BaltimOregon to Maine

Soothing breakfast for an invalid: soft-boiled eggs and strawberries

Ah, to breathe freely through the nostrils again. My sinusitis, whether bacterial or viral, has finally subsided, likely thanks to the natural remedies I tested out on myself. Though many urged me to take antibiotics, I tried to hold out. After all, medical studies have shown antibiotics don’t cure sinus infections but may make patients more resistant to the drugs in the future. I tried to be patient, sleep and test out some natural remedies instead.

Having a Neti pot is key, so you can clean your nasal cavities out with a saline solution, sucking the liquid in one nostril and out the other. Be prepared for a bit of brain burn from the saline. You cough a bit up. Of course, I was so congested at first the saline solution didn’t go through. I then swabbed coconut oil into my nostrils to soothe them after the astringent rinse. I ingested raw garlic and swabbed some in my nose and ears (luckily I couldn’t smell my breath!). I ate a paste of local honey mixed with tumeric. I swallowed echinacea/goldenseal capsules and a platycodon herbal blend. I ate some lacto-fermented kimchee and avoided sweets, processed carbohydrates and dairy. And I drank lots of fluids: Emergen-C and a tea of fresh ginger, lemon, peppermint and honey.

And I watched a public television documentary on two Chinese immigrants who ran an herbal apothecary in rural Oregon just after the Gold Rush. It inspired my resolve.

Western medicine seems to always search for the quick fix, but often our bodies can heal themselves, with some natural prodding, and albeit more slowly. We pop antibiotics so we can get to work or other engagements the next day, but what complications might await us down the road?