Got Sinus Pain? We’ve Got Solutions! with Neha Vyas, MD

Podcast Transcript

John Horton: Hey, there, and welcome to the Health Essentials Podcast, where today, we're going to talk about home remedies to relieve sinus pressure. I'm John Horton, your host, and a frequent sinus sufferer. That doesn't make me unique either. On average every year, 1 out of 7 people deal with sinusitis. It's a condition that can make your head feel like it's about to just explode. The good news? There are ways to tame this pain. Dr. Neha Vyas is joining us to share tips to dial down that pressure. She's one of the many experts at Cleveland Clinic who pop into our weekly podcast to offer advice that you can trust. So let's get to it. Dr. Vyas, thank you so much for joining us on the show. It's always a pleasure to talk with you.

Dr. Neha Vyas: Thank you so much, John. Happy to be here.

John Horton: Oh, great. Now, one of the things I always love about you is that you talk about how you try to simplify medicine for people. How do you that? It's such a complicated thing.

Dr. Neha Vyas: Well, I think that's why I enjoy primary care, and my job is to take medical literature and to take some very complex subjects and try to get it down to a level where I could be talking to anyone off the street and they'd be able to understand. It's really one of the highlights of my job.

John Horton: Well, because it matters so much to people and your mind just gets spun around with all the big words and the names and all that stuff, so it is nice to be able to bring it down into a certain level.

Dr. Neha Vyas: It does.

John Horton: Well, let's jump right into our topic today then, which is something that I think so many people deal with, and that is sinus issues, and I know that's one of the most common things that leads to doctor visits. What do you usually hear from the people who come into your office?

Dr. Neha Vyas: That's a great question. Now remember, sinusitis, or an infection of your sinuses, is an inflammation of those airspaces that are in your face, they're within your bones, they're lined by some tissues and it gets clogged up. And normally, they have air inside, but when they get clogged up, it can really cause pain. So that's one of the symptoms that people present to me as, pain in their face.

John Horton: In the sinuses, I think there's a lot of people where you don't quite know exactly where that's at. So kind of give us a little tour of our face and tell us where the sinuses are and where we might feel some pain.

Dr. Neha Vyas: Right. Well, that's a great question. And some of the more common places that we tend to localize sinus infections are right above your eyebrows or right in your cheeks, or right in between your eyes, sometimes, even as far down as near your teeth.

John Horton: Nobody wants that. So how can we stop that? How can we lessen those symptoms?

Dr. Neha Vyas: What we could do is we could make sure that we know what triggers a sinus infection. So if you have allergies, for instance, and you get stopped up a lot or clogged up, be sure to take an antihistamine or a decongestant to help keep you from getting stopped up.

John Horton: Fabulous advice. What about, I've seen things where there's like saline sprays or things like that. When should you go for those?

Dr. Neha Vyas: Those are actually great to start off with. If you feel a little congestion coming on, you can use a saline nasal spray to get yourself unclogged. You could also use something called a neti pot, which is an interesting looking contraption where you can put distilled water, or at the very least boiled water which has been cooled, along with a little bit of salt, which the package recommends, and put it inside your nose, and it's basically flushing out your sinuses.

John Horton: I've got to be honest; those have always scared me to try. I mean, are they really worth doing?

Dr. Neha Vyas: They can be a little bit intimidating and it's very important to follow the directions, but they do tend to help some people.

John Horton: What about the other thing, humidifiers, vaporizers, are those good and are those the same thing?

Dr. Neha Vyas: They're a little bit different. What you're trying to do is you're trying to make the air a little more moist. We've noticed that drier air tends to inflame your sinuses a lot more than more humid or moist air.

John Horton: So that would be with the humidifiers. I take it the other, just the easy solution, is just a long hot shower, which my kids always told me was essential.

Dr. Neha Vyas: Yes, indeed. The heat and the moisture from the water are a great combination and they help open up all of those clogged areas in your face.

John Horton: That's what they always told me, but I always used to complain about the water bill. Dr. Vyas, we talked about the sprays and the neti pots and things like that, are there just kind of some medications that you can take that might help with the sinus pain?

Dr. Neha Vyas: Certainly. One of the most common medications that we recommend are anti-inflammatories such as Tylenol or Motrin, otherwise known as acetaminophen or ibuprofen. They help reduce the swelling that you feel in your sinuses. Not only do you have pain in your face or headaches sometimes, but you could also have some snot or congestion and it's something to keep an eye out, especially if it's discolored.

John Horton: I was going to say, is that something with the color? Because everybody has done that, where you, I guess, expel, and then you go to somebody and go, look at this. What are the things you should be looking for? When should you be worried?

Dr. Neha Vyas: Well, certainly if your snot changes colors it's important to get that looked at, and if there's any blood in it, then for sure talk to your doctor about this.

John Horton: What would the blood be from? I've heard ruptured sinuses or things like that.

Dr. Neha Vyas: Certainly not that dramatic, but it can certainly mean that there's an infection that needs to be treated.

John Horton: So, when you're dealing with others, you try these different tactics. I take it sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.

Dr. Neha Vyas: Indeed, and if you've tried a number of these things and it still hasn't been very helpful, it's probably time to talk to your doctor, especially if you're having worsening pain in your face or if you're running a fever or if you're having a headache that just won't go away, or if it's been about a week and you're just not getting any better.

John Horton: I was going to ask that; a lot of people will let these things go and you just figure it'll go away on its own. What kind of risks are you taking if you just let it sit there and don't get it knocked out?

Dr. Neha Vyas: You could run the risk of it turning into an all-out infection and at that point in time, you might need some strong medications, which your doctor prescribes, in order to help you get better.

John Horton: I was going to say, are the medications that you get, the prescription medications, are they kind of that much more powerful than the over-the-counter stuff?

Dr. Neha Vyas: Well, they can be, and it really depends on whether you are at the stage where you need them or not. Definitely talk to your doctor if you're not getting any better.

John Horton: Dr. Vyas, thank you so much for joining us today. It's always a pleasure having you on.

Dr. Neha Vyas: Thank you so much, John.

John Horton: So, the next time you feel like your head's about to explode, try one of the tips and tricks suggested by Dr. Vyas, because while nobody's head has actually detonated from sinus pressure, you don't want to be the first. Till next time, be well.

Speaker 3: Thank you for listening to Health Essentials, brought to you by Cleveland Clinic and Cleveland Clinic Children's. To make sure you never miss an episode, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts or visit clevelandclinic.org/hepodcast. This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to replace the advice of your own physician.