Wash Viral Sinusitis Away, Literally!

Often starting out as common colds, viral sinusitis is a type of sinus infection that usually ends up with acute sinusitis and in about 2% of all cases, with acute bacterial sinusitis. Fortunately for most people, viral invasion dies down within a week to a maximum of ten days after contraction, often without treatment.

Having said that, cure for viral sinusitis is usually prescribed to alleviate symptoms and speed up the process of healing. This is often the case if your immune system defenses are strong enough to destroy the viruses in the body on their own and if there is no sign of other diseases that could affect your body's responsiveness towards treatment.

Getting to Know Viral Sinusitis Symptoms

As a general rule, when looking for a cure for viral sinusitis, you should look for treatments that are designed to eliminate the symptoms associated with your sinusitis. Viral sinusitis manifests in many ways. Common symptoms include nose stuffiness, excessive postnasal drip, sneezing, headache, swelling and pains that radiate from sinus sites, and coughing. Other symptoms of viral sinusitis include sore throat, fatigue, irritability, temporary loss of sense of smell and taste, slight fever, halitosis or bad breathe, nausea and ear pain. The most common symptom, however, is nasal congestion or obstruction, a condition characterized by blockages in the nose that make nasal breathing nearly impossible. Against these symptoms, doctors and experts prescribe plenty of methods for dealing with congestion. Most of which are targeted at improving mucus drainage and in shrinking the inflamed nasal membranes.

Decongestants

Nasal decongestants come in many form. Some are tablets that can be taken orally while others sprayed directly into the nasal passages. Still others can be applied topically. A quick word on using medicated spray nasal decongestants. These should never be used for 5 consecutive days without a doctor's prescription as rebound congestion often occurs with prolonged use. Also, these are prone to lose their efficacy overtime. For safe use of nasal sprays, ask your physician for guidelines.

If you don't feel comfortable with these, alternative medicine offers a safer, less abuse-prone treatments. Steaming and nasal irrigation using saline-water solution are usually your best bets at getting better. These flush out mucus build-up and other debris from your nasal passages and sinusitis to promote easier breathing.

Medications

It is not a bad idea to combine decongestants with other treatment options. If your sinuses are inflamed and pain is present, you can take anti-inflammatory medications such as NSAIDs or Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs and nasal corticosteroids, and common pain relievers to reduce pain associated with viral infections.

Hydration

One of the simplest cures for viral sinusitis is to keep your body hydrated. The '8 glasses of water everyday' rule still sticks when trying to alleviate symptoms of viral sinusitis. Water dilutes mucus in your throat and possibly your nasal passages and quickly drains away clogging in these areas.

All in all, curing viral sinusitis is fairly easy. With a little help from medications, home-remedies, self-care and ample common sense, symptoms can be literally washed away.