Sinusitis

[Headless Rat]

My boyfriend suffers from severe sinusitis. He doesn't get headaches but he is constantly blowing his nose. Anytime he drinks alcohol or eats creamy foods or bananas it sets him off for days. He tried acupuntcure before and said it was the only thing that made him feel any better but once he finished his 8 sessions, it came back just as bad as before. No tablets give him any relief either. Does anyone have any experience of this type of infliction? Are there any permanent cures or can you just prevent its onset by avoiding certain foods etc? Even if he does avoid alcohol and creamy foods, it still seems to hit him. He's had a chest x-ray and the doctors said that nothing is blocking his sinuses....it's a bit of a mystery but I'd like to help him find a cure. If anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated.

[Scarlett]

He needs to do a detox. Carol Vordeman does a really good one. You have a restricted diet for at least 2 weeks- no dairy, wheat, meat, alcohol, sugar or caffeine. You may feel like crap for a few days but that is the detox doing its magic! Stick with it for 2 weeks and then when you feel better, gradually re-introduce one food type at a time, and note what the effect is on him. I think it sounds like he is intolerant to dairy, but worth trying them all!

[sqad617]

Well, let is get one thing clear in that with normal X-Rays, he does NOT suffer from sinusitis. It would seem that he has what is known as vasomotor fhinits, which may be due to an allergy or other factors. He needs to see an ENT surgeon and be investigated. No idea about Carol Vordeman's medical credentials other than she use to be on TV Countdown, but being a celeb these days qualifies you as an expert on many things.

[bigl]

Tell him not to really blow his nose as this can irritate the mucous membranes and make him produce even more mucous. Try the following breathing exercise to clear passages:-
Breathe out completely through your nose and then don't breathe again until you're really forced to - maybe in 20 secs. - then breathe in AND out through your nose ONLY until your beathing gets steady again. So, this will take several breaths and you need to keep your mouth tightly closed at this time.
He needs to do this several times a day to begin with but it usually has the effect of making airways clearer.

[icemaiden]

How can they know from a chest X-ray that his sinuses are ok?

What he needs is a CT scan. Go to the GP and request one. This will give a clear picture of what is going on. I suffered years of this and it was only once I had the scan that they found all sorts of problems.

I will agree with the previous posts that dairy products do irritate the problem. But it sounds like he has suffered enough.

[sqad617]

I agree with icemaiden, in my answer I assumed that it was a typing error nd that his sinuses were Xrayd. CT scan of his sinuses would certainly help. The abscence of headache however des still make the diagnosis of sinusitis questionable.

[Scarlett]

NB: I didn't say Carol Vorderman was an expert in any medical field. She endorsed a detox diet along with Anita Bean (I think) who wrote the recipes and they marketed it together. But the book is called Carol Vorderman's Detox Diet.