Dust and Dryness: Seasonal Wear and Tear on Your Sinuses

Colder weather does more than bring snow and ice and cause us to break out the winter sweaters, coats, hats and gloves. It changes our bodies too, and sometimes not in the best of ways. Cranking up the heat in the house and spending more time indoors can create a recipe for dry, irritated, and sometimes infected sinus cavities.

Ever since I could remember, winter was always a mixed blessing. On one hand, there was Christmas with all its presents and family togetherness, sledding in the yard, and bonfires, and then on the other hand, there was day after day of sinus headaches, monthly sinus infections, coughs, and night drainage. The adult explanation was that the heater in the house caused my sinuses to dry out and become irritated and more susceptible to infection. And this is still true, but it went further than that. When humidifiers didn't solve the entire problem, I knew there had to be something else about the Yuletide season that was making my sinuses go haywire.

It wasn't until I was told to sweep an area four times the size of my home at my college weekend job that I found out the other factor that was causing me trouble. The next morning my ears filled up with fluid and my drainage and cough were so bad I lost my voice completely. So, nearly deaf and mute and with a fever from a sinus infection, I took myself to the doctor where she gave me a script for antibiotics and promptly told me, after a few background questions, that I was allergic to dust and that it was actually very common.

Further searching revealed the reason why the dust was linked to the seasonal sinus problems. Yes, the heat did dry them out, but it was the dust that was irritating them more than just dryness could account for. But isn't there just as much dust in the house in the summer as there is in the winter time? Of course, but the amount of time I was staying indoors close to the dust had increased. Time outdoors in the fresh air is limited in the cold weather and so we spend more and more time indoors.

So, what can anyone do to help remedy this? Well, nothing will make all of it vanish without a trace, but we can reduce the symptoms of winter wear and tear on our sinuses. Humidifiers, as I mentioned before, help with the dryness and help to keep the sinuses from becoming overly irritated and susceptible to other irritants. As far as the dust, that just takes some good old-fashioned elbow grease to get rid of. I would recommend dusting surfaces, vacuuming, and using a swiffer more often during the colder months. Also, using an air purifier along with the humidifier (or a humidifier/purifier two-in-one machine) would help clear the dust from the air. But if you're using the cleaning method in your home, a salt lamp may be your new best friend. Salt lamps are made from rock salt mined out of the earth and heated/lighted by a small lamp bulb. Many of them glow white, peach, or red and are very decorative as well. But what makes them able to help keep down dust, is their ability to release electrons into the air when heated by the small bulbs, and these electrons are attracted to the positively charged dust particles in the air. The dust becomes weighted down with electrons and settled to the floor or other surfaces where it can be cleaned away more easily. It's a very natural and decorative way to purify the air in your home.

So, those that suffer the cold weather sinus blues, there is some help to be had. And even though it might not be the cure-all that we would hope for, it can ease the seasonal pain to a bearable-even negligible-level.