Safe home sinus remedies include common treatments such as steam inhalation and flushing the sinuses. Steam is inexpensive and clears sinus congestion very quickly. Another popular remedy among sinus sufferers is drinking apple cider vinegar. Other people swear by unusual home sinus remedies, such as the tomato juice, garlic and hot sauce sinus remedy. Additionally, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) doctors suggest spring onion nose drops, and Ayurvedic practitioners recommend neti pots.
Steam is the least expensive of all the home sinus remedies. To use steam, one simply boils a kettle of water and pours the water into a large bowl. Once bent over the bowl, a person can place a towel over his head to make a tent to catch the steam. Breathing in the steam may loosen sinus congestion.
Apple cider vinegar home sinus remedies are said by some to instantly clear sinus congestion. The first approach using apple cider vinegar is to mix 1 or 2 tablespoons (about 15-29.5 milliliters) of apple cider vinegar in a large glass of water and drink it all at once. This may be repeated three times per day for two or three days in a row. Alternatively, 2 teaspoons (about 10 milliliters) of vinegar may be mixed with 17 ounces (about 500 milliliters) of water and sipped throughout the day; this remedy is sometimes used as a preventative measure.
Another remedy involves a concoction of tomato juice, garlic, lemon juice, celery salt and hot sauce. The blend is mixed using 1 cup (about 236.5 milliliters) of tomato juice, 1 teaspoon (about 5 milliliters) of chopped fresh garlic, 0.5 teaspoons (about 5 milliliters) of hot sauce, 1 teaspoon (about 5 milliliters) of lemon juice, and a pinch of celery salt. This combination is then heated and consumed hot.
Practitioners of TCM recommend several different home sinus remedies to cure a sinus infection, one of which is a spring onion nasal wash. To employ this remedy, one handful of fresh green spring onion stalks should be pounded to extract the juices. After cleaning and blowing one's nose, two small pieces of cotton ball are soaked in the juice. One ball is then inserted in each nostril and both are left in overnight. One may also use an eyedropper to place two or three drops of the juice into each nostril, two or three times a day.
The neti pot has been used in Indian Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years. The pot is filled with a warm saline solution and then the person leans over a sink with his head turned to the side. The spout of the pot is placed into the nostril closest to the ceiling. Water flows into that nostril, out the other nostril, and into the sink. When half of the water is gone, the process may be repeated on the other side.
These pots may be purchased at most drug stores. Salt water sinus rinses may be made at home by mixing 1 tablespoon (about 18.5 grams) of salt in 2 cups (about 0.5 liters) of warm water. Pre-made sinus wash may also be purchased with the pot.