Stuffy nose, sinus pain....sound familiar? Usually without a visit to the Doctor its hard to know if you have a sinus infection, the flu, RSV (type of upper respiratory virus), allergies, or just a bad cold. If you are not running a high fever, its probably not the flu or a bacterial sinus infection. The viral sinus infection should clear up in a few days, but sometimes can turn into a bacterial infection. With the right non-prescription medicines, you can usually keep a viral sinus infection or bad cold from turning into something worse.

I have noticed that having the heat on in the winter seems to make me feel worse when I have a bad cold, I finally realized that the dry air

was making me sicker. First step was getting the humidifier out of summer storage. I don't run the humidifier when nobody is home, but it holds enough water to run it all night long while we sleep.

For our cold and sinus "first aid" kit, we keep on hand Sudafed or the generic store version "suphedrine" also known as pseudoephedrine hydrochloride. This is a decongestant. I won't use any antihistamines, because they can dry up the mucus in your sinuses and actually turn a cold into a sinus infection. Another staple is the saline nasal spray, Ocean is one of the brand names, but the generic store versions are just as good and cost about a dollar less. The saline nasal spray should be used by only one person, if more than one person needs a bottle of it, I use a permanent marker to write each person's name on the containers. For really really desperate cases, I will use Afrin for two or three days, but never longer than three days. The generic for Afrin is Oxymetazoline Hydrochloride. The generic works just as well as the brand name and costs a whole lot less. This is a nasal decongestant, and if the suphedrine and the saline nasal spray aren't clearing up your sinuses, it is worth trying.

I won't use any of the multisymptom cold medicines, I still remember using Nyquil for what I thought was a bad cold and ending up in the hospital with double walking Pneumonia. The main problem with the multi-ingredient medicines is they could mask (hide) important symptoms.

If you are not sure if it's your allergies, or a cold, treating for a cold usually works OK for us. A good non-prescription medicine for allergies is Nasalcrom. Nasalcrom is neither a decongestant or an antihistamine, it works by somehow blocking the allergic responses of your nasal passages. Its not a fast acting medicine, but its a fairly safe one.

Finally, read all the warnings and instructions on all non-prescription medicines, its important to be careful when you are trying to self-treat an illness. And if you have a high fever or green mucus, get to a Doctor quickly, at this point it's probably a bacterial infection and you may need antibiotics.

--- © Renee