Infections in your respiratory tract — most commonly colds — can inflame and thicken your sinus membranes and block mucus drainage. These infections can be caused by viruses or bacteria. Allergies such as hay fever. Inflammation that occurs with allergies can block your sinuses.
Place both of your middle fingers beside each of your nostrils and your index fingers next to them. Press into your cheekbones on both sides with your middle finger, hold for 30 seconds, release, then apply pressure with your index fingers for another 30 seconds.
Some natural ways to get your sinuses draining and relieve sinus pressure include drinking plenty of fluids; using a humidifier; avoiding cold, dry air; taking plenty of steamy showers; and drinking a cup of hot tea or soup.
Balloon sinuplasty allows the surgeon to dilate a blocked sinus, creating open space, which allows the sinus to drain normally. The surgeon uses a flexible endoscope with a light to guide the insertion of a thin wire. The wire is then moved through the nasal passages toward the opening of the blocked sinus.
Blowing the nose can worsen the feeling of congestion due to pressure build-up within the nostrils, which may shoot up the mucus into the sinuses instead of ejection through the nose.
Avoid blowing your nose – Many medical experts feel that blowing your nose causes the bacteria that normally live in your nose to be propelled into the sinus chambers. The sinus inflammation prevents the bacteria from being swept out by normal cleansing, which can lead to more significant bacterial sinus infection.
Symptoms of Sinus Drainage
Some of these symptoms include: fever, headache, pressure in the ear, reduced sense of taste and smell, coughing, bad breath, and fatigue. Symptoms that are closely related to sinus drainage are most commonly thick drainage from the nose or down the throat.
Determining how long your sinus infection will last is dependent on what type you are experiencing. Acute sinusitis lasts for less than four weeks. Chronic sinusitis can last for more than 12 weeks. The majority of sinus infection sufferers will see their symptoms start to resolve after about 10 days.
Acute sinusitis lasts less than a month. Your symptoms may go away by themselves within about 10 days, but it may take up to three or four weeks.
If you feel that you are blocked up but are not really producing mucus, then this is more indicative of a physical abnormality, such as nasal polyps or a deviated septum. It is quite common for people to complain of having a blocked nose on one side.
Vicks VapoRub — a topical ointment made of ingredients including camphor, eucalyptus oil and menthol that you rub on your throat and chest — doesn't relieve nasal congestion. But the strong menthol odor of VapoRub may trick your brain, so you feel like you're breathing through an unclogged nose.
The best sleeping position for sinus drainage problems and other sinus issues is to sleep with your head propped up. Sleeping with your head propped up will help gravity naturally drain your sinuses and reduce the chance of excessive blood flow that can develop sinus congestion.
Things like allergies, eating spicy food, and being outside in the cold can result in a more watery nasal leakage. Your body usually makes thicker mucus when you have a cold (caused by viruses) or sinus infection (caused by bacteria). Most mucus problems are temporary.
When you do cough up phlegm (another word for mucus) from your chest, Dr. Boucher says it really doesn't matter if you spit it out or swallow it.
Nasal congestion typically clears after a few days, but congestion that lasts for a week or more may be a sign of an infection. Left untreated, nasal congestion may cause sinusitis, nasal polyps or middle ear infections.