Ohhh!!... It feels like your head is about to explode. The sinus pressure and pain are unbearable. Your doctor prescribed pills that make you nauseous, and they don't help. You’re exhausted, depressed and helpless… But don't despair...

The common cold, an upper respiratory infection, is usually caused by a virus that infects the nose and throat. Symptoms include nasal congestion; runny nose; post-nasal drip, headache, and fatigue. Cough, sore throat, and mild fever may also accompany these symptoms. Colds will typically last from a few days to about a week or longer. In some instances, a cold may cause inflammation or swelling in the sinuses, preventing the outflow of mucus. This can lead to a sinus infection pain around the face, eyes and thick yellow or green. Normally, your sinuses are filled with air. When the sinuses become blocked and filled with fluid, bacteria can grow there and cause infection. This infection is sinusitis. Cold symptoms are the result of the body's immune response to a viral invasion. Virus infected cells in the nose send out signals that recruit specialized white blood cells to the site of the infection. In turn, these cells emit symptoms.

Symptoms of a sinus infection include the following:

• Thick, yellow, foul-smelling nasal discharge
• Pressure or pain around the face and eyes
• Headache (generally in the forehead area)
• Nasal obstruction
• Congestion
• Post-nasal drip
• A cold that won't go away
• Fever or cough that may or may not be present

Sinus problems (commonly known as sinusitis) are experienced by millions of people all around the world. In the United States alone, 40 to 50 million people are being affected each year, making sinusitis one of the most frequently diagnosed chronic conditions.

 

Breathing cold viruses does not in itself cause a cold. "Researchers have incubated cold viruses, placed them directly on the mucous lining of the nose, and found that their subjects came down with colds only 12 percent of the time". For germs to grow in you, you must first be fertile soil.

What Causes a Sinus Infection?
Any condition that blocks off the sinus drainage channels can cause a sinus infection. Such conditions include colds, allergies such as hay fever, non-allergic rhinitis, and nasal polyps, which are small growths in the lining of your nose and swelling of the estuation tubes.

A sinus infection may occur after a cold or may result from anatomic problems such as a deviated septum, which refers to a shift in the nasal cavity. If not treated, a sinus infection can last for many weeks.

Colds: What Puts You at Risk?
Ever wonder why you catch more colds than your coworkers or friends? Or what makes some people more at risk for colds than others?

While everyone is at risk for getting a cold, some people are at even greater risk. That's because there is a variety of situations and circumstances that can put you and your loved ones at an increased risk for getting a viral or bacterial infection. Then after reading this article, take time to assess your own risk factors for catching a cold. Next, talk with your chiropractor about how you can reduce these risks.

What is Sinusitis?
Sinusitis is caused by an inflammation or infection of your sinus cavities.  These cavities are located around the nose and behind the eyes. Inflammation is your body's way of reacting to irritants; this reaction produces redness, swelling, mucus, and pain. There are two types of sinusitis:

Acute sinusitis: an infection that usually lasts for about 3 weeks. It is often triggered by the flu or cold. The flu or cold virus attacks your sinuses causing them to swell and become narrow. Your body responds to this virus by producing mucus. When the sinuses become blocked and are filled with mucus, viruses, fungi or bacteria can grow and cause infections.  That causes more mucus build-up, pressure and intense headache, toothache or bad breath.

Chronic sinusitis: an infection that lasts for more than 3 weeks and can continue indefinitely if not treated. It is commonly caused by allergies, fungal infections or weakened immune system.

Americans are turning to herbal supplements and alternative care, often because they feel let down by conventional medicine, a new government survey says. Because herbal supplements are far safer than conventional medicine, people feel comfortable using it. The good news: you can get better naturally without harmful antibiotics or chemical drugs that only mask symptoms.

                                                            

 

 

Common Cold Prevention

The Chiropractic Approach
Chiropractic treatment does not treat the common cold. However, chiropractic care can help raise your natural resistance by awakening your innate healing process. When we have nerve interference within our bodies caused by a vertebral subluxation we are in a state of ill-health, Disease. Our immune system is controlled by our nervous system. With a compromised immune system we are susceptible to colds, viruses will then thrive. By removing serious nerve flow interference, our bodies will properly function once again. Keeping your body free from vertebral subluxation keeps your natural immunity high and could make the difference between a quick recovery and lingering illness.

What are Subluxations?
Subluxations are distortions in your body that interfere with your proper body function. Chiropractors perform special examinations to detect and locate subluxations in your body, and correct them by giving chiropractic adjustments. This helps restore optimal body functioning for higher resistance to disease, which, we cannot overstate, is the best defense against the common cold. It is essential, if you are suffering from any illness, that your body structure be healthy; it could make the difference between a quick recovery and a lingering illness - even between life and death. Get in to see your chiropractor to have your spine checked.

Hippocrates, the "Father" of medicine: "Diseases are crises of purification, of toxic elimination. Symptoms are the natural defenses of the body. We call them diseases, but in fact they are the cure of diseases." An example, elevated temperature is one of our body's defense mechanisms, helping us destroy infection. Lowering a fever with analgesics reduces this defense against disease.

If you went to a medical doctor with your sinus problem, there's a 90% chance you got a prescription for antibiotics. But in many cases sinus infections are not caused by bacteria but by a virus, fungi (mold) or other allergen. Antibiotics kill only bacteria and have no effect on viral or fungal infections, but doctors keep prescribing one course of antibiotics after another.