Use Apple Cider Vinegar to Naturally Treat Sinus Infections

I have been suffering from a severe sinus infection for about 3 weeks, the most painful I have ever had. The sinus infection grew out of an infected gumline and tooth, which I did not know was infected until the dentist told me so. The tooth infection was around the root, 4th tooth from the back on the upper right jaw. Well, the dentist put me on clindmyacin and vicodin extra strength. The clindamyacin did absolutely nothing to the infection, waste of time taking the pills. Oh, the dentist also sent me to a dental specialist, who was able to determine the location of the infection and the fact that it had gotten into the tooth nerve, so I had a root canal done on the tooth two days ago, I was nervous abou the root canal, but the dentist was a miracle worker - not pain during the procedure and no tooth pain since.

The sinus infection is still raging though. The 2nd dentist put me on a Z Pak for the infection, not sure if it is working or not, as I am still getting the extreme pressure and pain in the right side sinus.

Tonight, my wife bought me a neti pot and I used it as soon as she got home, I was in the midst of a really bad episode of pain and pressure. Well, the neti pot reduced the pressure and pain - from 10 to a 6. So I loaded up on some sudafed and benadryl, too a vicodin too. Then the pain and pressure started coming back so I jumped online looking for a natural home remedy since the OTC crap was not working.

Just happened to find this site and I read the first 4 pages of "Cure a sinus infection" So, what the hell, since I was in enough pain to wish that Mr Death would come and knock on the front door, I decided to try the ACV remedy. I did the modified version - 2 tbsp of ACV, 1 tbsp of lemon juice and 1 tbsp of wild flower honey - mixed them up in a coffee cup and drank it down in 3 gulps - not too bad tasting at all. It was like a miracle, 4 minutes later the pressure started to go down and the pain right along with it. In 15 minutes I would say the sinus inflamation had been reduced by 50 percent and I could breath thru my right nostril. So, just so you know, I am one of those people that has any patience and if one cup of the ACV mixture did this well, a 2nd cup of the same mixture couldn't hurt - LOL So 25 minutes after the first cup went down I drank the 2nd.... 10 minutes later I was feeling a bunch of pain again, but this was different than the sinus pressure, like an opposite pain... It was the pain of my sinus's - both sides of my head, and all the sinus cavities at the same time.... They were shrinking.... Too quickly... And it hurt like hell..... Well 10 more minutes and the pain and pressure are both gone and I am breating freely. So, if you read this and are going to try the ACV mixture I listed above.... Take my advice, do not drink 2 doses within 30 minutes of each other... It works great but it hurts!!!!

Just a couple of other items about my sinus infection. I have had very similar episode 6 times before, with uncommon symptoms: no nasal discharge - none; no drainage into my throat when sleeping; hours upon hours of no pain or pressure at all - completely normal feeling, then all of a sudden the pain and pressure come on like a freight train going 100 mph. The pain brings tears and crying - I am a 41 yr old man with a very high threshold for pain, but this is an evil kind of pain - and the pressure is unbelievable - feels like the right side of my head is going to actually burst open and my right eyeball feels like it is being pushed out of its socket!!!!

Since a lot of folks on this site seem to know more about sinus infections than I do, I have a couple questions to ask.

1) Is it common for a sinus infection to stay on only one side of the head?

2) Is it common to not have any nasal discharge at all?

3) What causes the sinus pressure and pain to be absent for up to 14 hrs and then all of a sudden flare up with a vengence?

Well, that is enough for now. I would like to thank everyone for sharing their experiences as I have already benefitted greatly with the ACV remedy!!! For those that will read this posting, try the ACV remedy.... It worked extremely quickly for me!!!

Try using Hair Combs or as I do, use Hair Comb Slides. With teeth from combs slighty pressed on fingertips [pressure points] keep this up for 15 minutes a day for 2 Months and you will have no more Sinus problems. But I still continue with this at least twice a week to make sure it never returns.

I have been suffering a chronic sinusitis for about 5 months does this ACV actually work to cure it n be relieved?

I found this thread after 2 weeks of an on again off again cold that eventually became a sinus infection. I have used the neti pot with salt water in the past with good results especially if I catch it early, but this time the sinus infection seemed to hang on longer. I drank apple cider vinegar with honey and hot water yesterday and like others wrote the stuffiness seemed to clear in about 15 minutes. It did come back somewhat later in the day and I had another round of the drink. The next day (today), my symptoms are barely there. AMAZING! I am definitely a believer and am very happy not to go the antibiotics route - which has worked but then my GI tract gets messed up for weeks. ACV!! Thanks for this website!

Thought I would drop by and give an update on my situation. Well, the ACV stopped working after 5 days, no effect whatsoever any more. Maybe the body builds a tolerance, or the infection does, but whatever happened, it does nothing now.

So I gave in and went to the ENT, same Doctor I saw 10 years ago for the same thing. He remembered me right away. After talking for a few minutes, he brought the super spray - in a little glass bottle attached to a air pump - whatever that stuff is, it is absolutely amazing - 1 spray and the sinus immediately starts to open, wait for a minute or so, 2nd spray and all 4 sinuses are about 50% or 60% open, wait another minute and 3rd spray - all 4 sinuses are now 100% open, pressure is completely gone. The ENT was very surprised that there was no drainage of any kind. He had me snort and spit a number of times, but nothing out of the ordinary, just plain spit - so he gave me a 4th spray on the right side a single spray on the left side - waited about 30 seconds - more snorting and spitting - still no discharge. He was kind of stumped at this point. All symptoms point to an infection in the right side sinuses only. He check my right ear, checked my throat - no problems found. He then looked up my nose and other than the right sinus being overly red - from a month of netipot, nasal sprays, saline irrigation sprays - he saw nothing out of the ordinary.

Well, he scratched his head a couple times and remembered one other case like me about 15 years ago. He said all the symptoms lead to a sinus infection but he could never get a sample of the infection in spit or nasal mucus. He kept put that patient on predisone and antibiotics - took a couple rounds, but eventually it worked.

So, he put me on Avelox, predisone and more vicadins. He also recommened the Ocean nasal spary in the can. So I started the regimine of pills - finished them off this past Friday - in the 10 days I had 4 very good days - no pain or pressure, but last Thursday I had a horrible night, pain and pressure for 15 hrs straight - and then Friday afternoon, everything opened up, pain and pressure went away and I thought, prematurely, that it was all over for good. Sat morning was pretty good, then by 4 in the afternoon it was back with a vengence, but I was able to knocked it back with a few sudafed. Yesterday, Sunday, sucked bad - spent most of the day in bed and then it cleared up for a couple hours and then came back last night around 11 pm. Took a couple hrs to get it to subside - hot shower for 15 minutes, nasal spray, sudafed and allegra. This morning I could feel it, like a nagging throb, but it was fine until around 3 pm - then it hit again, hard, and it stayed painful until 6:30 pm and just went away. Came back a little about 9 pm, so I took 1 - 100mg GSE tablet, and a couple sudafed - seemed ok until about 30 minutes ago - so back to the neosynephryn - 3 sprays and everything is wide open for now. So hopefully the GSE will start to do something.

Have another visit with the ENT this Thursday - will get a CT scan this week as well, hopefully something will show up that will help the Doctor figure out what is going on.

The pain and pressure, reoccuring when it wants to, with no trigger that I can narrow down - not any specific food or food group, or smoking or lack of smoking, outside, inside, in the car, in a resturant, movie theater, grocery store - so I am basically at a loss, just like before.

This has become very depressing and is weighing very heavily on my emotional state. One minute I am perfectly fine - and the next I am feeling my skull is going to explode - the pressure is so bad that when I used the cayene nasal spray, the tears coming from my right eye actually tasted like cayene pepper - and my eye burned like hell until I washed it out.

Will update in a week or two, hopefully the next time will have a more positive update.

This will probably be my last update as the sinus infection is on its last legs - finger crossedXXX.

I did start the ACV again, and once again it worked on a limited basis. It worked right away the first time I took it - same mixture I used before - 2 tbsp of ACV, 1 tbsp of lemon juice and 1 tbsp of wild flower honey. But the longer I used it the effectiveness wore off. I got about 4 days of usefullness out of it, then it did nothing to relieve the pressure any longer.

So I did some more research and had another visit to the ENT and think I have found a combination of vitamins, OTC and prescription drugs, and home remedies that seems to have finally led me to a viable solution to a dry sinus infection.

Here is the list of stuff I have used since my last update to get to the point of 90% cured.

1. Avelox antibiotic - not as harsh on the system as some antibiotics.

2. 500 mg of Vitamin C chewable tablet, 4 to 8 a day.

3. 400 mg of Acai berry extract a day

4. Predisone - to reduce inflamation and promote sinus drainage

5. 400 mg guaifenesin tablets - up to 2,400 mg a day - this was the missing part of all my previous attempts - the ENT agreed this can be very helpful in certain cases. It thins mucus, not only in the lungs, but all mucus and I was finally able to get drainage out of my sinus. I did not get any of the colored mucus as drainage, but I can feel the sinus drain into the back of my throat and the pressure just disappears within 15 to 20 minutes of taking the tablets. I chase the pills down with a softdrink containing caffein to speed the process along.

6. 1/8 tsp Sea salt - dissolved with saliva in your mouth, then swallowed and chased down with a 8 to 12 oz glass of water - do this a couple times a day, say morning, mid-day and evening. This sounds crazy, but it works wonders. Details and testimonials can be found at "Watercure2. Org". Some of the claims and testimonials do seem to stretch reality a little, but, I can honestly say this works, at least for me. No increase in bloodpressure, no serious side effects, unless you consider clear urine a bad thing - LOL I think this helps with the sinuses because it increases the volume of water/salt in the body, which increases the mucus, but thins it, along with the guaifenesin. It is like doing the neti pot on an internal level.

Like I said above, I am not 100%, still get a small flareup every other day or so, like tonight, but it is easily shut down by 400 mg tablet of guaifenesin and taking the 1/8 tsp of sea salt and the glass of water. Takes about 20 minutes and the pressure goes away, the sinuses and nasal passage feels soothed, probably from the increase in thin mucus, and air flow thru the nose is increased. If you lay down at the 30 minute mark, you will feel the drainage in your throat. It is not an excessive amount to cause gagging, but more of a dripping/leakage feeling as the mucus just kind of slides down your throat, but there is no irritation associated, and no sore throat the next day.

I really think it is the combination of sea salt and guaifensin that is making the difference. Any sinus infection needs to drain, and the thinner you can make the mucus the better off you will be. My ENT thought I might have a partially plugged sinus and was thinking surgery if it does not get better. Well, the hell with surgery. I don't care if the sinus drain hole is 1mm in size, I will thin the mucus until it gets out of the hole. I am not going to have surgery, period!!!

I am hoping that in another week I will be back at 100% and this will all just be a bad memory. I wish my fellow sinus sufferers the best of luck. What seems to be working for me may not work for you, but don't give up hope. Keep trying different and varied things, different combinations of remedies, you will eventually find something that works.

I had persistent sinus infections for years, each episode getting a little worse until it got really bad. Started going to a naturopath for another problem (candida), and when I took grains and dairy out of my diet, sinus problems went away.

It is now 2 days post-Christmas... Over the period of the last month, eating some of my forbidden foods has once again presented me with a sinus infection. Am using ACV and oil of oregano... Seems to be working for all except the chills-- broke down and took a Tylenol a few minutes ago. Planning to have a detox bath later this evening (contains epsom salts, baking soda and ACV) just before bedtime and hope that it will give me a good night's sleep. The health food store where I purchased the oil of oregano also suggested probiotics two hours after taking and ACV or oil of oregano. Apparently the oil of oregano will kill the good bacteria as well as the bad.

Could it be you are having migraines?

Hi all! I have looked over the ACV thread many times in desperation during my NUMEROUS chronic sinus infections. I always have given in and ran to the drs thinking that all of this homeopathic stuff was for nutty people. Well, count me in the nutty pile now!!!! And so happy to be here! I finally said ENOUGH! When you've learned your lesson and gone to the Dr.time after time taking antibiotic after antibiotic, spray after spray, from Z-Pacs to the dreaded (for me anyway I'm allergic augmentin) and you get about three weeks if that of happiness and a faux feeling of being 'cured'-ahem-cough cough. Something is NOT right!

So, I went straight down to my local health food store and purchased a inexpensive bottle-lg. by the way of Organic ACV-which doesn't taste bad to me for some odd reason and picked up LOCAL honey to aid in preventing my allergies after educating myself on chronic sinusitis, Started using my neti pot daily and I am committed to taking measures into my own hands. If I have to rely on some OTC remedies occasionally then so be it but from now on my diet is changing and my preventitive sinus and allergy health care is as well. Back to basics.

The first night I tried it I woke up the next day and was so shocked I could breathe and my pain level decreased from a literal-NO JOKING HERE-ten to a three!!!!!! The next day was better. But I am also using clear rinse sinus rinse every thirty minutes in each nostril-you can google that-no I don't sell it. It's kind of an experiment because there was some big AD on YT about another product like it twice the price that is supposed to kill the bacteria if used every thirty minutes for about three days to a week. Same darn ingredients. I am sorry it's called Ocean I got it at CVS. It is really taking the sinus pain away. I was in so much pain that I almost went to an emergency room for pain without health insurance. The local honey my landlord told me about makes sense because that would-it seems where ever you live, build up your immune system to fight against pollens etc.

Good luck guys-allergies and sinus pain is awful it has shut down my social life I literally haven't ecercised or dated in a year. Wish me luck! Much luv!!!

Yogagirl I am right there with you! I am absolutely miserable! I am trying ACV for the first time and I believe it is helping. I have been on 4 months of antibiotics and steroids for my Sinusitis. I now have to get surgery (which I hate) but nothing has been able to help me. I am from Dallas too and I swear Texas is the worst place for allergies. I am allergic to everything in the state of Texas except for fire ants. Yay. My social and dating life is nonexistent and hasn't been for over a year. I physically cannot exercise due to the fatigue and exhaustion the sinus infections have on me. I don't know if you have tried an ACV detox bath but I have done that before and it worked amazing, but then the pain came back so hopefully this combo will get me through the next couple of weeks till surgery! It is comforting to know that I am not the only one going through this. Makes me feel less crazy! Hope everything is working out for you and life is getting back to normal! Wishing you luck!

Wow, I just saw this posting. I have antibiotics, nasal spray and an inhaler. I've had a cough for weeks and I had a migraine from the sinus congestion... Now full blown infection. I'm excited to try this home remedy! Thanks for the posting and feedback on this!

I hope that it works for you too Jen, please let me know how you go with this :)

It wasn't the nicest thing to do-sniffing such a strong-smelling concoction and the steam left a little burning sensation in my nose, but I was able to blow out so much gunk afterwards. Now I'm also trying other remedies for better health including eating 1 or 2 cloves of raw garlic each day & have also started oil-pulling.

After being so fatigued over the years(no energy & need at least 9-12 hours of sleep per day just to function), this morning I woke at 6. 30am, got the kids ready & off to school, myself off to work and I felt so energetic.. Am hoping that this isn't a fluke(or placebo effect), that perhaps these remedies are doing something for my constant tiredness.

I was down all week with what the doctor said was a sinus infection (terrible pain all over my head and in my face and eyes, so bad it made me vomit) all week. He gave me azithromycin, which gave me some really uncomfortable body aches. I'm a firm believer in natural medicine, but because this thing was so nasty and because the course was only three pills, I took the antibiotic. I've been reading all the great posts on ACV and am sipping some right now in hot water and honey to make sure this thing doesn't come back. I don't mind the taste, though I worry about the effect on tooth enamel, so a few months ago when using the ACV for something else, I bought some glass straws (if the ACV can eat tooth enamel, I don't know what it'll do to a plastic straw) and will just rinse with water. I used to make salad dressing out of ACV - guess I'll start doing that again too. I might even try a little in my neti pot just to make sure! Just as an aside - cold pressed castor oil - not the one you buy in the drug store for constipation, but the one mentioned here used to heal the eye problem, should NEVER be taken internally, so please don't do that. This type of castor oil is for external use only, and it says so on the bottle. I will tell you that when my son was little, he used to get a chalazion-like thing on his upper eyelid, and I would saturate a four-fold piece of clean, white flannel soaked in warmed castor oil and keep it over his eye for a few hours off and on over a couple of days. When taking it off, I soaked his eye with warm water. Within two days the infection drained and was always better. That stuff is great too.

Unreal, My wife gets bad sinis bowts twice a year. Each year she goes to the doctors and they give her pills and crap that take weeks to get rid of it.

This time it was really bad , she had swollon noise, sore eyes, and a headace that made her cry, so I said enough of these doctors. I came on this site and found the ACV directions and had her try it.

Within 10 minuets she started to feel a little better, and 24hrs later she is almost back to normal and feels great. I dont know if it works for everybody but I, ll tell ya its worth a try.

Thanks alot and keep up the good work.

Your friend Dave

Not only is it okay to take apple cider vinegar while pregnant, it's an excellent idea, as it creates a healthier environment for growing a baby. Dilute! You may want to skip honey during pregnancy and breastfeeding, due to the (very, very small but real) risk of botulism. Try molasses or stevia instead.

are we supposed to boil equal parts Apple Cider Vinegar and h2o and enhale

Glad you mentioned the mold issue in your house. I never had sinus issues like this till I moved into this Apartment 4 years ago, and I know there is mold and mildew on the insides of the walls since I had a broken pipe, and they had to open up the walls. I wonder how many people have sinus issues due to mold , mildew or other toxic problems where they live. I also found out that laying off all milk products helps as well.

Check for mold........ it can be life threatning.

I can't seem to find the recipe anywhere here, maybe it's because my sinus is so clogged I can't think. Help! What's the recipe and instructions ?

Thank you for the invaluable information!! After trying 2 rounds of antibiotics, I was desperate and found this site. Just tried Apple Cider Vinegar with a bit of honey in a small glass of water. Sinuses are clear!! I am breathing through my nose again!!

I am 38 years old and live in NY. I have horrible sinus problems due to a deviated septum and genetics. I am on my 3rd sinus infection this winter and am fed up. The first two go arounds, I got antibiotics. They worked, but I got the infection again weeks later.

I just now drank a 8oz glass of water with 2 tlbs of distilled vinegar (I don't have ACV, but will get some tomorrow) and I feel it working. Unreal. The constant urge to sneeze and the burning inside my nose is disappearing.

Thank you!

Wow, I am stunned. I have suffered from frequent sinus infections for years and have tried every "proven" remedy from large doses of garlic to olive leaf extract with no success. So naturally I was skeptical of this. But what the heck, Apple Cider Vinegar is cheap so I'll give it a shot. I'd been blowing yellow gobs of gunk several tims a day all week. I drank some Apple Cider Vinegar and honey tea yesterday and didn't really notice any dramatic difference within the short time, as people had mentioned. But I wasn't experiencing much pressure or pain anyway. Hower, I realized today that I have blown zero gunk since drinking the tea yesterday. My nose feels clear, dry, and gunk-free nearly 24 hours later whereas before I was blowing my nose every couple hours at least. I'm amazed. How can it work that fast?