Are you keeping your nose clean? Here is a rhetorical question that many of us have heard repeatedly from authority figures throughout our lifetimes! Nostalgic memories inspired by patriarchal and matriarchal nurturers of the past illuminate memories of wisdom passed onto this tail end of the Baby Boom legacy.

How many of us really focus on proper maintenance of our noses? I wish I could report that many people have a level of consciousness about their personal appearance and get a high mark in that area. Unfortunately, observing the number of people over the years that have nasal hair resembling a briar bush hanging out the portal of their snout; leaves me to wonder how familiar they are with the concept of nasal hygiene.

It has been reported by the Centers of Disease Control that 30.7 million Americans were diagnosed with Sinusitis in 2006. Allergic Rhinitis, often a precursor to Sinusitis development, was reported in a study titled,? The Economic Burden of Allergic Rhinitis; A Critical Evaluation of the Literature?, to cost an estimated 2-5 billion dollars each year. That is a lot of money!! Fresh on many of our minds is the unfolding events immediately following the Federal Governments approval of the 700 Billion Dollar Bailout Plan on Wall Street. Giving government blank checks to correct a problem they created undermines the ingenuity of individuals removed from this bureaucracy. So does continuing to blindly follow sound bites to treat your sinus symptoms from television and print ads!

Ask yourself a couple of honest questions, are you intimately involved with the care of yourself and your family or blindly following traditional, convenient, quick fix solutions? Are current treatment strategies for Allergic Rhinitis and Sinusitis effectively leveraging your hard earned dollars to achieve relief and control?

There are effective solutions that can compliment or reduce your dependence on responsible pharmacologic treatment strategies directed by medical professionals. Sinus irrigation is one effective approach to managing sinus disease. Pulsatile Irrigation gently delivers a stream of a salt water solution to cleanse the nose of allergens that lead to over-reactive immune responses resulting in an overproduction of mucous that inhibits the cilia in your nose from clearing it out. Often, the stagnant thick, sticky bio-film hindering your cilia becomes breeding grounds for viruses and bacteria that take up residence and promote sinusitis symptoms and complications. The pulsating stream of salt water solution generated by pulsatile irrigation gently erodes away the bio-film and helps reduce viral and bacterial loads; complimenting the efforts of your body's infection fighting cells.

Immunotherapy offered by qualified Allergists and ENTs are reported to be a viable option by the medical professionals that are highly trained to administer ?allergy shots? to help correct an individual's over-reactive immune system to the pollens produced by trees, grasses and weeds, molds, insects and animals.

In closing, another old proverbial statement has been routed to the forefront of my mind by my an aging network of neurons and synapses, "If you like the way things are going, then keep on doing what you are doing; if not consider changing your direction or approach."

All patients are encouraged to direct their specific questions to their personal physicians. The information is written to help patients better understand and participate in their own medical care.