioner of Ayurveda decides that the person’s sinusitis is the result of chemical pollutants which has upset the balance of the body, he will prescribe a course of massages with oils specifically meant to remove such impurities. He might diagnose that the sinusitis of another patient is the result of stress. He will then ask this person to take up meditation to relieve himself or herself of stress.

Traditional Chinese healers treat sinusitis as any other disease of the body. They believe that diseases result when the harmony of natural elements in the body is disrupted. This is like Feng Shui which says that every element must occupy its proper place in a house or a building in order to make it a harmonious structure. For example, placing water in a wrong place will destroy the harmony of the building. Chinese medicine is also based on the same philosophy regarding the harmony of elements in the body. Chinese doctors practising traditional medicine have found that when certain herbs are mixed in a specific proportion, this formula will restore the internal harmony of the body, and thus cure sinusitis. Most Chinese healers use cang er san, a typical herbal preparation to treat sinusitis. The proportions of herbs in this formula might vary from doctor to doctor. Once the patient finds relief from sinusitis, the healer will prescribe dang shen or huang qi to maintain the body in its restored harmonious condition.

Acupuncture is yet another alternative treatment for sinusitis. Acupunture is not just sticking needles all over the body, randomly. This treatment is based on the Chinese concept of ‘chi’. Chinese believe that chi is the living energy that flows through one’s body as long as one lives. This concept is very similar to the concept of ‘The Force’. According to the Chinese concept, there are centers of chi in certain parts of the body. Diseases and illnesses are caused when the flow of chi is blocked, delayed or reduced. Some ancient texts on this concept say that bodily imbalances may occur if chi remains concentrated in one point in the body for too long, and ailments resulting from this may be very severe. What acupuncture aims to do is to use the needles to get these accumulations of chi to start flowing again and restore the natural balance of the elements in the body. When such a harmony is restored, Chinese healers often follow acupuncture with herbal medication as a supplement.