Can You Fight A Sinus Infection Without Antibiotics

How To Treat A Uti Without Antibiotics

Most urinary tract infections are caused by bacteria and can be treated with antibiotics. However, research has found that in many cases, uncomplicated UTIs are able to resolve on their own without antibiotic use.

Drinking plenty of water and green tea, eating fermented foods, and taking the supplement D-mannosecan help your body recover from a UTI without antibiotics.

Killer Sinus Infection How To Tell If Yours Is Viral Or Bacterial

You know the symptoms: nasal congestion, facial pressure, pain, fever, too much mucus. Ugh. Its probably another sinus infection.

But is your infection caused by a virus or bacteria and does it really matter?

It does matter. Doctors treat viral and bacterial sinus infections differently. Here is what you need to know about both kinds of infection and how to treat them.

Viral or bacterial?

Most sinus infections are viral, and most are caused by the virus that causes the common cold. How can you tell, based on symptoms, whether your infection is viral or bacterial?

Normally, you can’t.

Symptoms like bad breath, yellow or green mucus, fever and headache are not reliable signs of a bacterial infection. They can be present with viral infections, too. Even your doctor cant tell if your infection is viral or bacterial based solely on symptoms or an exam.

Instead, your doctor looks at symptom duration to determine the source of your infection. A viral sinus infection will usually start to improve after five to seven days. A bacterial sinus infection will often persist for seven to 10 days or longer, and may actually worsen after seven days.

4 steps you can take

Whether your sinus infection turns out to be viral or bacterial, you can help to ease your symptoms early on with supportive care:

What to do for chronic sinusitis

Acute Subacute And Chronic Bacterial Sinusitis

Bacterial sinusitis can be grouped into the following subtypes based on the duration of symptoms:

• Acute, which lasts for less than four weeks
• Subacute, lasting for between four and 12 weeks
• Chronic, lasting for more than 12 weeks
• Recurrent acute, occurring four or more times a year, for more than seven days, with symptoms resolving completely in between bouts

Read Also: Over The Counter Sinus Decongestant

Bacteria Causing Food Poisoning

Here are some common symptoms attached when you have bacterial infection related to food poisoning issue.

• Campylobacter jejune is a diarrheal illness that is often accompanied by fever or cramps
• Escherichia coli is another diarrheal illness whose symptoms are fever, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and nausea.
• Clostridium botulinumis considered as a potentially life-threatening bacterium, which produces powerful neurotoxins.
• Salmonella is often accompanied by fever, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea.
• Listeria monocytogenes can cause fever, muscle aches along with diarrhea. Especially, elder people, pregnant women, and infants who often have weak immune system are more likely to suffer from this issue.
• Last but not list, vibrio is attached with diarrhea. Sometimes, when bacteria exposed to an open wound, they can cause severe skin infection, which will be a big problem if you do not have a proper treatment in time.

Click at Home Remedies For Food Poisoning to get natural remedies for food poisoning.

How To Treat Bacterial Infection With Baking Soda

As you know, baking soda is used for numerous purposes varied from cooking to taking care of health and beauty. How to treat bacterial infection with baking soda is what we would like to show you next. In accordance with a study on the antibacterial property of sodium bicarbonate , which was published in August, 2006 in the Journal of Food Science, baking soda was proved to have the powerful antibacterial activity. Thanks to the ability to regulate the PH balance of your skin and body, home remedy baking soda is able to treat many infections caused by bacteria such as respiratory infection, bacterial skin infection, and intestinal tract infection. Moreover, when you mix a half teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of water, it can help to treat respiratory infections and stomach infection. Another way to use this kitchen staple on how to treat bacterial infection is that you can pour a cup of the ingredient into a tub of lukewarm water. This treatment can be used daily as a rinsing and soaking agent.

Recommended Reading: Can Lung Cancer Cause Sinus Problems

Can Sinus Infections Or Sinusitis Be Prevented

Currently, there are no vaccines designed specifically against infectious sinusitis or sinus infections. However, there are vaccines against viruses and bacteria that may cause some infectious sinusitis. Vaccination against pathogens known to cause infectious sinusitis may indirectly reduce or prevent the chance of getting the disease however, no specific studies support this assumption. Fungal vaccines against sinusitis are not available, currently.

If you are prone to recurrent bouts of a “yearly sinus infection” it may be important to consider allergy testing to see if this is the underlying cause of the recurring problem. Treatment of the allergy may prevent secondary bacterial sinus infections. In addition, sinus infections may be due to other problems such as nasal polyps, tumors, or diseases that obstruct normal mucus flow. Treatment of these underlying causes may prevent recurrent sinus infections.

Over The Counter Medications

For help alleviating sinus pressure and pain, try ibuprofen and a decongestant. Some medications include a combination of pain reliever and decongestant.

Mild antihistamines like Claritin and Allegra are helpful in moderation. Strong antihistamines like Benadryl are often way too drying. Be careful not to take antihistamines too often.

Even though you want your nose to stop running, too many antihistamines can make it more likely that youll get sinus infections in the future.

Drugs like Mucinex and Flonase can also be helpful in thinning the mucus in your nose and sinuses.

If you use Afrin, make sure you stop after three days. Though it can seem like a miracle drug, using it more than three days in a row can lead to something called rebound congestion. In other words, when you stop using the Afrin after continuous use, your nose becomes more congested than it was in the first place!

Recommended Reading: Otc Remedies For Sinus Infection

When To See A Doctor

Remember, acute sinusitis can last for several weeks. Give your body a chance to fight it off, using self-care techniques and getting plenty of rest.

If your symptoms start to improveeven if it seems to take a whilethen let it be. Be patient. Your body is slowly, but surely, doing what it needs to do to fight the infection.

However, if your sinusitis symptoms get worse despite proper self-care if theyre accompanied by high fever, a lot of facial swelling, and green or foul-smelling nasal discharge and if these progressively worsening symptoms persist for longer than 10 days, its time to see your doctor.

In these cases, an antibiotic may be warranted because the infection has gotten out of control.

On a final note, be sure to take probiotic supplements while on antibiotics. While important and often lifesaving, antibiotics have a downsidethey also kill beneficial bacteria along with the pathogenic.

Probiotics help ensure you continue to have friendly bugs in your system. Take your probiotics several hours apart from your antibiotics, as the antibiotics could negate their effects.Take good care.

Sinus Infection Antibiotics No Help

Antibiotics, Steroid Spray No Help for Adult Sinus Infections

Dec. 4, 2007 — Neither antibiotics nor steroid sprays offer much help to adults with sinus infections, a British study shows.

One of the most common complications of the common cold or flu is a sinus infection. The symptoms: a stuffy nose a thick, dark-colored nasal discharge and head pain.

You’ve very likely had such an infection. And if, like 25 million other Americans, you went to a U.S. doctor, there’s a 90% chance you got a prescription for antibiotics.

You very likely had some side effects from that antibiotic. But it’s extremely unlikely the antibiotics you took were much help, according to a study by Ian G. Williamson, MD, senior lecturer at the University of Southampton, England.

“We are confident that if there is an effect of antibiotics on acute sinus infections, it is not very big — certainly not as big as people have been led to believe,” Williamson tells WebMD.

Williamson and colleagues studied 240 patients ages 16 and older whose symptoms suggested that they had a sinus infection caused by bacteria. Viruses also cause sinus infections, but antibiotics do not help viral infections.

Study patients received antibiotic treatment with amoxicillin, an antibiotic often used for bacterial sinus infections, with or without nasal steroid sprays. A fourth of the patients received no treatment at all, but just got inactive placebo pills and placebo sprays.

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Honey Effective Remedy For Bacterial Infection

You may have heard about the benefits of honey for health and beauty but may not know about its antibacterial functions. The benefits of organic honey are various so that you can discover them gradually. In fact, honey can not only treat respiratory and skin infection but also cool the affected areas simultaneously. You can drink organic honey along with a glass of warm water to soothe and reduce the sore, irritated throat caused by a cough. If you have open wound, scratches or cuts on the skin, the good way to prevent any bad bacteria from entering through the wound is applying honey on the affected areas as the initial treatment.

It would be a pity if you do not click at Honey For Skin to get many skin care recipes with honey.

Symptoms Of Bacterial Sinusitis In Children

In children, the symptoms of sinusitis may differ from those in adults. Children may experience:

• Irritability

• Scar tissue in sinus areas, for example from nasogastric tubes or mechanical ventilation
• Facial fractures
• Tooth or mouth infections such as a dental abscess

In general, women are slightly more likely than men to get bacterial sinusitis.

If youâve had a cold or any of the disorders listed above, and youâre concerned that you may have bacterial sinusitis, check out the Ada app for a free symptom assessment.

Also Check: Natural Ways To Rid Sinus Infection

What Is The Fastest Way To Get Rid Of Sinusitis

When you have a sinus infection, you often have to go through your day in pain and in a fog. Sinusitis, or infection of the sinuses, is incredibly common, but many people suffer through it rather than get it treated. At Asthma Allergy Centre in Tigard, McMinnville, or Beaver, OR, we use a variety of sinus management treatments to reduce the inflammation and immune response that are likely behind your sinus problems. Check out on how to get rid of sinusitis.

Home Remedies For Infections

If you have a sinus infection, your symptoms will generally resolve on their own within seven to 10 days, especially if you rest. Antibiotics usually will not help, but nasal irrigation with a neti pot and saline water has been shown to relieve sinus pressure and decrease congestion.

Bromelain, an enzyme found in pineapple, can reduce inflammation when taken as a supplement. Research has found that it helps relieve symptoms of bronchitis and sinusitis.

Essential oils, when diluted and used in aromatherapy or as sprays, can help you get healthy without antibiotics. Rosemary, eucalyptus, and mint essential oils can relieve symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections. Palmarosa, lavender, evening primrose, peppermint, tea tree, and thyme oil are antimicrobial and can help kill bacteria.

Hot drinks such as tea can relieve symptoms of runny nose, cough, sneezing, and sore throat that are caused by many upper respiratory infections.

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Check If You Have Sinusitis

Sinusitis is common after a cold or flu.

Symptoms of sinusitis include:

• pain, swelling and tenderness around your cheeks, eyes or forehead
• a blocked nose
• a reduced sense of smell
• green or yellow mucus from your nose
• a sinus headache
• toothache
• bad breath

Signs of sinusitis in young children may also include irritability, difficulty feeding, and breathing through their mouth.

The sinuses are small, empty spaces behind your cheekbones and forehead that connect to the inside of the nose.

Sinusitis causes the lining of the sinuses to swell up.

This stops mucus draining into your nose and throat properly, making you feel blocked up.

Treating Sinus Infections Without Antibiotics

Tomah, WI – People often want antibiotics to tackle a sinus infection but that might not be the best treatment since most infections are caused by viruses. Antibiotics fight bacteria, not viruses.

There are also complications that can develop with dependency on these drugs. The more antibiotics are used the less effective they can become, with possible side effects like dizziness, stomach problems and rashes.

Instead of turning to antibiotics, Alan Conway, M.D., family physician at Mayo Clinic Health System Franciscan Healthcare in Tomah, suggests some alternative methods of treatment. Dr. Conway says, First of all, you should give yourself enough rest. Your body needs the time to fight the infection with full force, especially in the first few days when symptoms are the most severe.

Dr. Conway also says. Watch out for over-the-counter products that contain oxymetazoline. These products may relieve symptoms for a few days, but they can cause congestion if used longer than three days. Instead, use generic pseudoephedrine pills if you are stuffed up for more than three days.

Sinus infections can turn into a bacterial infection, due to the prolonged blockage in the sinus cavity. It is not easy to determine whether the infection is viral or bacterial, considering that the symptoms are the same for both. Even if the infection becomes bacterial, 70% of the time the infection will go away within two weeks without antibiotics.

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Also Check: Can You Overcome A Sinus Infection Without Antibiotics

What Are Complications Of Sinus Infection Or Sinusitis

While serious complications do not occur frequently, it is possible for a sinus infection to cause a direct extension of infection into the brain through a sinus wall, creating a life-threatening emergency .

In addition, other adjacent structures can become infected and develop problems, such as osteomyelitis of bones in the skull and infection around the eye . Rarely, these infections may cause death. The most susceptible individuals to complications are patients with suppressed immune systems, diabetes, and relatively rarely from multiple trauma injuries that may occur in natural disasters.

Ear Infections And Kids Anatomy

Its their anatomy that makes them particularly susceptible.

Older children and adults have a more efficient system for clearing colds. The fluid that builds up in the ear during and after an upper respiratory illness drains down the Eustachian tube, the canal that links the ear to the nose and throat.

In children younger than age 7, the Eustachian tube is shorter and more horizontally positioned, so the fluid takes longer to drain. The build-up can press on the eardrum, causing pain that is especially noticeable to kids when they lay down, breastfeed or suck on a bottle.

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What Decongestants And Nasal Sprays Soothe Or Cure Sinus Infections Or Sinusitis

Taking decongestants and mucolytics orally may be helpful in assisting drainage of sinus infection.

The treatment of chronic forms of sinus infection requires longer courses of medications, such as Augmentin, and may require a sinus drainage procedure. This drainage typically requires a surgical operation to open the blocked sinus under general anesthesia. In general, antihistamines should be avoided unless it is felt that the sinusitis sinus infection is due to allergies, such as from pollens, dander, or other environmental causes.

It is likely that the use of a topical nasal steroid spray will help reduce swelling in the allergic individual without the drying that is caused by using antihistamines although both are occasionally used. Oral steroids may be prescribed to reduce acute inflammation and to help with chronic inflammation in cases with or without polyps and in allergic fungal sinusitis.

In many people, allergic sinusitis develops first, and later, bacterial infection occurs. For these individuals, early treatment of allergic sinusitis may prevent the development of secondary bacterial sinusitis.

In rare instances or in natural disasters, fungal infections may develop in debilitated people. Death rates of 50%-85% have been reported for patients with these sinus infections. Treatment relies on early diagnosis followed by immediate surgical debridement, antifungal drugs, , and stabilizing any underlying health problem such as diabetes.

What Tests Diagnose The Cause Of Sinus Infections And Sinusitis

Sinus infection is most often diagnosed based on the history and examination of a doctor. Because plain X-ray studies of the sinuses may be misleading and procedures such as CT and MRI scans, which are much more sensitive in their ability to diagnose a sinus infection, are so expensive and not available in most doctors’ offices, most sinus infections are initially diagnosed and treated based on clinical findings on examination. These physical findings may include:

• redness and swelling of the nasal passages,
• purulent drainage from the nasal passages ,
• tenderness to percussion over the cheeks or forehead region of the sinuses, and
• swelling about the eyes and cheeks.

Occasionally, nasal secretions are examined for secreted cells that may help differentiate between infectious and allergic sinusitis. Infectious sinusitis may show specialized cells of infection while allergic sinusitis may show specialized white blood cells of allergy . Physicians prescribe antibiotics if the bacterial infection is suspected. Antibiotics are not effective against viral infections many physicians then treat the symptoms.

In addition, both rigid and flexible endoscopy has been used to obtain diagnostic material from sinuses. These procedures are usually done by an otolaryngologist under topical and local anesthesia. Occasionally, there may be a need to sedate the patient. Some investigators suggest that endoscopy specimens are comparable to those obtained by needle puncture.

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