surviving sinusitis
(and other catarrhal catastrophes)
do check out my expanded 2 1/2
hour online class
on herbs for upper respiratory woe
here!
(a part of my longer
Foundations in Holistic Immunity
course)
One of the first conditions I started formulating for
when I began to be interested in herbs was sinusitis;
that was almost 20 years ago, and I recently discovered
an old batch of sinus tincture, which I’ve kept around
both for nostalgia’s sake and to remind me how much more
nuanced I’ve become since making that gazillion herb
shotgun formula. As I learned to differentiate between
various manifestations of sinusital woe, I wrote up an
article on the topic, which has been on my site for
close to 15 years, and become quite popular. This, of
course, led to lots of emails and clients and
experiences with the fronts of many faces, and I’d like
to share some of the insights I’ve gleaned from these
folk, and finally revamp that old, dated write up.
I should say that very little of my experience is
personal. I don’t often get hit with anything more than
transient upper respiratory discomfort during the
occasional cold or flu, and have only really had bad
sinusitis a few times. It was really pretty damn awful,
and offered me a deep well of compassion for those who
deal with this on an ongoing basis. One such person was
an old girlfriend (and current wife), who had me
concocting some of my first formulas and getting my
first successes (I’ll just assume that’s not the only
reason she married me). She was the first of now many
people I’ve worked with who had chronic
sinusitis, and no longer do.
First, before jumping right into "take this or take
thats", let's acknowledge that sinus problems come in
various guises, and so to should herbal treatment.
Matthew Wood has created a simple and concise energetic
model with six basic “tissue states”; descriptions of
the variations tissues can experience. These include
hot (increased activity), cold (decreased activity),
damp (congestion), dry, relaxation (I prefer the term
“laxity”) and constricted (which includes both tension
and spasm). Of course, different modalities (Ayurveda,
TCM, Greek, Sindarin) will use different terms or
models, but these simple states create a very effective
and easily applied structure on which to assess a
person’s problem and create a sensible protocol.
That all said, without explanation, these terms might
not be easily interpreted by those suffering, because
we’re not used to thinking about sinuses outside of the
“you have an infection” model and because critical
thinking can be difficult when your sinuses ache. I
like to rely on the terms that people know and use
without thinking about it, as these point towards tissue
states anyway. Most often, I've come across three
variations of sinus troubles: leaky (lax), stuffy
(damp) and dry (dry). Tension is less often encountered
(though sneezing can count as spasm... try a drop or two
of lobelia for uncontrollable sneezing fits), and hot
and cold... well, I'll get to that later.
Different types of herbs are used in to address each
state (or combination of states), and this is quite
important to know. Too many people play name
association games with herbs, the kind where they simply
associate the name of a problem with the name of the
herb that was written next to it somewhere. But you
don't want to go giving drying herbs like Goldenseal to
someone with dry sinuses, even though it's supposed to
be "good for sinus problems". It is good for
sinus problems, but not that kind.
It’s also useful to recognize whether sinus troubles are
chronic (all the time), episodic (they come and go and
come and go and...) or acute (you got an inhalation full
of some irritating substance and the irritation is the
direct result of that). Chronic problems require a
dedicated, consistent, long term commitment to a herbal
regimen, as well as making whatever lifestyle changes
are called for. Obviously, the issues that might
require attention are myriad, and it’s not really
feasible for me to try to list all the possibilities.
But it is safe to say pay attention to your diet, how
much rest and relaxation you're getting and minimizing
stress levels. It probably wouldn't hurt to get your
ductwork cleaned. You may know or be told that dairy
and wheat are especially bad for sinus sufferers,
because they promote mucous production (or are
inherently bad). This is true in some (perhaps many)
cases, but I do know people who've successfully
recovered from chronic sinus problems without totally
eliminating wheat and diary, though they have been smart
and steadfast enough to drastically reduce or eliminate
it when their sinus troubles have flared up. The "comes
and goes" variety also indicates the need for focused
attention, as it suggests the problem is coming and
going as your body's vitality or resistance is ebbing
and flowing. Acute conditions, more often than not, can
be treated acutely as well. Take your herbs till it
gets better, and then go on your merry way.
dry...
Because dry sinus issues get the least attention, I’ll
start here. In this state, the tissues are usually hot
and the mucus is dried out like rubber cement on the
sinus tissues. Symptoms manifest as dry, tight mucous
membranes, nose picking (because of the rubber cement
nature of the mucous), bleeding nose, and perhaps the
sensation of stuck obstructions. There will often,
though not always, be dry eyes, and perhaps you’ll see
this reflected on the tongue and in the mouth as well.
In almost all cases I’ve seen, the mucous membranes
throughout the body tend towards dryness, though I’ve
seen “damp people” with dry membranes caused by inhaling
some dry, absorbent irritant, such as clay.
When thinking about how to address this, one of the
first questions to ask is, “Are they hydrated?”
Increasing the intake of water and fluids can be the
most important suggestion to offer, especially if the
mucosa tend to be a bit dry all the time, and flare up
when they get a head cold.
Dry tissues keen for demulcents; adding mucilaginous
teas (ideally prepared via cold infusion) is a good
idea. Marshmallow is archetypal. A strong preparation
with be thick, slimy and very effective, but you can
water it down by adding a half to one cup to a quart of
water and using that as a drinking beverage; feel free
to dilute more if desired, or to add a bit of honey or
maple syrup to sweeten. There are also many milder
demulcents that don’t require dilution that make for
excellent drinking if treatment will be long term, such
as violet leaf, sassafras leaf (not root), and/or common
mallow. I’ll frequently blend these with a bit of
plantain. Though tinctures don’t extract mucilage well
they can work – sometimes quite effectively – but I feel
teas are more suitable; after all, if dryness is the
main quality presenting, a cup of infusion makes much
more sense than drops of tincture.
Still focusing on internal consumption, we should
remember that tissues are hydrated by both water and
oil, and if one is lacking you can’t replace it with the
other. Quality dietary lipids/fats/oils (which do
include saturated fats from healthy animals and the
occasional plant) are important. If someone has dry
tissues and doesn’t consume fats and oils, it’s a no
brainer to add them.
Topical application is always important for upper
respiratory issues. For dryness, there are a few
strategies I employ. One is for more transient dryness
and focuses on the nostrils. Make a cold infusion of
marshmallow, slippery elm, or something else that’s
demulcent enough to be slimy to the touch. Strain, wet
a cotton ball or cloth, and insert into the nostril.
Please… if you don’t want to be the ER attendant’s
“weirdo of the day” story, make sure you leave enough of
the material outside your nose that you can get it back
out. Let it sit and hydrate the dry tissues for 10-20
minutes. This is usually immediately soothing, but
sometimes fails to produce lasting results. You can
supplement this technique with a topical oil
application. Stick your finger in some oil (make sure
it’s one you like the smell of) and then stick your
finger in your nose. Wipe around well to cover as much
tissue as you’re able. I generally see more lasting
results with oil applications, and this technique rocks
for dry noses in the winter, when the furnace or
woodstove is kicking and all your respiratory tissues
are being desiccated as a result.
For dryness affecting deeper tissues, the approach is
similar, but applied differently. In Ayurveda, “nasya”
refers to nasal administration, and oil nasya is an
important practice that’s virtually non-existent in
western herbalism. Do it like this: have a dropper
bottle with some oil handy. Lay down, with your head
slightly reclined. Put the dropper by one nostril, and
at the same time you squeeze a bit (just a few drops),
inhale sharply; you’re trying to “snort” the oil up into
the sinuses, so give it your all. Sit up, let the oil
run down, and spit out anything you’re able. Repeat
with the other nostril. This technique is amazing, and
the results are often spectacular. You can use infused
oils if desired.
Water based rinses, either using a neti pot or nasal
spray bottle, are also excellent. Again, make a
demulcent tea, but not super strong; you want the rinse
to flow. I like mixes of plantain, with violets and/or
mallow leaves a lot. You can add a teeny bit of
marshmallow or slippery elm, but remember not to make it
too strong. Because you’re going to be pouring or
spraying this up your nose, do a good job straining
plant material out of the tea. To each 8 fluid ounce
cup, add ¼ teaspoon salt, perhaps slightly rounded. Use
this in a neti pot twice daily, or fill a nasal spray
bottle and use as needed (really, as much as you want).
Blow you nose afterwards to expel mucous that has
loosened up, or spit out anything that comes down your
naso-pharynx.
leaky drippy...
If you ask someone, perhaps all red eyed and swollen
with allergies, if their sinus tissues are “relaxed”,
they’ll probably look at you like you’re crazy. Because
of a culturally sparse vocabulary (getting worse every
year), many people won’t even readily connect with the
term “laxity”. But ask them if they’d say their head
feels “leaky drippy”, and they’ll be able to answer you
with surety (not that they’ll need to, since it’s
usually readily apparent to anyone within a few feet of
them). The key symptom is leaking fluids; they’ll have
a runny nose and eyes, and often drainage from the
sinuses down the back of the throat. This commonly
causes a sore throat, or a cough (coughing can be a way
to “scratch the itch” of the irritation). Sniffling is
keynote; there can be sneezing, too. Were you there, in
front of them, for that sneeze? Are you all wet? The
wetter, the leakier.
Hay fever is a prime example of this state, though
similar conditions can arise from myriad causes. Hay
fever and seasonal allergies do, though, offer a good
example to explore. Ragweed pollen is miniscule,
copious and windborn. The pollen itself looks like a
mace - not the pretty red stuff surrounding nutmeg but
those heavy metal balls with the spikes on them that you
might associate with orcs, ogres, or perhaps politicians
(speaking of copious irritants).
Photo by David McLain,
National Geographic
When
ragweed is blooming, pollination occurs not through
pretty insects like butterflies and bumblebees, or even
bothersome ones like flies, but by blowing from one
plant to another. Inhaling this airborne Ragweed pollen
is akin to inhaling powdered fiberglass… what, of
course, does the body do when this happens? It does
what makes sense: tries to get the stuff out of the
system. And how? By causing the eyes to water, the
nose to run, sneezing... all methods to flush out and
expel irritating particles from the respiratory
passages. So we see that the symptoms of "hay fever"
are a sensible response by the body to the problem at
hand.
Sometimes, though, the body over-reacts; it goes into
the full blown allergic response when it might not be
called for at all. Here's a good example of this: Think
back to an occasion when you might have had too much,
let's say... Southern Comfort at a party. The next day
(or maybe that night) you get very, very, very
sick. Some time after recovering, you find yourself at
another party, and someone has some Southern Comfort,
but while you don't drink any, just the smell of it -
just knowing it’s there next to you - makes your stomach
churn. Your body is overreacting in a way that it hopes
will let you know: "Not that stuff again!"
Same thing can happen with allergies. You're exposed to
a house with 138 cats, and tufts of cat hair floating
around like pixies in a meadow, and all the sudden you
can't be in a room with just one cat, which doesn't make
sense cause you grew up with two who you liked very much
and whose presence certainly never bothered you. What's
happening is that you've become sensitized to the
________________ (fill in appropriate allergen here).
Post traumatic stress disorder of the
sinuses.
Of course, this problem might also be due to a perfectly
legitimate reaction to an ever-present irritant.
There’s dust, mold and other irritants blowing out of
the ductwork and throughout households every time the
furnace or air kicks on. I know a carpenter whose sinus
problems are undoubtedly the result of his intimate &
ongoing relationship with sawdust. Perhaps the
offending irritant has injured the tissues, and so they
no longer possess the strength to "close back up and
reel in the secretions."
Regardless of the cause, when we see tissues that are
swollen, enflamed, and leaking, astringents are
indicated, as they help restore tone to tissues, lessen
secretion and swelling, and act as local anti-inflammatories.
The plant kingdom is rife with tannin rich astringents,
but some seem to have a special affinity for the upper
respiratory mucosa, and these can be used as teas,
tinctures, and topically for nasal rinses. Favorites I
rely on often include goldenrod, yarrow flowers and
leaves, ox eye daisies and ragweed (yup, that
ragweed, which is fine even if you react to the pollen…
just strain your tincture or tea through a coffee
filter). These herbs are also aromatic, which helps to
decongest the sinuses… I’ll elaborate on that below.
With regard to form, I don’t have a strong preference
towards teas or tinctures, if anything, I like using
them both together (we have to get out of that “either
or” mindset whenever we can). In a pinch, you can
simply grab some leaves, give them a few cursory chews,
and put them in your cheek to suck on; that can work
quite well. Plantain, too, adds its salubrious
influence here, when blended with more specific
remedies; try adding some to your tincture, tea, or
chew.
Topically, I've seen incredible results obtained by
making a saline tea (again, add 1/4 teaspoon salt per 8
fluid ounces of well strained tea) of these plants, and
using this in a nasal spray bottle or neti pot to
irrigate the sinuses. I’ve also used willow bark; which
combines the anti-inflammatory action of astringents
with the anti-inflammatory action of the salicylates it
contains, and alleviates pain. Tea works very well, but
you can also add tinctures to your water salt solution.
If using a nasal spray bottle, please be sure to rinse
and refill it every day or so... such a tea isn’t
preserved and you don't want to go spraying spoiled tea
up your nose if you're sick. If the affliction is acute
and you don’t normally have sinus issues, you can use it
till you feel better and discontinue. If you do have
regular or chronic upper respiratory issues, then you’ll
really need to make this a part of your routine;
probably not for the rest of your life, but think in
months, not weeks. Because astringents (any
astringent, if used topically) act locally and on
contact, binding proteins together to constrict tissues
and reduce secretion, results can be pretty impressive
fairly quickly. "Wow!" one person said. But keep up
with it regularly to really heal the tissues, lest it
become merely a simple way to suppress inconvenient
symptoms and never manifest its full potential.
plugged up stuffy...
This manifestation of upper respiratory woe is
characterized by swelling, inflammation, and lots of
congestion & mucous; but it's not really leaking or
dripping: it's stuck. The mucous seems to have
more than filled up the sinuses, all the tissues are
swollen (which increases the sensation of pressure), the
eyes are usually sore, the head hurts, mental acuity is,
well, pretty much gone, and there’s often a
hypersensitivity to being around movement, noise and
really any kind of activity, which inclines the person
to (or at least want to) lie down in a quiet dark room
away from stimulation and (hopefully) fall asleep and
wake up feeling better. You could blow your nose, get
out loads of thick mucus, blow it again, get out more,
blow it again, get out even more... it gets to the point
where you wonder if your sinuses are like the Tardis,
because it seems like you got more out than the amount
of space there must be in there, and you're still
congested. Lots of chronic sinusitis is of this sort,
and while this condition may manifest after an initial
infection, it rarely is associated with the onset of an
acute conditions (where optimally we have secretion of
healthy, clear slightly viscous mucus).
Whenever congestion is a key symptom, the use of
aromatics is pretty close to imperative. There is an
endless array to choose from, and most will have a
dispersive effect on upper respiratory congestion.
Aromatic herbs contain volatile oils responsible for
their decongestant virtues, and these oils also have a
tendency to lend an anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial
action to the herbs that contain them. Among my
favorites are wild bee balm, sage, thyme, garlic (some
people just love garlic and cayenne), hyssop,
yerba mansa, calamus, ginger and elecampane. Aromatics
are very effective as teas, tinctures, chews, foods,
nasal rinses and steam inhalations, though the flavor of
some may dictate use (most people would prefer to use a
tincture of elecampane than drink 8 ounces of the
tea...).
For topical application, both steam inhalations and
nasal rinses are exceptional for stuffy congestion.
It's often best to start using steam inhalations to
break up congestion, because while a nasal rinse is very
therapeutic, they're not good if you're so
plugged up that the rinse won't run through. This can
create physical discomfort, but can also potentially
worsen the condition if your saline tea just becomes one
more thing stuck in your sinuses. While most aromatic
herbs are effective for steam inhalations, I tend to use
sage as a standby. I do also love wild bee balm, which
seems especially antimicrobial and deep reaching.
Thyme, mint, eucalyptus... there are a lot of choices,
and in a pinch just straight inhaled steam will help.
Steam inhalations are usually best done a few times a
day (I generally say at least twice, hoping for more,
but praying for at least every day). Continue till the
sinuses are open enough that a nasal rinse is feasible.
Make the nasal wash using the same ratios for tea and
salt given above; as with the astringents, you could
also add tinctures to a simple water and salt saline
solution. Any markedly antimicrobial aromatics seem
also to work topically, so this direct application helps
immensely. An old formula I found in
Ellingwood's Therapeutist
for a excellent yerba mansa nasal spray is
prepared as follows, and uses
glycerin rather than salt:
combine 5-30 drops yerba mansa tincture (I've
always used 5-10 drops, which seems to work fine) with 1
dram (about 60 drops) glycerin and add enough distilled
water to make 2 fluid ounces of the mixture. The author
writes "As
a rule, an acute attack yields quickly to the treatment,
but a chronic case naturally requires more time to
effect a cure."
I've made nasal washes with a slew of aromatic herbs
(often mixed with plantain, because plantain is just
awesome at healing mucous membranes). Wild bee balm
rocks, but is irritating (because it's hot/spicy) if
used straight or too strong. Adding plantain makes it
easier to tolerate, or it can be diluted with more water
(remember to add salt to make it saline). I've also
added elecampane tincture to a neti pot solution with
great and immediate results.
mucous membrane trophorestoratives...
Sometimes the mucus membranes lining the sinuses need
more focused attention. “Trophorestorative” is a term
used in some schools of western herbalism to refer to an
herb that restores both the structure and function of an
organ, system or tissue to a healthy state. Beyond
that, the benefit gained from its use is a lasting one;
something that remains even after the herb is
discontinued (provided, of course, that it was used long
enough to manifest this potential). Two herbs that
strike me as specifically trophorestorative to the
mucous membranes are goldenseal and yerba mansa.
Goldenseal is, of course, well known and lauded as a
potent herb useful in combating sinus infections, but
its virtues are frequently deemed the result of its
action as a "natural antibiotic". A problem with this
hypothesis is that the antibacterial action of
goldenseal manifests primarily when it comes into direct
contact with tissues, and because it's not especially
well absorbed through intestinal tissue, using this
action to explain the effects of internal use on sinus
infections can be found less than convincing. If,
however, we see goldenseal as a trophorestorative that
restores the upper respiratory mucosa to a healthy state
from a skewed one, the results obtained can be deemed
the product of a natural and healthy mucus response.
Organic, wild cultivated goldenseal is an ideal
consideration for acute sinus infections: your head cold
started to get worse rather than better at 4ish days,
your mucus is getting thicker and is obtaining a
yellow/green color, and you feel freakin' lousy. Take
goldenseal, in 5-10 drop doses 3-5 times daily (Paul
Bergner has written eloquently about the historical
basis for using
smaller doses
of goldenseal). As goldenseal is a drying herb (useful
for both leaky drippy and plugged up stuffy sinusitis
but not appropriate for dry), larger doses can aggravate
conditions by over-drying the tissues. I don't advise
more than 15 drop at a dose. Also, don't use goldenseal
right when you start to get sick, especially in large
doses of tincture or capsules - that's not what it's
for. Its drying quality can inhibit healthy mucous
secretion, which is an important initial immune
response.
Although when people speak of "goldenseal substitutes"
they frequently limit their exploration to other yellow
berberine rich herbs, yerba mansa seems to me far more
similar in its actions to goldenseal than any of the
other berberine containing plants. It, too, is a mucous
membrane trophorestorative, restoring healthy function
to the mucous membranes. Both herbs seem to instigate
an initial release of mucus, as if to push the unhealthy
mucus secretions out, and then improve the quality of
the mucus that follows, along with the tone of the
tissues. The significant different between the two is
that while goldenseal is considered a cooling herb (good
for hot/flared up/acute sinus issues), yerba mansa is
warming, and indicated when sinus congestion has become
chronic and low grade. That day fourish worsening of
your head cold? It got better (after it got a lot
worse), but it never got all the way better;
you're still congested, but the mucus is opaque or white
and thick, and not yellow anymore. You feel like you're
better... but compared to when you felt like crap, not
when you actually felt fine.
This brings us back to the tissue states we started
with. Mucus color tells us whether a condition is "hot"
(yellow/green mucus) or "cold" (opaque/white mucus).
Hot and cold doesn't refer to the presence of an
infection, or even inflammation: you can have both in
either state, but simply to how the condition is
expressed. Think about a bonfire: a flaming pile of
pine boughs is hot; all bright yellow and crackling and
popping and you can't get anywhere near it. The next
morning, there's no fire and the ashes are grey... the
fire looks out, but if you hold your hand over it you
can feel that embers are still smoldering, and will
flare up given the right conditions.
Back to yerba mansa: small doses of the tincture - say
from 3 to 15 drops - should be taken as needed,
consistently.
what about just killing stuff causing the
problems?
As the focus I've offered has primarily been on the
state of the mucous (which tells us the state of the
mucosa), some may be wondering about infections. It's
my opinion that while fighting infection is of course
important, it's not necessarily proper to make that the
first consideration when formulating a treatment
protocol (if it was, people would be real happy with the
approach offered by conventional medicine). Also, it's
usually the case that by treating to the state of the
sinuses, you are treating the infection. Because
astringents act as antimicrobials. Because aromatics
act as antimicrobials. Because hot steam is
antimicrobial. Because mucus itself is antimicrobial,
and if you can restore proper function to the mucosa,
the same mucus that was causing problems will help
resolve them. And of course, some sinus issues aren't
microbial. Think of those with seasonal allergies. Or
those who work surrounded by airborne irritants
(carpenters frequently have sinus issues, as do many
natural builders). Think of forced air furnaces and
woodstoves drying out mucosa. Think of those with food
allergies.
Once you've assessed the state of the sinuses, and
chosen herbs with that in mind, then you can say (if you
feel an infection is at play), "let's add something more
potently antimicrobial."
If you're going to do that, it makes sense to think
about what types of microbes cause sinus issues. We
know bacteria do, and the use of antibiotics is the
hallmark of conventional therapy; they'll try stronger
and stronger options, and if that doesn't work, they'll
surgically trim out the excess swollen tissue to open of
the airways. What gives? Are these antibiotic
resistant bacteria? Well, I'm sure that's a pending
crisis but the main reason that antibiotics work so
poorly, especially for chronic sinusitis is that there
is often a concurrent bacterial and fungal
infection at play. This was discovered when a surgeon
who performed the said surgical procedure sent out
tissue samples to be biopsied; over 96% tested for both
bacterial and fungal infection, explaining why
antibiotics offered short term but rarely lasting relief
for chronic sufferers.
Most herbs are best termed antimicrobials, and not
antibiotic (which means strictly antibacterial), and
many address both bacterial and fungal infections.
Garlic, wild bee balm, goldenseal, elecampane, black
walnut and yerba mansa stand out, especially for topical
use in nasal rinses.
treating chronic sinusitis...
Actually, the treatment I use for chronic sinusitis
isn't so different than what I'd do for any other issue;
I just tweak the formula to be sure that antifungals are
involved, always use mucous membrane trophorestoratives,
plan for a longer haul (months not weeks) and make
plain how important it is to do both internal and
topical remedies constantly. As anyone who has ever had
foot or nail fungus can attest, fungal infections are
tenacious. You think you get the best of them, lighten
up on what was working, and they come back fighting
(after all, they have a vital force, too). A long haul
internal and topical approach, continued for at least a
month after the person feels better provides the best
chance of success.
I will say that while I strive to treat each case
individually, my experience has taught me that the most
specific herb for chronic sinusitis is yerba mansa, and
that's often a core of my treatment (and occasionally
it's just "the treatment"). Yerba Mansa acts both as an
astringent and stimulates circulation into the sinuses;
when I've seen people use this herb daily, on a long
term basis, the severity and duration of sinus
headaches, congestion and infections lessen and can
altogether cease. As the symptoms ease, the person can
taper down the dosage and frequency of use, and may
eventually be able to use the herb only when/if they
need to. By using it topically in nasal rinses as well,
a direct contact antimicrobial action against both the
bacterial and fungal infections potentiates its internal
use.
I
use yerba mansa in the chronic, low grade stage of
chronic sinusitis. If the infection flares up, I switch
to goldenseal internally, and a saline tea of plantain
with goldenseal topically to reel things in. In
addition, I recommend steam inhalations regularly,
especially if stuffiness pervades.
putting it all together…
It’s not the case that demulcents are only indicated by
dry tissues, astringents by leaky ones, and aromatics by
congestion. These tissue states call attention to a
certain property, they don’t exclude others. So, if
your leaky drippy allergies have been draining down the
back of your throat and are causing inflammation and
discomfort, add a demulcent to the astringents to coat
and soothe those irritated tissues. If your running
mucus is thin and watery and just leaking leaking
leaking, use more astringents, but if the running mucus
of thicker and more viscous and you feel stuff and
drippy at the same time, add more aromatics or use more
aromatic astringents. If your congestion is more stuffy
and stuck, but everything feels swollen, include
astringents with your aromatics. Just adjust the
proportions to the needs of the specific situation at
hand, relying on a comprehensive understanding of herbal
actions to guide your treatment.
So...
that's as much as I have to share here (for now, at
least), but if I can offer one parting thought (well...
certainly I can... it's my write up, who's gonna stop
me?) it's this:
If you've had sinus problems for a while, they're not
going to disappear overnight, or in a week or two.
Please keep at it a while after you’re feeling better to
ensure you stay better. Remember to reassess
your protocol as you go; what you needed when you
started may change as you progress. Be consistent,
follow through, start again if you fall off the
bandwagon and give thanks to all the plants that help
you on your way.
©
jim
mcdonald
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