Usually grunted by men eating at Hooters, it is often said that eating spicy foods may clear your sinuses? Any truth to this?
No cite, but my own personal experience is that really spicy food does indeed clear my sinuses, at least temporarily. It certainly makes my nose run and my eyes water.
Whenever I feel a cold coming on and I start getting a bit sniffly, out comes my little chili army. Habaneros, cayenne peppers, chili sauce, roll some sushi and whip up extra wasabi, etc. Always provides some measure of relief (plus I just like spicy food).
I notice much the same effect on a stuffy nose from having lots of hot tea and chicken soup although there are doiubtless different mechanisms at work there.
That hot mustard at the Chinese buffet always works to clear my sinuses! It’s like a flash fire in there.
I can tell you that getting sprayed with pepper spray will most definitely clear your sinuses. For weeks.
So does Altoids peppermint gum. 
Capsaicin really causes the nasal passages to secrete a lot more, not the sinuses. You get capsaicin in significant amounts into your actual sinus cavities, and you’ll tend to be one hurting cowboy.
Yeah, like Hooters has spicy food…right!
Try the Japanese hot mustard, wasabi. A little at a time.
Wasabi is not a mustard. It is a rhizome, closer to horseradish.
Hurting like
I don’t think it clears your sinuses at all. It just causes your nose to manufacture a lot more mucus. If anything, it puts *more * goop into your sinuses. You might be able to argue that there’s some sort of cleansing of dust or other irritants, but clearing the sinuses? Nope. But that doesn’t stop smiling people at a Mexican restaurant to exclaim ignorantly, with snot streaming from their noses, “Boy, my sinuses are clear now!”
One popular folk remedy for sinus trouble is to take a sniff from a jar of prepared horseradish once or twice a day. I am not a doctor, but I really can’t argue with it.
Don’t people read the postings here? See Post #5 above by ** Qadgop the Mercotan **.
I’m guessing this means sniffing the fumes as opposed to actually packing horseradish paste into the nostrils and inhaling vigorously (although I saw some knucklehead do that with wasabi in the “American Jackass” movie) :–D
OK, so it doesn’t clear the sinuses, however for some of us it does provide some temporary relief from congestion and we can breathe easier.
Except that Qadgop’s response is not entirely relevant to horseradish, which does not get its kick from capsaicin, and is an entirely different kind of spicy from hot chile pepper spicy. I’m not sure if horseradish fumes clear the sinuses or not, but one whiff or funny swallow, and the top of my nose (possibly sinuses) clear and hurt like hell.
Or better yet-Wasabi Cola!
Cool, I always wanted to be a cowboy!
OK, Sinus Boy, maybe your sinuses don’t drain out yer nose like they’re s’posed to - I’m with ya there and I’m here for ya, baby. Mine do, now, after sinus surgery.
they tell me that ‘s the original design – sinuses get irritated, cells in nose & sinuses make snot, snot drains through nose, Kleenex goes public. Problems happen when a person’s sinuses’ drains aren’t on the up-and-up (er, the down-and-down) - that is, yer natural physiognomy doesn’t plumb well. Like me before surgery! Like you, maybe… it’s not a given that God plumbed us all to grade. Many folks have sinuses - open cavities in our faces - that don’t have the sinus openings (“drains”) pointing properly down at the nadir. Much like lousy plumbing in my neighborhood, an insufficient downward angle in the pipes means a backup or slow drainage.
If you add Liquid Plummr to your drain, or wasabi/horseradish to your throat, expect a little backlash. The dissolved solution can be caustic. (BTW, Liquid Plumr is NOT good to eat; wasabi is, but take it in small amounts untiul you’re a seasoned pro. Get it? seasoned?? I kill me…)
However, if you have a serious sinus blockage problem, wasabi or horseradish may not do it for you. You may need something with more sticking power, something to coat that throat and work its way up into the schnozz. My sinus cleaner of preference is Cheetos Crunchy Flamin’ Hot. The milk solids in the cheese have amazing staying power, and the capsaiasin cops a ride on it.
If you’re just not down with Cheetos (and who would blame you?) try seasoning fresh popcorn with a mix of:
Vermont Sharp Cheddar Cheese Powder from the Baker’s Catalogue
Ancho Ground Chile from Penzey’s Spices
Chipotle “” from “”
Garlic Powder from "
(and unless you’re allergic) MSG powder from "
have many hankies and/or kleenex on hand. Ya’ll will blow.
My post was on the assumption that the clearing of sinuses is necessary because sinuses are blocked. In that case, I can’t see how adding more snot into them would help.
I appreciate you sharing your techniques for getting your faucet going, but I wasn’t able to glean how this is actually helping you. Are you cleaning irritants out of your nose, or are you removing crusted nasal mucus by causing a flow of fresh, moist, mucus?
(I’m really sorry everybody, but yes, it’s come to this sort of language.)
I think it’s more killing and flushing - I had a the tail end of bit of a cold yesterday so I had hot hot Thai for lunch. I was draining and draining throughout the meal and for most of the rest of the day - but today I’m fine if a little fuzzy-headed. Throat hardly hurts, not draining anymore.