Have you ever ignored your doctor’s advice and tried an alternative therapy for a chronic condition? Infrared sauna and halotherapy helped cure my clogged sinuses and empowered me to take an active role in my own health and wellness. I knew nothing about dry salt therapy and very little about saunas before a few years ago, when my sinus problems started. But my healthy skepticism of a doctor’s surgery recommendation spurred me to do my own research of natural therapies. You can too. Let me tell you how holistic treatments of sauna and dry salt inhalation helped me breathe again.

If you’ve ever experienced clogged sinuses, you know it can sometimes feel like you’re being suffocated. In 2021, I started having sinus problems. Not being able to fully breathe through my nose affected my ability to get a good night’s sleep and my motivation. I never wanted to exert myself as to get more out of breath, so I stayed planted on my couch all day. I was anxious the few times I wore a mask to travel, especially while my nose was running (so gross!) Don’t even get me started on the harmful effects of mask-wearing on your health, I’ve always suspected that’s what CAUSED my sinus problems. When month after month passed of not being able to normally breathe, I questioned if I’d ever get better.

Obstruction in Sinus Cavity?

My sinuses were so obstructed, especially the right side, that I even wondered if something was stuck up my nose. I saw a video about a woman who discovered the root of her lifelong sinus problems was a blue bead she had pushed up her nose as a child. That bead was lodged in her sinus cavity for twenty years! I wondered, had I done the same thing as a child and forgotten? I think you get the gist of how blocked my sinuses made me feel.

Mouth Breather

Mouth breathing has disastrous effects on your health, and I found myself breathing through my mouth a lot, especially at night when I tried to sleep. In James Nestor’s book, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, he conducts an experiment of plugging his nostrils for ten days to see what happens. After just five days, his blood pressure had spiked an average of 13 points putting him into a stage of hypertension, his heart rate variability dropped, his pulse increased, his body temperature decreased, his mental clarity nearly disappeared, and he felt awful saying, “I often feel as though I’m trapped in some sad sitcom in which nobody laughs, a Groundhog Day of perpetual and unending misery.” It’s hard to believe a simple thing like breathing through your mouth can cause so many threatening health effects.

Nestor’s book also explores the fact that mouth breathing changes your body, face, and airways for the worse creating or exacerbating other conditions like mood disorders, learning disabilities, and sleep disorders. Because breathing through the mouth decreases pressure it causes the tissues in the back of the mouth to cave inward making it even harder to breathe through your nose. It can also make you ugly! It can cause deformities of your face causing your jaw to be longer and face narrower, your teeth to be crooked, and your eyes to have dark circles. And the more you breathe through your mouth the more your body gets conditioned to breathing this way, intensifying other problems like snoring and sleep apnea. No wonder people are miserable when they can’t breathe.

The bright side is that breathing through your nose is beneficial and can reverse many, if not all, of the disorders caused by mouth breathing. Here are some benefits to nasal breathing according to Healthline.com:

·      Reduces your exposure to foreign substances

·      Warms and moistens inhaled air

·      Increases air flow to arteries, veins, and nerves

·      Improves lung function

·      Lowers risk of allergies

·      Aids immune system

·      Supports correct formation of teeth and mouth

It’s good news that nose breathing can solve many health problems, but what can you do if your nose is clogged?

IMCT Surgery Cancelled!

I finally went to an ENT after I tried numerous remedies, natural and pharmaceutical, to get relief. I tried sinus sprays and saline rinses, diet changes, pressure points and facial massage, chiropractor adjustments, essential oils, sinus medication, and steam inhalation. I’d sometimes get temporary relief, but it never lasted long. After months of no improvement, I made my appointment with the ENT. In a 5-minute examination, the doctor said I had hydrotrophia of the nasal turbines, which basically means I had swollen nasal passages. He recommended IMCT (intramural cautery of the turbinates) surgery. I scheduled the surgery while in his office, but after going home and digesting what he said I thought surgery seemed a very aggressive path, especially when I had no prior history of sinus issues. So, I cancelled the surgery.

I became my own best advocate for my health. My nasal passages were inflamed the doctor confirmed (and no, there was no bead or any other object up there). But why? What caused the inflammation? Shouldn’t addressing the cause be part of the treatment plan? This is the problem I have with the medical field: many do not get to the root of the problem. Could mask fibers have gotten lodged in my nasal cavities causing inflammation? Why wasn’t I asked if anything had changed in my lifestyle that could have caused my problem? And why was surgery recommended immediately? Those were just a few of the questions that led to my seeking options that would be best for me.

Halotherapy

Around the time of my ENT appointment, my husband learned of a natural treatment called halotherapy from his health coach, Own It’s Justin Roethlingshoefer. After researching the health benefits, we purchased a HaloIR™ sauna with halotherapy for our home. Halotherapy involves inhaling microparticles of dry, pharmaceutical grade salt that helps to remove mucus and pathogens from your airways. It is anti-inflammatory and antifungal, and the best part is that it is natural, safe, and requires no drugs or surgeries. To learn more about how it works, check out my blog on halotherapy. Even if the halotherapy didn’t work for my sinuses, we knew there were so many other health benefits of salt therapy and infrared saunas that there really was no downside to trying!

Once the sauna arrived, I was in it every day (sometimes multiple times a day) and it helped my sinuses and mood immediately. I would usually do at least 20-30 minutes at a time at the low infrared heat (88 F) setting with halotherapy at the same time. During sessions I’d hold one nostril shut at a time and take deep breaths. I noticed right away mucus production increased and I made sure to have tissues inside the sauna to blow my nose several times during treatment. I also loved being able to turn on a Bible study through the built-in speakers and just sit back, relax, and breathe in a peaceful environment as I felt my sinuses draining. I could also feel the built-up anxiety start to diminish as well.

High Heat Sauna

While there was definite improvement in clearing my sinuses using low heat infrared sauna and halotherapy sessions, I think the real turning point to completely opening my sinuses occurred when I also started incorporating high heat sauna time (around 110-120 F). I think the high heat killed whatever infection(s) had been lingering while also dramatically improving my decongestion. 

Some benefits of regular sauna sessions include:

·      Decongestion of sinuses and internal organs - As the body pushes blood toward the skin to cool itself, this stimulates your circulation and helps your joints, tissues, and sinuses.

·      Kills bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses - Raising your body temperature helps your body to get rid of infections including infections of the sinuses, ears, eyes, bladder, throat, and intestines.

·      Better sweating - The sweat during sauna use is more conducive to ridding your body of toxins verses sweating from exercise. After many months of sauna use, sweating increases considerably in most people, helping to expel heavy metals and toxic chemicals.

·      Inhibition of sympathetic nervous system – This enables your body to relax and heal itself faster.

Therapy Layering

Therapy layering, or therapy stacking, is the new buzzword in the wellness industry. Simply put, it’s being able to access multiple modalities at the same time such as sauna heat and halotherapy in one session. But even more than that, it’s getting increased benefits when the two therapies interact with each other, making their benefits even more powerful. For instance, low infrared heat makes the air warm and dry and lets deeper penetration occur along with better absorbency of the salt particles in the bronchi. The HaloIR™ allows for several modalities at once. This is the protocol that help me:

·      Daily, (or twice daily, morning and night), 20–30-minute low infrared heat with halotherapy

·      Once a week high heat sauna session (about 120 F) for about 45 minutes (no halotherapy)

·      Aromatherapy – I love doTERRA’s Breathe essential oil

·      Chromotherapy – light therapy inside the sauna

·      Sound therapy – relaxing music or Bible study

Could this treatment help you?

You’re not the only one

Sinus problems today are rampant and expensive. Almost 80 million Americans per year suffer from sinusitis or allergies. And it’s expensive, costing an average of almost $6,000 a year in doctor and medication expenses per person. Sounds like a profitable business for doctors and drug companies, doesn’t it? Many people are looking for relief, not even knowing about other treatments that could help or even alleviate their symptoms altogether.

Trying an alternative therapy was worth it for me. Being able to breathe through my nose changed everything. My mood, my energy, and my health all improved with no surgery and no medications. Could it be worth trying for you? Schedule a session or give us a call to learn more.

 

 

References

Healthline. (2021, February). What Are the Advantages of Nose Breathing Vs. Mouth Breathing? https://www.healthline.com/health/nose-breathing

Malito, A. (2017, July 29). Sinus sufferers spend billions of dollars a year to stop sniffling.

MarketWatch. https://www.marketwatch.com/amp/story/sinus-sufferers-spend-billions-of-dollars-a-year-to-stop-sniffling-2017-07-24

Nestor, J. (2020). Breath: The new science of a lost art. Penguin.

Wilson, L. (2010, January). Infrared Sauna Therapy. Ed Skilling Institute | Alternative Therapy That

Works!. https://www.edskilling.com/ResourceDocs/16_Sauna%20Therapy_DrWilson.pdf