Sinusitis is one of the most annoying nasal ailments known to man. Aside from the headache, eyestrain, and stuffy nose that comes with sinusitis, one also has to bear with the difficulty of breathing. To get rid of this nasal problem, people often turn to a wide variety of medications available in the market.
After having tried in vain to get sinus relief from Western medicine, some people have began to develop a “taste” for alternatives. Aside from looking for a cure from traditional Chinese medicine, others have looked to growing all-natural medicines movement as a source of lasting, effective treatment for sinusitis. The herbal lore and medical traditions of China have fascinated Western medicine-trained doctors and resulted in the conduct of in-depth research.
The Indian healing system ayurveda is also gaining some recognition in the West as an alternative form of medicine. Ayurvedic theory views all human ailments as rooted in an imbalance in the body and that the proper cure is attained by restoring that balance. The main difference from traditional Western medicine is that rather than simply matching a patient's problem with the appropriate medication, ayurveda experts first determine the cause of the problem and work from there. As such, if ten people come to the same ayurveda healer for their sinusitis problem, he might need to prescribe ten different methods, depending on what he perceives to have caused the imbalance in each particular patient. A massage using herbal oils can be given for someone if the healer thinks the root of the problem lies in some chemical impurity, with the oils formulated specifically for the impurity in question. Meanwhile, if the healer thinks that the root of the imbalance lies in stress, a meditation regimen might be advised.
In traditional Chinese medicine, sinusitis is like any other medical ailment. In other words, it is a disruption of the natural elemental harmony of the body, similar to how Feng Shui sees how placing water in the wrong place would disrupt the harmony of within a house or building. Going with this philosophy, Chinese healers discovered that certain herbal formulas, when mixed together in the proper proportions, can slowly realign a person's elemental harmony and, as a result, remove the sinusitis. Cang er san is a typical herbal formula that most traditional Chinese doctors will work with when dealing with sinusitis. Typically, the proportions are altered slightly, depending on the discretion of the doctor preparing the mix. Once the sinusitis has cleared up, traditional Chinese doctors can also provide some herbs to help secure the re-harmonized body using dang shen or huang qi.
Another alternative medication for sinusitis comes in the form of the art of acupuncture. Acupuncture is more than just sticking needles in random locations. Acupuncture follows the ancient Chinese concept of the “chi,” which is the living energy that flows within and through all life, similar to the concept of “The Force.” There are certain parts of the body that act as focal points of the chi, with sicknesses emerging when the flow of the chi is blocked, delayed, or somehow stunted. According to some older texts, if the chi focuses or centers in one part of the body for too long, it can also cause an imbalance, though the consequences may prove more severe. The point of acupuncture is to stimulate these “wells of chi” to resume regular flow, eventually clearing up the problem by restoring the proper ebb and flow of the body's internal energy. In most cases, acupuncture is accompanied by traditional herbal medications to supplement the “restoration of the body's natural harmony.”