Altitude and Sinus Problems and Infections-
A Link?
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I recently was speaking to a neighbor who is an airline pilot and who says he almost always gets a stuffy head when returning from trips. This pilot works for a far east airline and is typically gone for about two weeks at a time and then returns home to Colorado.
His theory is that the altitude here in Colorado is a factor in causing sinus congestion problems and infections. This is an interesting observation. I know that sinus problems are more pronounced here in Colorado both from my own experience and from what others have said. I always attributed this to dryness, however, but I always wondered if there was more to it than that.
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We recently returned from Europe, and for the first time in at least two years I managed to come down with a sinus infection. It has not been very bad, and the headaches have been manageable. I started treating it right away with nasal irrigation 3 times a day, drinking hot tea (Dr. Grossan emphatically states that hot tea helps get the cilia working), and the use of some prednisone. I don’t like to resort to prednisone, and I generally do so very sparingly, but it certainly does open up the passages to allow drainage. The problem is just about gone now after about 4 days. I think the main cause was that I only got about 3 hours sleep during a 48 hour stretch, and this was too much for my system. I just couldn’t sleep on the plane, and when I did get home I slept for merely 3 hours and then was awake for the rest of the day. Such is the power of jet lag.
I do think there might be something to this idea of altitude contributing to sinus problems and infections, however. My problem here now is certainly not humidity, since the humidity in our bedroom has been over 60% for several days, as we are in the monsoon season and we’ve been having rain most evenings.
What can be done about this if you live in Colorado? We certainly can’t do anything about the altitude, which at our home is about 7,300 feet. We simply need to be extra vigilant when it comes to caring for our sinuses. For me that means nasal irrigation normally twice a day, drinking hot tea instead of or at least in addition to coffee, and vigorous exercise on a regular basis seems to help as well.
One last point: we were in Europe for about 5 weeks, and although I have a portable Water Pik device for nasal irrigation while traveling, I rarely used it. Somehow I just didn’t seem to need it. I know another sinus sufferer who spent several weeks in Italy, and his rather severe sinus issues were much less pronounced there. He even claims that he continued to feel much better after returning to the U.S. So certainly climate makes a huge difference, and in my case, this might be further evidence that the “altitude theory” could be in play. I’ve never seen this idea put forth in any of the sinus books I’ve read, and one can only guess how this might be proved for certain. It would be interesting, however, if a serious researcher could come up with a viable experiment. The results might provide some new insights into treating those of us who do not react well to normal sinusitis treatments.