Allergies or sinus infection? (gross medical thread... avoid while eating)

I have been having an awful lot of greenish-yellow thick mucus lately, and it gets encrusted in my nostrils and is hard to get out.

Every time i blow my nose, it is flecked with blood. I haven't been having bloody noses per se, just flecks of blood. I also have not been experiencing a great deal of swelling/congestion. But the crusty mucus blocks my nose, and doesn't easily come out, except after a long hot shower.

So, is this likely allergies, or a sinus infection? Should i be taking Claratin, or dosing up on Afrin, and getting antibiotics?

Once a day for two days, then the third day I take off.

I normally like acupuncture and/or my snot pot (google 'neti' and 'stainless' to see what I'm talking about) for my sinuses, but it sounds like you need to run down to the doc for a bout of antibiotics. Exceot you don't mention any pain. What's with that? & quit blowing your nose so hard - that's where that blood is coming from.

Clear is all clear.

I would say sinus infection, but I'm not a doctor, I only play one with my kids!

It's a saline solution that you squirt up your nose to help thin out the secretions. I like to use a warm compress over my sinuses when I'm feeling stuffy there. It helps me drain a little bit better. I use a sock (clean), fill it with uncooked rice, tie it off, then microwave for 60 to 70 seconds to get it nice and warm. Works wonders.

I hate going to the doctor. In personal experience, 9 times out of 10 they just tell me to do what I've been doing (unless, of course, it is serious), and I'm out 75 bucks.

I never had a sinus infection before moving here, and now I've had two, and perhaps a third.

You can thank Governor Bush for relaxing those environmental
regulations. Who needs clean air? LOL.

"I have been having an awful lot of greenish-yellow thick mucus lately"

I've had sinus troubles since I was a little kid and I am almost 50
now. I am NOT a Doctor but that sounds like a sinus infection. You
really might want to go to the Doctor and get some anti-biotics.

That thick, yellow-green snot is THE sign that you have a sinus infection.

Best wishes to you, hope you get to feeling better soon

here is what he told me:

First of all, sounds like a sinus infection.

Secondly, sinuses are basically like air filters in a house. Sinuses discharge mucous which normally goes down the stomach. The problem is that the membrances lining the mucous become inflamed and swell and close up the sinuses so that they cannot drain bacteria, and other stuff. Then the bacteria multiply and it develops into a sinus infection. That usually requires a shot of decadron and antibiotics.

Now, the membranes swell because of either allergies, or just because. My doctor tells me that half his patients aren't allergic to anything that they can tell, yet their membranes swell.

What do you do?

You can buy an attachment for a water pic and wash out your sinuses daily. (google Dr. Grossan irrigation sinuses).

If that doesn't work, you can start a daily regimen of a topical spray steroid which will keep the membranes normal.

If that doesn't work, you will be looking at surgery.

Good luck.

lovely picture, see a doctor.

Anger must be lagered.

I had the same problem last year. Yellow-green mucous, blood, and everything.

I went to an ENT specialist, and he prescribed steam. His suggestion was that if I absolutely felt I had to have a decongestant, I should only use Guaifenesin; because everything else dries you out. He said saline sprays are fine.

Boil water, turn the heat off. With a towel over your head, breathe the vapors for 15 minutes. Do this 3-4 times a day. You might also want to invest in a humidifier.

Feel better, my friend!

PS Beer dehydrates. You'll get better quicker if you hold off for awhile.

There are other options than the ones you mention for root cause of your symptoms. Namely, - the sinuses can be home to an insidious fungal infection. You want someone who's qualified to make the diagnoses advising you on the best remedy.

(It's our little family ha-ha as hubby's a respiratory therapist.)

I would say it's an infection. Green goo means an infection and the blood means it's getting pretty bad. You have a bad, bad sinus infection dude. See the doctor, get some antibiotics, take the entire course, rest, and get plenty of fluids.

I live with sinus infections and have taken way too many drugs for it. The best advice I ever had was to wash the sinuses out with a homemade saline solution. Get one of those kids' aspirator bulbs. Get a clean dish and put about a 1/2 teaspoon salt, a pinch of soda and warm water. Mix it and then use the bulb to inhale it into your sinuses. It's awful, I know but you do get better at it. It helps to disinfect and clean out your sinuses. I do it every time I'm congested and I haven't used an anti-biotic in three years. That's astounding for me.

on edit: an ENT specialist taught me this.

And it does usually do the trick. Not always and we've been really lucky this year, but most of the time it helps a lot.

Mrs/Dr DemoTex (in Texas) has similar symptoms with total laryngitis. Same thing going around here in North Carolina and South Carolina.