Chronic sinus trouble? Make sure your plumbing is working before you medicate

Simple, no-medication help for chronic sinus trouble: treat the muscles and bones of the face. If the plumbing ain’t working, the pipes ain’t gonna drain. New blog by ‘Dr. Mom’ Alexis Hugelmeyer, D.O.

Our favorite time of year at the beach is September. All of the city-folk-who-own-beach-houses and out-of-town-day-trippers are long gone. The water and the sun are still warm. The fish run like crazy. There is usually no one at the beach. The kids can run around naked and we can walk around like we own the place. When we are there it feels like we have been lucky enough to find that private place that beach-lovers spend their lives (and a lot of money) trying to find.

September of 2011 was anything but serene. We arrived, unpacked and my 18-month-old son’s snots began to run. Ok, maybe it’s a cold, a virus, it will pass. Four days later there was still no fever, no cranky whining, just snots. And sniffles. And that snarfling type of snoring that keeps everyone awake all night. We ran out of tissues, so my sister-in-law taught him to wipe his mucus on the inside of his shirt. Not only was he congested, but then his nose became red and sore. Then he came the cranky whining. And of course, it was September, so the island’s only store had be closed for weeks. No medicine, no tissues, no sleep, no fun.

The poor kid spent the entire week and the next three months suffering with what we soon discovered was seasonal allergies. Honestly, I would have preferred a virus because they pass in time.

If you’ve ever had seasonal allergies or sinus congestion you know how miserable it can make you feel. Not being able to breathe through your nose, especially at night, that headache and feeling of facial pressure and fullness, the inability to smell and taste accurately can be enough to drive a person insane.

Chronic rhinosinusitis, with or without allergies, is a very common problem in adults and children alike. I often see patients who are on multiple medications and are experiencing only minimal relief. The most severe cases experience year-round symptoms that flare with the change of seasons.

There are many options for treatment, the problem is that medications often don’t help. Nasal saline, steroid nasal sprays, oral antibiotics and other anti-inflammatories often provide minimal relief to severe allergy sufferers. Oftentimes patients will come to my office after they’ve been CT-scanned up the wazoo and already having seen the ear, nose and throat specialist. They’ll tell me that they’ve tried everything from neti-pots and homeopathic remedies to steroid and antibiotics. They tell me they can’t sleep at night because they can’t breathe. Some of them are even scheduled to have surgery as a last ditch effort.

What I love about the osteopathic philosophy (see my first article to find out what the heck the osteopathic philosophy is all about) is that the treatment of systemic medical conditions can be optimized by treating the musculoskeletal system. Yes, we can absolutely use the medications to decrease inflammation and mucus production, but if the plumbing ain’t working, the pipes ain’t gonna drain.

There are fourteen bones in the face and eight sets of sinuses. The plumbing system of those sinuses often requires mucus to move against gravity in order to drain into the nose or throat. Thick mucus will often dampen the ability of those tiny hair cells to move said mucus to the drain. Immobility of the joints of the head and face will most definitely impair movement of the lymphatic system.

The movement of the skull and facial bones is analagous to the movement of the ribcage during respirations. Although joint movement in the head is much smaller than that of the chest, the rhythmic “breathing” of the head helps to move mucus through the head, into the neck, down through the chest and into the liver where toxins in the mucus are processed and eliminated.

So, what does all this mean? You can use all the medicine you want, but immobility of the cranial and facial bones will definitely impair the body’s ability to clear the sinuses. Mobilization of the musculoskeletal system either by osteopathic manipulation, chiropractic techniques or craniosacral therapy, in my opinion, is an absolute necessity in order to successfully treat chronic sinus congestion and allergies.

Sometimes I use only hands-on osteopathic techniques to get some really great results. Usually, once I have treated the head, face, neck and lymphatic system, I will suggest helping the mucus along by using nasal saline and netipots. And sometimes that’s all it takes. Other times I must first optimize the plumbing and then prescribe medications to get the results. Some natural remedies can also be helpful. I love using eucalyptus oil to help open the nasal passages. As always, lifestyle and ergonomic changes are suggested; such as using the correct pillow and avoiding allergens. (If you’re allergic to cats, folks, you HAVE to get rid of the cat!)

Just last week I had a follow-up with a father and son who both suffer with sinus congestion that is worst at night. In one treatment, the father was able to come off of the nasal sprays he had been using for TEN years! The little guy took longer, but after the fourth treatment, he too was breathing better and draining appropriately. Neither are currently using medication. Both feel improvements in their sleep quality and therefore their quality of life.

As for my little guy, you’ll have to find him first if you think you’re going to put any medication in his nose. And he’s a really good hider. His symptoms only seem to flare up during the change of seasons, but if we start treating him as the first sign of snot, we can usually nip it in the bud. We have the art of treating him down to a science. I usually will work on his facial bones very gently while he’s sleeping. I sleep him on his side so at least one side will drain, and we use a very mild chest rub than contains eucalyptus and lavender.

And since we’ve started using hands-on medicine to cure his allergies, we have been sleeping like babies at the beach.

Alexis Hugelmeyer, D.O. is the wife of Michael, mother of Isabella, 5, and Lance, 3, and a family physician whose passion is hands-on manipulation for treatment and healing of any and every type of medical problem. She is the director of community outreach education at Peconic Bay Medical Center and also a private practitioner in Riverhead, where she has founded The Suah Center for Natural Healthcare. A graduate of Villanova University and New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, she lives in Baiting Hollow.

Look for Dr. Mom every Saturday on Riverheadlocal.com

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