Ok sorry for the disgusting topic.

I've come to the realization that I have allergies and get "sinus infections" on a somewhat basis.

What is really happening when the snot turns from clear to yellow/green. Do I have a bacterial infection?

3 weeks ago I went to the ENT with a med case of the yellow/green snot. He prescribed the cortizone(sp) pack where you start with 6 pills and taper down to 1 over a period of 6 days or so.

After 2 days of this I was blowing clear. Now in the past 2-3 days I'm back to green/yellow.

I've been taking 1 xyzol(sp) a day dr says it is better than zyrtec and depending on how bad somtimes will use the nose spray he prescribed.

Not sure on the answer to your question, but I started using an over the counter product (I get it at Kroger) called NasalCrom about 3 months ago (reccomended by a Texag user) and my allergies have been pretty much gone away with a few sniffles on runs which is to be expected on colder days. Just something you could maybe look into once you get over what you have now. There is an online coupon on the company's website if you google it also.

[This message has been edited by Hoyt Ag (edited 10/6/2010 9:46a).]

[This message has been edited by Hoyt Ag (edited 10/6/2010 9:45a).]

Isn't it supposed to be clear to yellow/greenish in color?

Yellow/green means you have a bacterial sinus infection. For me the only thing that works is an antibiotic. But, to prevent from getting to that point, as SOON as I start to feel an itch in my throat or the slightest hint of sinus pain, I start using my sinus rinse. Gross, but it works. Warm salt water is flushed through your sinuses bringing all the gunk out with the water. Might want to look into some sort of sinus rinse (available at Walgreens, CVS, etc).

I got into a short cycle of sinus infections a while back. I ended up going through 3 different types of antibiotics before I was through with them. Talk to your doctor, you don't want to do antibiotics all the time, but if you didn't get rid of the infection, they might have to put you on a different type of antibiotic.

I would second the poster about nasalcrom. I have used it in the past with good results.

I also did the saline rinse quite a bit towards the end on the sinus infection problems I was having.. I am not certain if it helped clear things up, but it will at least give you some relief for a bit and it won't hurt anything.

I went through about 3 weeks of sinus infection but never wanted to go to the doctor. Finally I got some sudafed to decongest my nostrils and did the neti pot/saline rinse and it helped tremendously!

I use a nose rinse, helps somewhat....

For me I think that once pressure builds up then I can't drain and can't get better which is why when he put me on the cortizone(sp) pack I got better in in 2 days.

I'm taking advill to help releive the pressure. Oh well...

Staying on sinus rinse once a day has helped me tremendously. I've noticed that I am able to breathe through my nose much better than in the past.

i have the same issues too. i guess i'm not as proactive as i should be though - i bought a sinus rinse thing but i wasn't good about using it all the time.

i have found advil cold and sinus to work pretty well though most of the time.

The steroid only helps with the inflammation, doesn't kill the bacteria if it is there. Probably need the antibiotic too. Agree go talk to the doc again.

Neti pot 3-4 times a day to rinse those sinuses and get rid of the bacteria.

I'm always impressed by the nasty crap those things will flush out of my head

Just do it after mowing the lawn.

You'll be amazed!

I use the Neti pot sinus rinse as well and feel like it helps. Although it kind of looks like something to me....my boyfriend calls it the "***** pot" or asks me if I'm going to shove that ***** up my nose again. FYI my doc told me that bacteria or viruses can produce yellow mucus, so if its anything but clear I think there's some kind of bug there.

[This message has been edited by pinkdog (edited 11/28/2010 5:48p).]

Didn't mean to get that pic quite so big.

The color change does not indicate bacteria or viral infection. The initial response of the cells lining the mucous membranes of the nose is to flush out the invader .... Clear, thin mucus. After 2-3 days, the infected cells lining the mucous membranes die and slough off making the mucus thicker and yellow to green. You can have the thick and colorful mucus and it be a viral cold. Of course, it can look that way with a bacterial sinus infection, too. It should not be relied upon to make that distinction exclusively.

Thanks all. Been dealing with the for the past 3-4 years and seems to be getting worse every year.

I may go in for allergy testing.

Did my squeze bottle nelli pot 4 times yesterday and I'm doing better today! I really think the salt/warm water helps clean it out and kill/dry up the sinuses (along with my pills/spray

ttt

I was looking for an update on this. BCOB, are you still having problems. Any updates on what others have done will be useful. Here’s a description of my problem.

I've been fighting chronic sinus infections for a while. Antibiotics have not helped. Right now I'm alternating between Afrin and Claritin-D, both for reducing congestion/inflammation. Afrin works the best, but you can only use it for 3-4 days straight, without causing a rebound effect. So I use Afrin once daily for 4 days then switch to Claritin-D for 2 days and then back to Afrin. This relieves many of the symptoms (fever, fatigue), but does not completely fix the problem.

From reading a lot and talking with others, it seems that my maxillary sinuses are the problem (the ones right behind your cheekbone). One of the biggest issues I have is irritation of my upper gums when I have a sinus infection – this is apparently a clue to a maxillary sinus problem.

I've used the neti pot, but it doesn't help me much, probably because the water never enters the maxillary sinuses since the entry area to this sinus is swollen.

I have not been able to shake the infection with any medication, so I’m looking into sinus surgery. I think that it’s possibly a structural issue. It’s likely that my maxillary sinus entry is too small for it to drain properly. My dad has very similar problems (gum pain, etc), so I think it is possibly a genetic structural issue with my maxillary sinus.

Any insight into what others have done would be wonderful.

There's that peenis pot again. I forgot about this thread. To share, maestro and BCOBQ, I used to have chronic sinus infections from allergies when I was in high school. Had 3 to 5 a year. Finally saw an allergist who put me on weekly allergy shots which I took for about 4 years and then was weaned off. Now I have about 1 sinus infection per year. Its been great ever since seeing that allergist. I'd recommend getting checked out by an allergist to anyone who's been having chronic infections and haven't had much luck.

You're right, the peen pic disturbing and messing up this thread, not to mention the formatting problems it has caused on this page.

Thanks pinkdog. I would consider the allergy shots, but 3-4 years is a long time. For now I'm still looking at sinus surgery. Maybe if that doesn't work, the shots might be my next option. I also started using the Nasalchrom today. If it helps me I'll post back here in a week or two.

Maetro,

I used to have similar problems. Was on steroids and antibiotics 4 - 6 times a year. Finally got fed up and went to see an ENT Doc (Thomas Frank in Richardson Highly recommend.) After doing a CT scan and preliminaries, I had the sinus surgery where they roto-rotor your sinuses and deviated septum repair. Was one of the best things I have ever done. That was two years ago and I have probably had 1 sinus infection since. I do occasionally get some congestion from allergy stuff but it drains and is no big deal.

I recommend you get yourself checked. The horror stories on how bad the sinus surgery is are WAY WAY over blown. It was no worse than a typical sinus infection, and it took care of the problem.


[This message has been edited by Absolute (edited 11/29/2010 9:29a).]

Now this thread is a little better without The Pic.

Absolute, Thanks for sharing you experience on sinus surgery. I'm waiting till the new year for a new insurance deductible to get the surgery. I have a large deductible, so I want the whole year to make best use of the insurance. Do you remember how much the surgery cost?

Unfortunately, I'm in Houston so I can't use your doc.

Can anyone recommend a doctor for sinus surgery??

[This message has been edited by maestroa5 (edited 11/29/2010 8:25p).]