Sinus Drainage and Crohns

[bandbmom]

My son had been doing pretty good managing his pain for the past few months. But, a couple of weeks ago he started hurting just about every day. I talked to his gastroenterologist and he put him back on Prednisone (60 mg - we started this Saturday). Then last Friday his throat started getting sore and he started noticing quite a bit of sinus drainage. That night he was up most of the night in pain and throwing up. We went to a clinic on Saturday morning. The NP said that his nose and ears were red. She gave him a Tordal shot and she prescribed Amoxicillin 500 mg three times a day. She also gave us a Tramadol prescription for pain. That was 4 days ago and he still feels awful. We've been on vacation this week and he has had no fun. He doesn't feel like doing anything and the last full meal he ate was last Thursday. He's still in pain and he's complaining about his mouth being dry. I'm just at a loss of where to go from here. Does anyone have any suggestions? He starts college in 10 days and I hate for him to try to start in all this pain!:sign0085:

 

[lookame]

I know how to drain sinuses manually...have him lay dow on his back, get him to relax, first placing your hands over his eyes. Then slowly put pressure and run your hands from his forehead to his chin then from his nose to his cheeks. Then take your thumbs and with a small amount of pressure(whatever is comfortable for him) and work through one sinus at a time. There are sinuses located above the eyebrows and under the eyes. Run your thumbs from the inside of the forehead(along the sinus cavity) to the outside, do the same with the other sinuses then take your entire palm and run it from the top of his neck(around the ear) down to the bottom of his neck, do this on both sides. This is manually draining his sinuses. I learned this while in massage school and helps.

Anouther way to help things along is to take some boiling water and put it in a bowl with a towel over his head covering the bowl and sniff the steam. It helps loosen up the mucus which causes infections. After taking a coupl of huffs of the steam he'll want to blow his nose, He can also take a very hot shower and huff the steam in there as well, allow the water to hit his nose and sinuses to help break up the mucus. ((this is what I do and it helps cut my colds in half and prevents sinus infections))

The last and the way I really hate to do is get tea kettle and boil water in it then holding his head to the side touch the kettle to his noseand pour the water through the nose it cleans out the sinus cavities but I don;t like pouring water right into my nose...plus you need the right type of kettle

Good luck hope he feels better

 

[carolhew]

Biotene mouthwash or spray is great for dry mouth. You can find it at most pharmacy chains. I hope the poor kiddo starts feeling better soon!

Carol

 

[ThanksP]

Try a Neti Pot. I get bad sinus infections frequently. I use my Neti pot at the firt feeling of a sinus infection and it stops it in its tracks. You can get one, along with the saline solution at any pharmacy or even WalMart and Target. So easy and painless! Best of luck, hope he feels better soon.

 

[Sashawright]

I have had several " URI" according to my family doc, but only since I started humira in November. I use OCEAN. It is a over the counter saline nasal spray and helps unstuff sinus for me. I also started Flonase a couple weeks ago, but have not gotten much relief. My GI is going to taper me off Imuran and just have me on Humira and Pentasa. Hope you get some " nasal" releif, it sure is miserable!!!:ybatty:

 

[juljul]

Hi bandbmom,
I second what lookame has said about the steam inhalation via a steam inhaler, or steam inhalation cup or bowl. Get a chlorine filter fitted if you haven't already done so, so your son does not inhale chlorine in the shower.......it is apparently linked to sinus, throat, eye, nose irritation,etc. You can add a few drops of anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory essential oils too because the volatile compounds will go directly to where needed. Eucalyptus and peppermint are both good. Go easy on the peppermint though because it can feel like it is burning when inhaled if you add too much. One or two drops should suffice. But you can get away with a few drops of eucalytpus. Just make sure he closes his eyes when inhaling the oils. Hopefully though also, he should also get some benefit through the eyelids through closed eyes where eyelids might be inflamed...as suggested by dry eyes in the context of sinus issues.

Gengigel (hyaluronic acid) mouthwash can help with dry mouths. If you can't get hold of that, add a capsule of hyaluronic acid to cold chamomile or licorice tea in a glass bottle (it might take a few hours to properly dissolve and you will need to shake it from time to time)....you then have a good substitute after teeth cleaning.

juljul xx