Three Reasons Your Sinus Infection Is Worse At Night
Sinus infections are horrible to deal with. They make you drowsy, can give you a headache, and make it terribly difficult to breathe well. It's especially bothersome at night, when you're ready to try and sleep it off; it just seems that it's becoming worse. Here are three reasons why:
- Blood Flow Causes Inflammation: When you lay down at night, there is a change in blood flow, and it's usually being directed towards your upper body, versus your lower body during the day, when you are standing and sitting. For this reason, the blood vessels in the sinuses become inflamed, which leads to worsened symptoms. To help prevent this increase in blood flow to the upper body, causing you to feel worse, consider taking a decongestant, to relieve the amount of pressure in the sinuses.
- Symptoms Become More Noticeable: Your sinus infection symptoms are going to become more noticeable at night simply because you don't have as many distractions, like you do during the day. This makes the sinus infection seem worse than it really is, which can lead to more difficulty sleeping. It's important that you distract yourself by sleeping with a sound machine, reading a book to sleep, or even listening to an audio book. These are all subtle sounds that not only help soothe you to sleep, but also distract you from any discomfort that you are experiencing. The better you sleep, despite having a sinus infection, the more easily the sinus infection can be treated instead of becoming worse. Sleep is the number one way to keep your body healthy.
- Sinuses Can't Easily Be Cleared: When you lay down at night, your sinuses can't as easily be cleared out, as they can during the day. Instead, all the mucus build up is sitting in place, which can irritate the throat. To combat this, try your best to prop yourself as high as you can on pillows. This should help to keep symptoms at bay, while you try to get some sleep.
To help even further, consider investing in a humidifier, which can prevent dry air from irritating your sinuses even further. You should also visit with your doctor if the sinus infection is lasting longer than a couple of weeks. You might need to take antibiotics, at this point, and check for other problems that could be the underlying cause of your symptoms.
For more information, talk to companies like Premier Urgent Care Centers of California, Inc.
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