Sinusitis FAQ

Weird request — for Vacuum to help drain sinuses

Question:

I suffer from frequent sinus infections. Like many here I have tried many methods to help when I have a sinus infection. When I have a sinus infection I can feel and actually hear the mucous moving around in my sinuses. When I was a young boy I remember my grandmother having sinus problems and she went to a general practitioner is a small, rural south Georgia town. The doctor would hook up some kind of vacuum to her nose and actually suck the mucus out of her sinuses. It does sound very gross but I am at the point to where I am willing to try anything to help empty my sinuses when the mucus starts to build up. I think if I could build some kind of attachment that would fit inside of one nostril to a small variable power vacuum, perhaps I could suck some of the mucus out of my sinuses. Any thoughts, suggestions or questions. I appreciate any help. poston8 [@] comcast.net

Response:

In news:tek7n1t143ip7a953gktckimebmatrnf0u@4ax.com, billyboo…@billybooger.com <billyboo…@billybooger.com> typed: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> I suffer from frequent sinus infections. Like many here I have tried > many methods to help when I have a sinus infection. > When I have a sinus infection I can feel and actually hear the mucous > moving around in my sinuses. > When I was a young boy I remember my grandmother having sinus problems > and she went to a general practitioner is a small, rural south Georgia > town. The doctor would hook up some kind of vacuum to her nose and > actually suck the mucus out of her sinuses. > It does sound very gross but I am at the point to where I am willing > to try anything to help empty my sinuses when the mucus starts to > build up. I think if I could build some kind of attachment that would > fit inside of one nostril to a small variable power vacuum, perhaps I > could suck some of the mucus out of my sinuses. > Any thoughts, suggestions or questions. > I appreciate any help. > poston8 [@] comcast.net

I can confirm that I went to an elderly ENT a long time ago that had the same kind of machine. It worked kind of like the Grossan irrigator in reverse. Had a tank of ’solution’ on the machine, that I presumed put some kind of ‘medicine’ in the nose also, or was just there for the suction to work. This doctor used to also pack the nose with a long, long string and it was soaked in a thick solution and then you set under a heat lamp and then left the string packing in for several hours and then he would remove it. Can’t really remember if it worked or not, but I don’t remember going back. I would doubt they still use those machines, but they do kind of make sense. …Allen

Response:

ENT’s have these vacuum devices but I don’t think there are any home versions. Many people use nasal irrigation with a salt water solution to clear mucuos from their sinuses. Twice daily irrigation has saved me from so many sinus problems so I can attest that it really does work! Some people prefer a neti pot or there are nasal adapters to fit a water pik or there is a special purpose device called the Grossan pulsatile nasal Irrigator. I use a neti pot when I travel and use the grossan irrigator at home. See the FAQ of this forum or this link for more info on nasal irrigation: http://www.ent-consult.com/faq.html#irrigation

Response:

Filed under: Nasal irrigation

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