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Nasal congestion, runny nose, headaches, facial pressure… sinusitis is a pain indeed, and everybody who’s suffered from it can tell. When dealing with a sinus infection, your daily routine may get disrupted, as you may have to cope with the symptoms from the moment you wake up until it’s bedtime once again (and, sometimes, with no mercy at all!).

If you have been there, you may have tried different ways to alleviate your discomfort. Anything goes when it comes to keeping sinusitis under control, and that’s why some people end up drawing on multiple ‘resources’, no matter how weird they are, to keep themselves from such a nightmare. Taking this into consideration, don’t pass up the chance to check out some of the weirdest methods to face sinusitis. Here they are:

Garlic nose drops

Among its countless benefits, garlic is well known for having both antiviral and antibacterial properties, which turn it into a powerful natural remedy to treat certain conditions, and sinusitis is one of them. It may not sound fancy, but applying garlic drops into your nose a few times a day is meant to help reduce the symptoms of sinusitis. To do so, you just have to crush a garlic clove and mix it with four spoonfuls of water. Once it’s ready, let’s use a dropper and keep your fingers crossed for the ‘recipe’ to do the trick.

Poultice of verbena

Have you ever heard of a plant called verbena or, to be more precise, verbena officinalis? In case you haven’t, it’s an herb originally from Europe that has been medically used since ancient times, due to its relaxing and digestive effects. As regards sinusitis, verbena is considered to help drain mucus from your sinuses and, at the same time, to lower the inflammation in the area.

In order to take advantage of verbena, some people make a poultice with it. How? It’s easy. Beat an egg white until it stands in soft peaks, then add a pinch of verbena leaves and fry the mixture with some oil in the pan, as if it were an omelet. Once it’s done, wrap the poultice in a soft piece of fabric and keep it on your forehead all night long and for the next three nights as well.

Onion ‘beverage’

Onions contain sulfur, which has both antiviral and antibacterial properties. Thus, they are commonly used to lower the symptoms of sinus infections, especially in mild cases. You can either inhale its aroma or prepare a ‘potion’ by letting the onion boil in water for about 5 minutes and drinking the beverage afterwards. It sure won’t be tasty, but it might give you some relief.

Needless to say, the effectiveness of such methods hasn’t been medically proven. Yet, quite a few people get so desperate because of sinusitis that they look for endless ways to get rid of it, even if that implies holding on homemade remedies that, with hindsight, sound kind of bizarre.

And you? How far would you go to be sinusitis-free?