So many of my friends and fellow weightlifters suffer from sinus congestion.Now like always its best to understand what is going on before treating. However, not everyone can just go out and get a CT scan and i understand that. So id like to discuss what can be done without imaging.
Please note: This is not a replacement for advice from your ENT or in anyway a reason to ignore more serious symptoms. Im also not suggesting you do everything mentioned as it includes prescription medications and may have sides.
Many bodybuilders suffer from breathing at night. Some of it is likely obstructive sleep apnea at the neck level BUT some if it could be straight up messed up turbinates that swell while you lay down.
I personally had this issue. My turbinates were messed up big time for years along with slight nasal deviation. I chose to have submucosal resection and then follow up coblation.
A quick way to see if this is an issue is to see if your nighttime nasal congestion responds to a good dose of afrin. Afrin will constrict your blood vessels resulting in shrinkage of your turbinates. If you can breathe acceptably well at night after taking a hit of afrin then continue reading. if not then its likely more structural.
Prior to considering turbinate surgery id suggest the following
1. nasal steroids
2. nasal irrigation
3. Short dose of oral steroids ( noo..not dbol...im taking like prednisone)
Nasal steroids
There will directly bring down the local inflammation but its only going to help so much if you dont stop them from getting reinflammed. Id suggest somthing like flonase 2 sprays each nostril 2x daily.
What i personaly like to use along with a nasal steroid is azelastine. Works localy on histamine. its prescription but works quite well and also has antiinflam properties.
if that doesnt work... well.. use with caution but what worked well for me and other physicians who suggested i try it is is mix 4mg of dexamethasone into some saline spray and use that for a few days. that works very well! Now some is gonna go systemic so treat like oral but since its a nonparticulate steroid i think some gets absorbed into the mucosa. I use this to get turbinates back down to size when neeeded.
Most physicians wont do direct steroid injections..blindness blah blah..its overstated but whatever.
Nasal irrigation
Ok...this is needed! I do this once every day and will continue to. I dont care about some studies showing decrease ciliary activity with hypertonic saline. The benefits for me are worth it.
You have two options. Hypertonic saline or hyper plus a surfactant like baby shampoo. I do the 2nd.
I use a 20 cc syringe, add some salt to a cup , two squirts of baby shampoo and some warm water. Suck up water and gently irrigate sinuses.
the baby shampoo is very important. Lots of nasal bacteria make biofilms that are bodies and oral antibiotics cant clear. this happened to me. despite high dose antibiotics i could never full kick the infections.....biofilms! Surfactants like baby shampoo help clear those so our bodies can kick its ass.
Last option is oral meds like steroids and antibiotics.
sometimes you have to bring down the inflammation big time to get sinuses to drain and so other things like irrigations and flonoase can work. Hit your sinuses with a medrol dose pack and possibly in combination with some antibiotics. At same time make sure you are doing the prior mentioned things.
IF the afrin spray helped you they above steps should also help to a degree. DO NOT continue to use afrin spray for more then 3 days. If however you did get hooked then id suggest diluting the spray to cut down, using only at night. Taking bronkaid during the day to help and you may need medrol dose pack during your time complete off afrin to help.
If the above doesnt adequetly help then look into submucosal resection. Much better long term results with SMR over coblation.
And since i feel compelled to mention this like 9x... this is not a substitute for advice from your physician. Just a few things to consider which may be useful or can discuss with your physician.
enjoy breathing
Please note: This is not a replacement for advice from your ENT or in anyway a reason to ignore more serious symptoms. Im also not suggesting you do everything mentioned as it includes prescription medications and may have sides.
Many bodybuilders suffer from breathing at night. Some of it is likely obstructive sleep apnea at the neck level BUT some if it could be straight up messed up turbinates that swell while you lay down.
I personally had this issue. My turbinates were messed up big time for years along with slight nasal deviation. I chose to have submucosal resection and then follow up coblation.
A quick way to see if this is an issue is to see if your nighttime nasal congestion responds to a good dose of afrin. Afrin will constrict your blood vessels resulting in shrinkage of your turbinates. If you can breathe acceptably well at night after taking a hit of afrin then continue reading. if not then its likely more structural.
Prior to considering turbinate surgery id suggest the following
1. nasal steroids
2. nasal irrigation
3. Short dose of oral steroids ( noo..not dbol...im taking like prednisone)
Nasal steroids
There will directly bring down the local inflammation but its only going to help so much if you dont stop them from getting reinflammed. Id suggest somthing like flonase 2 sprays each nostril 2x daily.
What i personaly like to use along with a nasal steroid is azelastine. Works localy on histamine. its prescription but works quite well and also has antiinflam properties.
if that doesnt work... well.. use with caution but what worked well for me and other physicians who suggested i try it is is mix 4mg of dexamethasone into some saline spray and use that for a few days. that works very well! Now some is gonna go systemic so treat like oral but since its a nonparticulate steroid i think some gets absorbed into the mucosa. I use this to get turbinates back down to size when neeeded.
Most physicians wont do direct steroid injections..blindness blah blah..its overstated but whatever.
Nasal irrigation
Ok...this is needed! I do this once every day and will continue to. I dont care about some studies showing decrease ciliary activity with hypertonic saline. The benefits for me are worth it.
You have two options. Hypertonic saline or hyper plus a surfactant like baby shampoo. I do the 2nd.
I use a 20 cc syringe, add some salt to a cup , two squirts of baby shampoo and some warm water. Suck up water and gently irrigate sinuses.
the baby shampoo is very important. Lots of nasal bacteria make biofilms that are bodies and oral antibiotics cant clear. this happened to me. despite high dose antibiotics i could never full kick the infections.....biofilms! Surfactants like baby shampoo help clear those so our bodies can kick its ass.
Last option is oral meds like steroids and antibiotics.
sometimes you have to bring down the inflammation big time to get sinuses to drain and so other things like irrigations and flonoase can work. Hit your sinuses with a medrol dose pack and possibly in combination with some antibiotics. At same time make sure you are doing the prior mentioned things.
IF the afrin spray helped you they above steps should also help to a degree. DO NOT continue to use afrin spray for more then 3 days. If however you did get hooked then id suggest diluting the spray to cut down, using only at night. Taking bronkaid during the day to help and you may need medrol dose pack during your time complete off afrin to help.
If the above doesnt adequetly help then look into submucosal resection. Much better long term results with SMR over coblation.
And since i feel compelled to mention this like 9x... this is not a substitute for advice from your physician. Just a few things to consider which may be useful or can discuss with your physician.
enjoy breathing