Can a Chiropractor Drain Sinuses?
(Adjustment Benefits)

Your sinuses are made up of eight hollow spaces in the bones of the forehead, cheeks, and temples. When you’re healthy you have open sinuses that are lined with a layer of mucus that filters out dust, dirt, and other pollutants you inhale while adding moisture so you don’t feel dried out. The problems arise when you find yourself with allergies, sinusitis, or a sinus infection. 

When you have allergies, sinusitis, a sinus infection, or even your run-of-the-mill cold or viral infection, the linings of your sinuses become inflamed. The inflamed tissue swells up, fills with mucus, and cannot drain as normal. All of this results in increased pressure in your sinuses that causes pain and swelling around the eyes, congestion, chills, fever, and dizziness. We know all too well how frustrating and painful this can be and it may be worth visiting your chiropractor the next time you have this kind of sinus pain.

If you have a cough along with your sinusitis symptoms you may find that coughing is causing a lot of tension and stress throughout your body but particularly focused in the joints. If you have a cold or infection that causes chest congestion and phlegm you’ll be happy to hear that a chiropractor can help with that as well as your sinus pain and congestion.

When working with a patient who has sinus, allergy, or cold-related issues we focus on the thoracic spine which is the part of the spine that runs from the base of the neck down to the abdomen. Typically, when someone comes in for sinus treatment they’re carrying tension in their thoracic spine and require an adjustment. Next, we move onto using percussion. We typically utilize some percussion to loosen phlegm and chest congestion. This is the same sort of percussion we use on our patients with cystic fibrosis since they’re not able to cough up the phlegm that their body is producing.

When it comes to working directly on the sinuses we focus on the maxillary and frontal sinuses. We apply firm pressure across the forehead, nose, and cheek areas. Once we’ve applied this firm pressure and massaged these areas we use the technique that Dr. Warren refers to as “face shaking” and it really does look a lot like that. This chiropractic technique is great for loosening up what feels like a big brick of mucus. This technique loosens mucus and gets it moving again. Movement of these fluids is crucial to relieving pain and getting you back to health. When things start blocking up you’ll experience more pain and congestion and we want to avoid that as much as possible.

Dr. Warren uses a small chiropractic instrument called an activator that creates a focused impulse. This isn’t tool isn’t used for many types of chiropractic adjustments but for certain cases like sinus pain, jaw pain, joint irritation, or even for working with kids it can be beneficial.

Can A Parkville Chiropractor Drain Sinuses?

So can a chiropractor drain sinuses? Drain probably isn’t the best word but Jonathan experienced instantly clear airways that felt much better and allowed for better breathing. Dr. Warren was able to loosen up the mucus in the sinuses which will continue to help alleviate sinus pain and pressure. After this sort of sinus adjustment from a chiropractor, we recommend you go home and regularly use a saline solution to keep your nasal passages clear as you’re healing. Be sure to avoid foods that make you congested (for many people this includes dairy) and stay hydrated.

If you’re experiencing pressure in your sinuses, sinus headaches, or pain and congestion associated with allergies we can help and you don’t have to bombard your body with antibiotics to feel better. This drug-free treatment for sinus pain and congestion is a great alternative to prescription medication that may have accompanying harmful side effects. Click here to schedule your appointment to see one of our chiropractors to get relief from sinus pain.