“Optimizing your sinus health” may sound like a space-age technological advancement, but what it really means is simply helping your sinuses stay healthy and do what Mother Nature designed them to do: help you breathe easily and comfortably. When your sinuses are healthy, you probably don’t even notice them!
That said, we can all probably imagine what unhealthy sinuses are like… because we’ve probably all experienced (aka suffered from) them at one point in time. (And for some of us, way more often than that.) In fact, sinus issues are one of the most common health problems in the U.S., affecting 37 million people a year (14% of the adult population), making it more prevalent than heart disease and asthma.
And sinus problems are more troublesome than just a case of the sniffles.
Sinus problems can have lingering effects on other parts of your health. The pain and congestion caused by sinusitis can negatively impact your quality of life, and sinusitis can also leave you feeling fatigued because your body is forced to fight an ongoing infection.
Unlike colds and other infections, sinusitis has a much longer recovery time. Where some sicknesses clear up in a few days, most people need around 4 weeks to recover from common sinusitis. And if you’re suffering from chronic sinusitis, you’re looking at persistent sinus issues for longer than 12 weeks! In either case, that’s a long time for your immune system to be on high alert.
It’s no surprise then that consumers spend more than a whopping $8 billion each year on prescriptions, over-the-counter medications, and visits to the doctor to help with sinusitis. Oof. So, in addition to majorly factoring into your overall health, healthy sinuses can save you time, money, and stress too.
Before we get into sinus health, let’s do a quick recap on what our sinuses actually are.
What are sinuses, anyways?
You probably know the general location of your sinuses, but to be more precise, your sinuses are air-filled spaces behind your forehead, eyes, nasal passages, and cheekbones. To get even more precise, there are subcategories of your sinuses: your forehead is home to your frontal sinuses, between your eyes are the ethmoid sinuses, behind your nose are your sphenoid sinuses, and your most significant sinus, aptly named the maxillary sinus, is found in your cheekbones. All this is good to know for the purpose of understanding the ins and outs of your sinus health (and who knows, might even come in handy for trivia night)!
Another interesting piece of sinus trivia? Sinus issues are much less common in children. Why? Not all sinuses are present at birth. And some sinuses don’t actually start developing until after you’re born.
On top of helping you breathe easily, your sinuses play an important role in your overall health, too. That’s because your sinuses–and the mucus inside of them–are in charge of keeping your body free of harmful bacteria and other less-than-ideal invaders like dust, germs, and dirt. Your sinuses also play a role in protecting your skull.
Signs of unhealthy sinuses
As you probably know (or have experienced), when your sinuses are unhealthy and are unable to drain or function properly, the problems don’t end there. Sinus infections and the resulting inflammation can lead to any (or all!) of the below:
- Facial pain, pressure, and congestion
- Yellow or green mucus discharge from the nose
- Difficulty breathing through your nose
- Fatigue (which can be directly related to the above)
- Loss of taste or smell
- Teeth pain, headache, sore throat
- Bad breath
Thankfully, there are things you can do to help take care of your sinuses and keep them healthy. Here are some simple tips for happy breathing.
How to optimize your sinus health
1) Drink lots of water
This advice seems to show up everywhere… and for good reason. Because hydration is massively important for good health–including your sinus health.
On top of everyday sinus health, drinking plenty of water can help loosen mucus and relieve sinus pressure and congestion if you’re feeling sick. Water doesn’t always need to be consumed to have benefits, either. If you’re dealing with a drier climate thanks to location or seasonal change, try adding moisture to the air with a humidifier (which can also help prevent dry skin and reduce snoring).
2) Avoid smoke
This one is obvious, but not always easy. If you smoke, it’s worth your best efforts to stop. And if you’re around smoke, it’s worth your best efforts to get away from it as much as you can.
Smoking can cause sinus problems, sinus irritation, increase your risk for infection, and harm your immune system. This also is true of other forms of smoke, like wildfires.
If you’re in a climate that has a fire season, it’s probably a good idea to get an air purifier.
3) Protect your sinuses
ION* Sinus Support is an all-natural, non-habit-forming spray that’s wonderful for keeping your sinuses hydrated while also rinsing away airborne irritants like dust, smoke, and environmental pollutants for clearer, easier breathing. And when you breathe freely through your nose, you’re doing more than getting oxygen. Nasal breathing can actually initiate virus-fighting nitric oxide, trap harmful particles, and secrete antimicrobial proteins. (Yes, really!)
Bonus tip! If you’re really ready to level up your sinus health, support your gut health too and try the ION* Gut + Sinus bundle.
How ION* can help improve your sinus health
Where ION* Sinus Support (formerly Restore Sinus Spray) works by cleaning and hydrating your sinuses to help protect you from external environmental pollutants and airborne irritants, ION* Gut Support works from within to help shield your immune system (over 70% is in your gut!) from toxins and chemicals.
With this bundle, you can deliver a one-two punch to pathogens, allergens, and other problematic particles and bolster your body’s inner defenses and outer protectors, naturally, effectively, and easily.
Try ION* today and see the difference taking care of your sinuses and gut health can make for your total health.
