Sinusitis

Case Details

20 year old female university student presenting with sinus problems.  Bad at the moment but have troubled her long term to some degree.

Signs of sniffing and sneezing, looks pale and tired.  Has a post nasal drip and needs to repeatedly clear her throat.  Upon waking has blocked nose, sometimes clears after blowing but not always.  Her face around eyes in painful to touch and experiences headaches.

Nose discharge is usually clear and sometimes cloudy white and thick.  If mucous turns yellow, antibiotics clear, however day to day symptoms as above always return.    Symptoms are worse in morning and at night and after eating dairy products.

Sinuses a problem as long as she can remember, flu 2-3 times per year and consistently low in energy.

Diet is poor, breakfast is often skipped and snacks throughout the day of convenient foods, lollies and chocolate is commonly snacked upon.

Dietary and Nutritional Recommendations

The client is suffering from chronic sinusitis, many factors can contribute towards the condition with allergies, both food and environmental, poor diet, infection, auto immune and poor immunity all being factors that can contribute to the condition.

• Remove allergic foods, most common offenders are dairy and wheat based products
• Increase anti-inflammatory foods such as small oily fish, berries, nuts and seeds, olive oil
• The use of herbal teas such as turmeric, and ginger would be beneficial with their anti-inflammatory actions
• The poor diet of refined foods, high sugar foods and trans-fat foods would need to be removed from the diet, this consists of all of the meals she is currently consuming as mentioned in the brief.
• General diet would need to be replaced with a balanced Mediterranean type diet with fresh fruit and vegetables, lean quality meat, olive oil etc. will little to no refined and processed snack foods. Inclusion of fermented foods for gut health would also be beneficial.
• Increase mucolytic foods and immune boosting foods – garlic, onions, horseradish, mustard, lemons etc.

Supplements

• Vitamin C – immunity/infection
• Zinc - immunity, tissue repair
• Vitamin A - immunity
• Probiotics – Gut flora
• Omega 3 - inflammation
• Custom Herbal Remedy – including immune stimulants, anti-microbial’s, anti-invective’s etc.

Other Notes

• In addition, steam inhalation with antimicrobial essential oils daily to assist with clearing blockages and to fight any possible bacterial/fungal infection;
• Example – 1 drop eucalyptus oil, thyme oil, oregano oil and rosemary oil with 1 tsp of salt in a bowl of water – put towel over head and bowel and inhale
• Look to avoid any possible environmental allergens that flare the condition such as smoke, cold air, topical drugs etc.

Outcome

Following the above advice, the client felt marked improvement within a week and also experienced some minor detox reactions after a few days with toxins clearing.   To keep the sinusitis from returning, dietary guidelines would have to be incorporated into her daily life as slipping back into old habits will likely see the return of symptoms at some point.

***This case and dosages prescribed were specific to the individual and presenting condition, this protocol may not suit everyone with these symptoms.  A consultation with a suitably qualified practitioner should be undertaken before commencing a treatment protocol ***