I didn't even go looking for this, it tracked me down and presented itself!

Hum to ease clogged sinus

Dealing with a cold is bad enough, but when it leads to a sinus infection, the misery can double. Some researchers have proposed a surprising remedy: channeling your inner Sinatra.

Sinus infections - which afflict more than 37 million Americans every year - generally occur when the lining of the sinuses becomes inflamed, trapping air and pus and other secretions, and leading to pain, headaches and congestion. Keeping the sinuses healthy and infection-free requires ventilation - keeping air flowing smoothly between the sinus and nasal cavities. And what better way to keep air moving through the sinuses and nasal cavity than by humming a tune?

In a study in The American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, researchers examined this by comparing airflow in people when they hummed and when they quietly exhaled.

Specifically, they looked to see if humming led to greater levels of exhaled nitric oxide, a gas produced in the sinuses. Ultimately, nitric oxides during humming rose 15-fold.

Another study a year later in The European Respiratory Journal found a similar effect: humming resulted in a large increase in nasal nitric oxide, "caused by a rapid gas exchange in the paranasal sinuses." Since reduced airflow plays a major role in sinus infections, the researchers suggested that daily periods of humming might help people lower their risk of chronic problems. But further study is needed, they said.

Anahad O'Connor
[www.chinadaily.com.cn]

wow, interesting!!! *hummmmmmmmmmm*

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Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

For many years I had what I thought were allergies that left my nasal passages so clogged that I mostly would breathe through my mouth. After quitting dairy my Presumed allergies went away. It was so apparent when I again tried dairy and immediately my nasal pasages filled with mucous.

I haven't tried the humming, but for me raw foods do the trick!


My favorite raw vegan

Wish that worked for me, my sinuses are constantly irritated and swollen. Sensitized and irritated by life, heh.