Over 30 million Americans experience sinusitis every year.  The pain and pressure can be intense and many people are not helped by treatment with medication.  Infections can occur over and over in people who are resistant to treatment.  Symptoms associated with sinusitis include a runny or stuffy nose, swollen sinus tissues, allergies, fatigue, low blood pressure, toothache, suppressed immune system, and low vitamin C blood serum levels.

Your nose normally contains a lining of thin mucus that traps bacteria so that it cannot enter the body.  Specialized proteins are produced when threats are sensed inside the nose.  These proteins bind with pathogens and kill them off, protecting you from the danger.

When your nose gets dried out, due to artificial heat, outside cold, or seasonal allergies, you essentially have a greatly reduced immunity in your nose.  This makes you very susceptible to colds and other viruses because your nose is your first line of defense.  Mucus becomes thick and is no longer able to do its job.  Inflammation sets in and traps the infectious mucus inside.

Sinusitis generally refers to the inflammation that occurs after an infection or virus has invaded the sinuses.  The inflammation of sinusitis puts the immune system in overdrive.  Your sinuses do exactly what they are supposed to do, and that is to create more mucus to clear things out and deliver white blood cells to the area.

The extra mucus has nowhere to go, so it compounds the problem causing congestion and more inflammation.  The white blood cells can’t do their job when they are bogged down with thick mucus.  They trap what infection they can and die.  This is why you will often see green mucus if your body is fighting a sinus infection, because the white blood cells actually turn green when they decompose.

Medications that temporarily reduce inflammation, clear congestion, or dry up excess mucus do not actually get to the root of the problem.  The inflammation is caused by viruses that attack the cells lining the nasal passages and sinuses.  Your first line of defense is to protect those cells from damage.  This will prevent the inflammation from occurring.  Vitamin C is necessary for your body to produce the antibody interferon, which seals the cells off from invading pathogens.

When it comes to sinusitis, vitamin C combats it in many ways.  First, it coats the cells with interferon.  Second, it produces extra white blood cells to take care of infections and viruses.  Third, it stabilizes and strengthens the immune system so that it doesn’t overreact to allergens.  Fourth, vitamin C inhibits the production of histamines and blocks histamine cell receptors, controlling the allergy symptoms that make sinusitis so painful.  Fifth, vitamin C controls inflammation.  Sixth, it clears out invading pathogens and free radicals that weaken and invade cells.  Seventh, it helps to thin out mucus and return it to its normal state of producing specialized proteins, restoring the immunity to your nose where it belongs.

Talk with your doctor before you buy vitamins to treat a condition.  The best vitamin C can help you to restore immunity, protect your sinuses from invaders, keep inflammation down, and control immune responses that are not appropriate.  Your doctor may also recommend nasal irrigation with a saline solution to take care of stagnant mucus.  Exercise is also helpful because it increases blood flow to the sinuses.  Treating sinusitis means getting to the root of the problem and vitamin C can help you do that.