Nostrils, 6 sinus cavities and throat oral pharynx
Dr. G. Yu’s personal comments

We focus much on cleansing your gastrointestinal tract from your stomach, small intestines to the terminal colon promote the use fiber, gut cleanser like bitters and use enzymes to complete digestion and finally mechanical cleansers as laxatives. But we pay so little attention to cleansing your upper respiratory sinuses nor your lungs as we just accept pollutions, flus, and pollen as a part of acceptable life whether in the crowded cities, or in rural farmlands. You get huge amounts of exposures auto pollutants, to seasonal changes in temperatures, exposures such pollen, the farm pesticides and animal hairs from pets, the toxic chemicals like cleansers in your house and in crowded urban areas from human breathing and saliva exposures. If you have school-age children, you may be getting from your children the whole school population of bugs and viruses. COVID 19 virus pandemic made us all acutely aware potential respiratory pollutions.

Your Nasal passage and Sinuses Located Within Your Head

Since we breathe 24/7, we are constantly exposed to everything in the air. Your nose, nasal canals, and the 6 compartments of your head sinuses are pockets that collect all the above. 2 are above your eyes call Frontal sinuses, 2 are below your eyes call Maxillary sinuses, and 2 are in the midline Ethmoid and Sphenoid sinus which is surrounds your most important central hormone control center call the Pituitary organ.

The Illustrations show simple structures which all can collect whatever you breathe. Actual sinuses are shown from real human and you can see why things collect there.

Why do we have this complex aeration system? 

The evolutionary design was made to withstand moisture and temperature variations of the air you breathe as well as a cleansing “Broom” with cilia hairs to sweep unwanted particles out of the delicate upper respiratory system. Pockets of cavities called sinuses lined with respiratory cilia hairs to sweep the pollutants infections and mucus collections out of the tract into nasal cavities so you can blow it out. In fact our central hormonal master coordinator the pituitary gland sits right in the middle of the Sphenoid sinus cavity. I have often wondered how a winter cold could change our pituitary gland functions of all hormones. The complex cavities and tortuous tract also have its pitfalls. With increasing pollutants in crowded cities or dusty farms, there are more chance of bugs, viruses, bacteria and fungus molds and chemical pollutants to implant or invade those pockets. Unfortunately, the openings “Os” to these cavities or sinuses are often small and that is an evolutionary structure yet to adapt to our modern dirty air contents today. The seasonal viruses and the most recent Coronavirus are typical examples of infections well sequestered into nasal passages and in sinus cavities is an example of such a potential disastrous infection and onset of our COVID 19 virus pandemic. 

Actual Radiological Images of Sinuses 

My Personal and Family Sinus Experience 

My mother lived on a prestigious Washington Square North Greenwich Village New York City but despite the luxury, she was plagued with indoor and outdoor city pollution. She developed chronic sinusitis with eventual sinus polyps inside the sinuses from contamination irritating her frontal sinus, maxillary sinuses plus the ethmoid and sphenoid sinus and had a major polyp resection via a facial flap and within 2 years she had the same polyps recurrence.

I had 3 sinus operations without resolution from a very competent surgeon. By total surprise, I volunteered to test out a “Sleep Apnea” jaw expander called the DNA (Dr. Felix Liao, airway dentist). The expanding brace gradually widened my upper jaw (Maxilla Jawbone). Within 1 month of slow nightly expansion both nostrils opened up and widened my upper jaw and suddenly I could breathe from my nostrils for the first time in my life. Opening the sinus tracts did not help but expanding the softer Maxilla bone opened up the nasal passages and the opening of the sinus tracts. I did not have sleep apnea but could understand why widening the Maxilla bone corrected most of my patients sleep apnea without using CPAP forced air machines. All the postnasal drip stopped draining into my lower airway of the bronchus and lungs!! Try it, nothing to lose!

Keep in mind that steroid sprays and medications and antihistamines are only symptomatic relief of opening your sinus tracts and decrease the inflammation of the sinus lining tissues. As soon as you stop using these cheap but costly quick relief you are back to the same problem. Many patients always complain year-round that they can’t breathe fully. Nasal passage and rinses are commercially available, but my patients tell me its better but not impressive.

Radical hygiene by Dr. Yu“Poor man’s beach saltwater cleansing”uses a “Total Sinus Rinse” like going to the beach and saltwater dunk.