"What works for you for sinus congestion and runny nose."

I personally don’t like much over-the-counter stuff for cold/flu/sinuses b/c they always seem to wire me, so I choose to use homeopathic remedies.  I understand some think they are bunk, but they usually work pretty well for me.  So, hopefully, these ideas will give you a different direction to consider.

 

My first choice to assist w/ symptoms you listed above is Sinusalia.  I’ve added a widget so you can see what it looks like, and you should be able to find it at your local health food store or pharmacy.  If not, you can purchase it from Drugstore.com.  (I've had good luck shopping w/ them online.)  The tablets dissolve easily under the tongue, work very quickly (in my opinion) and do not interact w/ other remedies or drugs.

 

The second thing isn’t a remedy, but a self-care item, called a neti pot.  I don’t know if this is something you’d be willing to try, but this is actually the first thing I turn to when I either need to hydrate my sinuses or else help them clear out whatever junk I’m fighting.  (I think Oprah featured the use of one on her show recently, so they are catching on -- but they’ve been around for hundreds of years, lol!)  When I first started using my neti pot, it took a little coordination not to inhale the solution -- but I mastered it very quickly.  Of course, this isn’t something you’d want to share, so make sure you purchase your own!

 

Hope these things can help you -- and hope you get feeling better soon!

 

Yuliah

These are different forms of the same thing . . . and I find both work equally well.

There are a variety of pots that you might like to choose from; this is basically the one I like to use.

I don't use this all the time w/ my neti pot, but like to add it when I'm clearing symptoms from a cold or the flu.

Sadly they changed the formula on the old Tylenol stuff I used to buy (I now have a very personal grudge against drug dealers), so I can’t recommend that anymore but I can recommend Mucinex, which you can get with a decongestant or which you can get as just an expectorant (from Websters an expectorant is "an agent that promotes the discharge or expulsion of mucus from the respiratory tract") and use another decongestant (one that doesn’t have an expectorant).

While you are at the store I would also buy Breathe-Rite strips (they are amazing, I don’t know how they do it exactly, but they do a lot to relieving stuffiness and congestion, especially at night), Shower Soothers, and Vicks vapor rub (or the appropriate generic menthol eucaliptus rub, but Vicks does have a non-greasy lotion formula that is very nice as well as a nose spray that you can use).  If you have a steam humidifier that should be on (preferably with some of the menthol eucaliptus either in the water or in the medicine cup, if your’s has one), if you don’t you can boil water on the stove, this is important because you typically drain better when the air around you is warm and moist. 

Take a shower as hot as you can stand it and use one of the Shower Soothers in it according to directions, I try to keep them away from the drain because you get more effect that way (after you are done make certain you blow dry your hair, I have found that having cold damp hair does nothing to help in the quest to become decongested).   You should also eat foods that are as spicy as you can stand them, I specifically recommend clear broth soups (you shouldn’t be eating anything with milk or other dairy in it as that aids mucus production) such as chicken noodle with veggies and as much cayenne pepper as you can stand.  I also recommend drinking hot lemon and honey, mix lemon juice, honey and water to taste and then heat it up in the microwave (you can also just mix the lemon and water firat and add the honey after they have been warmed up or substitute vinegar for the lemon which is supposed to work better but doesn’t taste as good).

The final thing that I will recommend is absolutely disgusting, but it works.  Take warm (but NOT hot) water and add a small amount of salt and then sniff it up your nose, the results include an unpleasant sensation in your nose, possible gagging and a whole lot of nose blowing but it also helps clear everything out.  I hate doing this and only do it as a last resort but can say that it does work pretty well (I recommend doing this procedure in the shower, for what ever reason it doesn’t seem quite so bad then). 

Yes I love Vicks products, all I can say in my defense is that they work.

It is a decongestant, so it will not make you sleepy. I suggest two sudafed every 8 hours as well as two asprin/tylenol/ibuprofen of your choice at the same time.

Of course, hydrate yourself often - drink plent of water, juice - but no coffee or pop with caffeine. It inhibits hydration.

Flush your sinus’ with saline solution...

 

I have been doing this for a few days and have beaten a mild sinus infection....the stuffiness is gone and the irritation is gone that made my nose run.

 

I had a bottle of steril saline solution that I use for my contact lenses.

 

Tipping my head forward, then to one side, I dripped the saline into the highest nostril, it goes through the sinus passages and comes out the lower nostril.  Then I switch, turning my head to the other side and repeat. Then blow nose into tissue.

 

I gargle with full strength peroxide to clear germs from my mouth and throat.

 

Chewable natural vitamin C is good, too.  I like to let 2, 500mg. chewable C’s dissolve in my mouth and sooth my throat.

The Neti Pot is gaining popularity for flushing the sinus' as people are looking for more natural remedies.

There is a sinus procuct called sinus buster.

it's made from the capsicum from the hot peppers.

It sprays up your nose like most sinus products, and has quite a shocking effect the first time you use it.  Wait 2 min, then blow your nose.  It's quite impressive what comes out!  And.....it works.

I use it when I am plugged up, and all of a sudden I can breathe again, and I can smell again!

Hard to find, but worth it when you do,