Why Your Sinus Infection Won't Clear

Chronic sinus infetions can be caused by many factors, from fungal infection to slow cillia

by Murray Grossan, M.D.

With a new miracle antibiotic coming out almost every day, why won’t your sinus infection clear?

We have long recognized the difficulty in clearing sinus infections completely. When FDA recommends a dosage of an antibiotic, you take it for one week for bronchitis but 2 weeks or more for a sinus infection. Originally we assumed that was because the lungs have a better circulation than the sinuses and that the sinuses produce globs of bacteria in the sinus cavities that the antibiotic can’t reach.

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However, Dr Ramadan of West Virginia Univ has demonstrated another factor – biofilm.

Biofilm

What is biofilm? In order to protect itself form the ill effects of antibiotics, bacteria have learned to make a cocoon around itself, like a cellophane cover. This keeps the antibiotic from getting to the bacteria. The toxins produced by the bacteria prevent the cilia movement from removing this material. Worse, it has been shown that simple irrigation doesn’t regularly remove this material.

Fungal Infection

There are other theories to explain long lasting sinus infections. The doctors at Mayo Clinic feel that a fungus infection is present in these persistent cases and the reason they don’t clear is that the doctors don’t use the proper anti-fungal agent. Actually it’s not the actual fungal infection, it’s the chemicals generated by the bodies protector – the eosinophiles – that causes the illness. Dr. Tichenor has had some success in desensitizing some of these patients to fungal products so that the eosinophiles don’t invade the area.

The difficulty with this concept is that you can culture the sick patient and get the type of fungus that this sick patient has. But if you culture the next 10 persons who are symptom free who happen to be passing by, most will grow the same identical fungus! A second difficulty is that you have to give these anti-fungal medications for quite a long period of time to try to eradicate these organisms and many patients give up doing the whole course. Plus, even in the completed courses the results have not been consistent.

For the patient, a serious problem is that many doctors use the same terms for various kinds of fungal infections of the sinuses.

a. The serious fungal sinusits with severe growth in the sinus cavities. This one is associated with HIV and immunocomprimised patients

b. The "mayo type" where you can get a positive culture and find the eosinopile product that the body produces to try the kill the fungus, but ends up harming the patient.

c. The fungus that grows in the nose after heavy use of antibiotics, that is similar to the vaginal thrush some get from antibiotics. Although the culture may be positive, there is no harmful effect from this.

Again, the dilemma is that you can always find a fungal product because they are all over the place – home, forest, etc. but rarely do they cause illness.

Cilia Speed

When you have a sinus infection, and the antibiotic clears the infection, you feel great. But then, six weeks later you are back with another infection. That’s a bummer. Is it because you didn’t continue the antibiotic long enough? And, at 2-3 dollars a pill, how long is long enough? What about the side effects of the medication?

Among the patients I see, the common cause of the early return of infection is failure of the nasal cilia to return to their job of sweeping out the bacteria. When you measure the nasal cilia speed in these persons, it is invariably too slow. If the cilia fail to sweep out the remaining bacteria or the new bacteria, then the bacteria can just sit there and enter the body.

Mucociliary System

Mucocilary clearance is a big word for the system that the respiratory system uses to protect itself from illness. People got well before they had antibiotics. More important, some recent studies have shown equal results with placebos and antibiotics for sinus infections.

Takes 10-20 minutes to clear the nose of invading particles.

On the surface of the nose you have cells that secrete mucus. This humidifies the air. At the surface are cells that secrete liquid, mucus and cells that produce cilia or tiny oars. The bacteria and dust is trapped in the mucus before it can get to the lungs and by the movement of the cilia is passed to the back of the throat where it is swallowed and ends in the acid in the stomach.

Only 5% of the total mucus is from the sinuses.

This system warms the air before it reaches the lungs

Certain industries are especially bad for nasal cilia function. Chromium, Cadmium, Nickel, and Copper dusts all inhibit cilia movement and can cause a sinus infection to hang on.

Diesel fumes are known to slow cilia movement – which is why you feel bad when you are trapped behind a diesel bus. On a bad smog day there are dozens of chemicals that slow the cilia and cause illness.

This same liquid system is also a roadway for delivery of good white cells, and good enzymes that tend to take out bacteria.

Treatment

Knowing these factors you can help avoid sinus problems. I recommend:

a. Adequate liquid intake

b. Take products known to improve cilia function such as warm green tea and lemon. Avoid iced drinks as this slows cilia.

c. Avoid bad smog days. Stay indoors in a filtered air environment.

d. If you are allergic, pay attention to dust proofing your bedroom

e. Use pulsatile irrigation. Pulsatile irrigation – as with the Hydro Pulse Nasal / Sinus Irrigator – is effective in removing thick phlegm. The pulse rate helps "harmonize" the cilia back to normal speed. Pulsatile irrigation may remove enough of the biofilm to allow a natural healing from the body’s defenses.

f. Bed rest. There is only so much "energy" your body can muster, and if you don’t provide enough bed rest, healing may be slow or insufficient. The ancient temples of healing worked because they allowed the patient to rest physically and mentally.

g. The right medication. Although studies do show placebo as effective as drugs, a proper medication accompanied by attention to cilia function may be your answer.

h. Do warm compresses to the sinus areas.

i. Reduce stress. There is no question that being stressed reduces your immune factors. Some stress is in the eye of the beholder – instead of having that worker upset you, feel sorry for them or keep an image of them without any clothes! I absolutely 100% guarantee that any laughter is a sinus curer.

j. Breathe in count of four and out count of six. The longer your exhalation the longer your body is relaxed and unstressed.

Be well!

I hope a bit of insight as to how the sinus system works will be of help to you so you won’t have to suffer another sinus attack.

Murray Grossan, M.D.
ENT Specialist.

The Grossan Hydro-Pulse Irrigation System is offered on our site at $89.00.

Visit our Sinus Center for more information.

First Published: July 2005
Updated: April 2007

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