What Are the Treatments for Sinus Drainage?

Sinus drainage typically results from a cold or flu infection or allergies. The annoyance of having constant sinus drainage can be embarrassing and painful. You are constantly wiping your nose, and chronic sinus drainage can cause bad breath. Sinus drainage produces thick, runny mucus that can run down the back of the throat and some is swallowed, producing halitosis. You may also experience a hacking cough because the drainage will tickle the back of your throat. Home remedies can safely dry up nasal secretions and allow you to breathe freer and clearer.

Neti Pot

• Use a neti pot for a drug-free, safe way to clean and clear nasal passages. Neti pots are an old Indian yogic tradition for nasal irrigation and have proven to clean and clear nasal passages using simple saline solution.

  Purchase a neti pot from your local health food store and prepare your solution using warm purified water, salt and baking soda. Combine 1 quart of warm water with 1 tsp. of non-iodized salt and 1 tsp. of baking soda. Mix until dissolved.

  Fill your neti pot with the solution and pour into one nostril. Tilt your head sideways and let the solution run out through the other nostril. Repeat on the other side. Blow your nose after using your neti pot. Use your neti pot daily to prevent future sinus problems, and never share a neti pot with anyone.

Tomato Tea

• Clean your nasal passages and feel better using a tomato tea concoction. Combine 2 cups V8 juice with two to three cloves of crushed garlic, 2 tbsp. of lemon juice and as much hot sauce as you can handle.

  Heat the concoction in the microwave or in a small pan on your stove. Sip slowly and re-heat as needed to inhale the mixture's fumes.

  Substitute ingredients if you don't have everything you need. For example, use regular tomato juice instead of V8 and Worcestershire sauce if you don't have hot sauce.

  The mixture should encourage the remaining nasal drip to leave the body and clean and clear sinus passages.

Bulb Syringe Nasal Extraction

• Encouraging the drip to come out and then dry out is the goal with bulb syringe nasal extraction. This is a safe and effective method for infants and adults because you use a salt water solution and a rubber-tipped bulb syringe to encourage the phlegm and drainage to leave your body.

  Mix 2 cups of water with 1 tsp. of salt in a bowl. Suck the solution into the bulb syringe and gently squeeze into one nostril. As you retract the syringe, you should suck the superfluous salt water and flowing mucus back into your syringe. Dispose of the water and mucus in the sink and repeat with the other nostril. Continue this process until you feel that you've cleared the mucus, and use it whenever you feel the drip.