Sinus Congestion
Natural Remedies

Quick Sinus Relief: Natural Remedies for Congestion

The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.

Riboflavin B2

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Karen (Alpharetta, Georgia) on 03/25/2008
★★★★★

Riboflavin B2 100mg right before bedtime will take care of sinus drainage. It will work in about 20 minutes. If not,try up to 250mg. I had severe sinus drainage for years.I found it hard to sit through meetings,church etc, without coughing my head off. I would eat and have a reaction to food and start coughing uncontrollably. Sometimes medications worked, sometimes not. Sometimes I would double up on medication. Now I take NOTHING!


Saline Rinse

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Richie (Newport, NC) on 02/21/2007
★★★★★

I have been taking pain killers for four(4) months now, and have noticed mucus was becoming very thick and amber in color. being a person who pays attention to what comes out of my body, I became alarmed. I do not like the idea of taking prescriptions, but at the time this was my option.

Anyway, long story short; found your site, agree with most of your cures, but I also know that one size does not fit all. I tried most of your sinus remedies, payed attention to what ingredients were working, and found a simple technique to drain sinuses early morning w/little prep work. Turn on hot water, grab coffee cup, put 1 tsp sea salt, 1/2 tsp H202, small amount of hot water( enough to make paste out of sea salt) take q-tip, dip in solution until saturated, put in nostril , tilt head back and inhale deep. This will make you cry, but your sinuses will drain immediately. I suppose, just based on my own exp. that when taking meds, the binders in the meds that can't/ or don't get broke down find something else to bind to in your body. For me, it has been my mucus. Which also lends me to believe that the cure is worse then the disease, because we don't know how long these things can stay in our system or what else they are attaching themselves to that can become problematic over the course of your life


Salsa, Cayenne, Garlic

2 User Reviews
5 star (2) 
  100%

Posted by Ken (Arlington, VA) on 02/03/2007
★★★★★

I have been getting more involved in home remedies. Just worked out the sore throat issue then I had to focus on the sinus drainage which will also contribute to having a sore throat due to the thick mucus running from the sinuses down to the back of the throat. I read that you can use tomato juice and certain herbs. This is what I had to do since I do not have tomato juice in my home. One cup of medium spicy salsa, 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, 2 teaspoons of minced garlic, 1 tablespoon of honey. I heated this up (covered) in the microwave for 2 minutes, let it set for 5 minutes. Then I drained all of the juice into another cup (leaving out any salsa chunks) then I slowly drank the spicy concoction. Man, did the drainage begin. REMEMBER: when sinuses are draining, always blow your nose and spit out the mucus. You will start to get rid of any bacteria that might have collected in the membranes during the time of mucus build up. Also try to drink clear fluid. I prefer warm lemonade with 1 teaspoon of garlic juice. It really does the trick.

Replied by User182
(Hattiesburg, Ms)
04/21/2011
★★★★★

Ok.. So this salsa thing definitely works. Just makes sure you have a giant glass of water beside you when you get thru drinkin it. I drunk a greatly smaller amount than what it called for and it STILL helped me.


Salt Water

2 User Reviews
5 star (2) 
  100%

Posted by Muhammad (Abudhabi, Uae) on 05/16/2011
★★★★★

yes my dear friends it really works the cleaning of nose with salty water is very effective I tried and I am doing it on daily bases.. Thanksssss


Salt Water
Posted by Erin (San Diego, CA) on 09/15/2006
★★★★★

My 12 yr old son just did this when he woke up this morning. He has chronic allergies and sinus troubles from Sept-May and a nurse friend suggested this to me many years ago. It has worked wonders for my kids anytime allergies or congestion kick in. He went from not being able to breathe at all this morning, to breathing comfortably.


Salt, Baking Soda, Lemon Gargle

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Ratna (Pawtucket, USA) on 09/29/2007
★★★★★

If you wake up with a heavy head and bad throat which usually causes body ache, try this,

step 1. take hot water mixed with salt, baking soda, lemon juice gargle, clean, wash your toungue, throat, upper part of inside of your mouth, it will make you want to throw up almost, eyes will be so red, but you feel relieved so much, this is cleansing the mouth.

Step 2. put some oil inside your both nostrils almond oil or may be olive oil (we in Southern India use coconut oil) you have to use your fingers as much deep you can reach to do this, then take hot water in a plastic mug which is pointed on one side (or if you can find NETI POT wich is shaped like Alladin's lamp use it) put the hot water inside of one nostril after another tilting your head and drain it out, you will find all the dirt - mucus come out at once, (some water may come into your mouth or through another nose), this you can do two times a day, this is keeping your drainage clean. you will find great relief in your head, eyes, even in shoulders, if the allergy cold is so severe.

Step 3. Take hot boiling steaming water into a wide mouthed vessel, add Vicks or drops of eucalyptus oil (Nilgiri oil) into it, bend your face into it, cover your head surrounding the vessel with a thick towel, inhale the steam as much heat you can take, your forehead, eyes, ear start to feel so much better, this is steam therapy.

I had been to a doctor, who is not able to diagnose my allergy sinus cold properly, instead when he is asking me questions like 'are you feeling depressed' I felt he needs to be sent to a therapy session on how to treat his patients well and listen carefully what they say.


Serrapeptase

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Robert (Palm Springs) on 12/27/2022
★★★★★

Serrapeptase clears up my sinuses within hours it is pretty amazing stuff. Study shows that clears sinus and reduces inflammation, pain and mucous. After taking it for three to four days . When I read the reviews some people reported that it helped them clear the sinus within hours.


Smelling Black Pepper

2 User Reviews
5 star (2) 
  100%

Posted by Hossein (Iran) on 01/09/2021
★★★★★

Smelling black pepper helped my brother a lot for his sinusitis.

Replied by Cindy
(Illinois, USA)
01/10/2021
525 posts
★★★★★

I used potato soup with lots of butter and lots and lots of black pepper to help finish off the sinus garbage. And I "sniffed" EVERYthing! The peppery soup, hydrogen peroxide, DMSO, ClO2 - basically just about everything I have. It was SOOOOO annoying and I just couldn't break it up. But the black pepper and soup seemed to do the trick.

Black pepper contains quite a bit of sulfur. As do potatoes - or, rather, they should but the soil is so depleted in the states that you have to amend the soil of your potato patch - if you grow your own.


Soda Cystals

2 User Reviews
5 star (2) 
  100%

Posted by Daniella (Beirut, Lebanon) on 05/17/2008
★★★★★

Carbicarb remedy which is a solution for many symptoms!! I had painful red itchy hands with pimples after working in the garden and i took 1/4 teaspoon of soda crystals (baking soda and sodium bicarbonate) in a glass of water the trademark is Tricel, made in the Netherlands, and in one hour the symptoms were gone. I also had running nose and the soda crystals dried my nose. My nose sometimes gets blocked and with daily use of soda crystals can return your nose to its normal condition and opened sinuses. Soda crystals does a lot! It helps my mother sleep easily, it alkalises your brain, helps your hypothalamus and help your exhausted adrenal glands to recover.This remedy and advice i got from Ted, he advised me to take daily soda crystals with a lot of water... It is helping my thyroid problem as well as i have hypothyroidism. I hope it will clean my liver too from the fats and clean it like it cleans a dirty plate. Thanx Ted for the great help you give with your advice as always. You are the best website!!! And Ted is the best! What do we do without Ted? What do we do without Earthclinic? We would probably die.. I am telling everyone i know how great Earthclinic is and they are checking your site.

Replied by Peggy
(Montgomery, Al)
02/18/2009

what exactly is soda crystals? I am interested in trying this remedy. Thanks for the feedback....

EC: Washing Soda.

Replied by Ted
(Bangkok, Thailand)
02/19/2009
392 posts
★★★★★

The reader in Lebanon uses a brand name, Tricel from Holland which if I remembered correctly is an equal combination of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate mix along with some other. Since I don't have the details of Tricel product with me, it might also have some potassium bicarbonate in there, but I can't be so sure, since Tricel is not available here locally. However in my mix, it's suppose to be 1/8 teaspoon of sodium carbonate, 1/8 teaspoon of potassium bicarbonate, and 1/8 teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate. That's why I assume she needed only just Tricel. However, in the U.S. the product in U.S. maybe different.

In most encyclopedic definitions a soda crystals is simply sodium carbonate. However, in commercial applications they appear to have made a mixture of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate. The difficulty appears that in an American product, which is not Tricel, they sell them under another brand name, which if I remembered correctly is Arm and Hammer's washing soda.

However in the U.S. a washing soda is sodium carbonate only, but they don't use the word soda crystals. Ideally her dose is something more akin to this, since U.S. versions uses a pure sodium carbonate (washing soda) without any sodium bicarbonate. But my "carbicarb" mixture also requires the potassium to help the required sodium and potassium ratio, which I believe is important to ALWAYS add the potassium in a carbicarb + potassium formulas. Hence a more general dose appears to be closer to this: 1/8 teaspoon sodium carbonate, 1/8 teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate, 1/8 teaspoon of potassium bicarbonate dissolved in 1 glass of water. I would take maybe some water to rinse the bitter after taste if I should take it.

A person's sinuses maybe relieved from either of this depending on the person's unique biochemistry. As in the case of the person who posted it it appears to be an allergy problem or excess blood pathogens, where the body is highly acid. As a result acidosis caused regularly sickness from metabolic acidosis. In that case, the acidity of the body is what triggered the sinus problem and hence the dose use is the carbicarb plus potassium remedy.

As for me, I live in a different environment and conditions. My sinus is from cold virus rather then a regular sinus issue. And also my body is on average alkaline, since I take baking soda most of the time (I like to take more frequently though!). The climate in which I live in Thailand is a lot warmer then the country such as Lebanon or Eastern European area or even most parts of the U.S. since I live in Thailand I sweat more from hot weather. Hence, I am more depleted of salts lost in the sweat, which caused runny nose and sinus problems. So if the body were somewhat more depleted of salt, I would go for the sea salt remedy, to reduce the sneezing or runny nose would immediately stopped, or mostly within 15-30 minutes. The dose is only just one single dose per day and it is between 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt. It's difficult to measure since my sea salt granules are much larger then that of a table salt. I WOULD NOT use any table salt, it just worsens the condition as well as common table salts are ACID, where the pH is closer to 5, compare this to my ordinary sea salt where pH is at 7.5. So there's a big difference just from that alone. When taking sea salt the body becomes somewhat more dehydrated and it kills opportunistic virus or bacteria from increased levels of salinity. The runny nose would reduce because the bdoy won't need to produce fluids since the increase blood salinity would eventually pull out the liquids of runny nose into the body. Perhaps the runny nose occurs as the body tries to rid of fluids to increase the level of salinity necessary to kill the pathogens. This appears to be the case as sneezing and allergy on the nose is significantly reduced after the sea salt remedy is taken. However, if the body doesn't lack the salinity to kill it, at least runny nose would reduce, but allergy and sneezing should technicall be at the same level from pathogens attacking the sinus just the same. In my case it appears that my salinity level are low so sinus, allergy were helped with sea salt. But don't let that fool you since I also alkalize myself especially whenever I do have the cold, also using baking soda, but sometimes a stronger carbicarb+ potassium (equal mixes of sodium carbonate + sodium bicarbonate + potassium bicarbonate) dissoled in 1 glass of water. A sea salt of 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon is also dissolved, but I may either use 1 glass or 1/2 glass of water depending on the conditions.

Hopefully this may help clear up some of the problems concerning this use. It should be noted that it was Benjamin Franklin that first used sea salt water drinking in large quantities of water, - around a 1/2 liter of water (my guess) to ward off the cold virus. Of course he was not able to explain in great detail why. But an ordinar sea salt water has a pH of around 8.0 as well as being high in salt. So basically his remedy is similar to mind, although Benjamin Franklin had to take a small canoe out in the middle of the water to drink a fairly large quantities of water between 1/2 to 1 liter of water is just my guess. He was in fact not the originator of that idea either. He heard news that someone drank sea salt in as a way to ward off the cold. As for me I don't believe it will ward off the cold, but definitely it does help REDUCE the symptoms of cold, especially the runny nose and sinus issue, where the body is depleted of salt causing the body to shed more water to increase salinity killing off the pathogens by dehydration along the breathing passages.


Ted


Steaming

11 User Reviews
5 star (10) 
  91%
4 star (1) 
  9%

Posted by Jonathan (Franklin, MA) on 12/06/2020
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

Lloyd's remedy below of steaming with equal parts ACV and water that has come to the initial simmer/boil with a towel over my head is now my go-to method for onset of colds; change of weather that affects sinuses; and seasonal allergic responses.

I had come to have a chronic sinusitis which was triggered often and predictably.

The ACV steaming not only has an immediate relieving effect but I believe it has rid me of the root chronic condition, removing old infected mucus. I am soo grateful to finding this method on EC and I tell everyone about it.

The other method I use is to put 3-5 drops of either ACV (any more will burn), 3% food grade hydrogen peroxide, or Lugol's 2% Iodine into my neti pot or a refillable nasal mist sprayer combined with the warm saline solution. I'll rotate all of these methods during seasonal changes when my sinuses are more sensitive. Just fantastic!


Steaming
Posted by Lauren (Austin, Texas) on 02/17/2011
★★★★★

To relieve sinus pressure temporarily I heat up a large bowl of water for about 2 minutes on high in the microwave then add a 4 drops of lavender oil and place my head over it with a towel draped over my head. Blow your nose when needed to get rid of some of the excess mucus. Repeat multiple times a day. I was sceptical at first but the lavender truly makes a huge difference.


Steaming
Posted by Rosa (Orlando , FL) on 07/28/2007
★★★★★

I was miserable last thursday night, I could not breath through my nose, my throat was so irritated and swallen I could hardly breath, I tried the nasal sprays and did nothing at all. without sleep and desperate for an immediate solution, I jumped on the internet and here I found the perfect remedy, I drank the ACV and it felt like burning at first but it sure cleared up my throat. I heated some water in the microwave with at a bit more than a third of ACV and very carefully inhaled the vapors, I felt such relief right away, This is the best remedy ever!


Steaming
Posted by Monique (Mansfield, OH) on 12/24/2006
★★★★★

Apple Cider Vinegar - Steam works like a charm! I've had sinus congestion and headaches for 4 months. Antibiotics didn't work - this works to clear the congestion. Jury still out on weather this will cure the problem, but I'm hopeful.


Steaming
Posted by Millie (New York, NY) on 11/25/2006
★★★★★

i have been suffering from a cold/sinus infection this entire week. it put a damper on my 4-day thanksgiving weekend. i cannot take over the counter cold remedies because they make my heart race, so i've been overdosing on vitamin c and echinacea, but to no avail. finally today, after not being able to breathe and having a bowling ball headache for four days, i went online to seek out a natural remedy and found your site and talk about acv. i had forgotten about it and actually pulled out a book i have from years ago and started reading. i was feeling so awful today that i had no intentions of walking out the door, still in my pajamas and looking sick, so i called my local health food store and begged them to deliver me a bottle of acv. i drank an acv/water mixture and also tried boiling a mixture in a pot and breathing in the stream. i can't believe that i've been breathing now for over an hour (i sure hope it lasts). i had to write because this is really terrific. thanks for reminding me of the benefits of acv. now that i dusted off the book, it's staying out where i can keep on reading.


Steaming
Posted by Hana (Bayonne) on 07/25/2005
★★★★★

Remedy #2: Steaming Hot Towels: IS A BLESSING! THANKS TO WHO EVER WROTE THAT!



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