Best sinus relief exercise ever!

Think you’ve got allergies?

Listen to this story.

Once upon a time, I was working in San Diego for my old boss Pete Egoscue. He introduced me to my client David (not his real name). He had some very minor back pain, but unlike most of the clients I saw daily, that was not the real reason he was at T.H.E. Clinic. Pete said, “David is allergic to the world, ” and walked away. 

I turned to David quizzically, and he smiled. “Let me explain,” he said. 

Turned out that David was from back East and worked for his family insurance business. He started sneezing and reacting to allergens early on in his career, primarily at work. He began investigating various medicines to combat what he figured was allergies. Nothing helped. He tried acupuncture, homeopathic remedies, and even had fillings removed wondering if it was mercury poisoning. The gamut of Western and Eastern medicine. 

Still no change.

Something in the air

Things got worse at work. Bloodshot eyes, headaches, nonstop runny nose. It was interfering with his ability to complete his work. However, oddly enough, no one else in the family seemed to be affected. 

Desperate, he did a little background investigation on the building the insurance offices were housed in. Wouldn’t you know it? The building used to be a mortuary! Oh my goodness, it was formaldehyde fumes permeating the air. 

Of course! 

That was the problem, and the solution seemed simple. His family, a bit weary of the complaints,  happily agreed to let him work from home. 

Which seemed practical, except when he opened the boxes from work, the fumes overcame him and he still couldn’t get anything done. 

His family was now loudly grumbling about the “quackery”. At one point they thought he needed to be committed to a mental institution. 

(How do I know that? His brother called me during his stay in San Diego and asked me if I thought he was insane.)

Seriously. 

“It is getting so bad,” he said, ” that when I try and go out to play golf, if the wind shifts and the fumes from the freeway blow in my direction, I start reacting and have to leave the course.” 

I had never heard of such a thing. 

He continued with, “By the way, if you plan on working with me, I would request absolutely no lotion and I might have to special request what shampoo, laundry detergent, and deodorant you use, or to keep a certain distance from me to avoid a reaction. Don’t be offended if I put on my kn95 mask.” 

Wow. Now here was an interesting client! 

What was the solution? 

Move to improve allergy symptoms

Move. 

His muscles were massively imbalanced, and his metabolism was super low, and there wasn’t the alternate contraction and relaxation of the muscles to pump up his immune system. 

And it got worse, and worse, and worse… And really worse. 

Until he found himself face -to -face with moi. 🙂 

The best sinus relief exercise ever!

Here’s one of the exercises we did together, with my client Aida modeling the exercise. 

 See this calf stretch board? 

Most people use it like this- Holding onto the wall for dear life. 

Try spinning the board around so the high part is facing out. Now climb on and put your head, hips, and heels against the wall. A thick book does the trick in a pinch. 

You want equal pressure on both heels, and you will feel a BIG stretch in your calves. Try contracting your glutes and see if you actually take pressure off of your calves and get the hamstrings to connect to the glutes.  

Stay there for ten minutes if you want your sinuses to release. Essential to keep your head on the wall, too. 

What?!? Let’s talk about whats going on. 

Sinuses, pictured here, drain down little tubes in the back of the throat. 

If your head comes even ten degrees forward ( think like a protractor!), similar to my client Amanda’s head here:

Then those tubes insidiously build up, and build up, and then one day *POW* you have a sinus infection. 

Let’s eliminate the head-forward position by giving you a beautiful vertical frame of reference- the wall. Walls are very straight up and down, and that’s what we want you to be! 

Welcome to straight up and down! 

Let us know in the comments below if you have any other exercises for battling sinus problems. Perfecto! 

P.S. I am sure you will be happy to know that David fully conquered his allergy to the world.

In his last appointment with me, I said, “See! I’m a foot from your face and I wore lotion today! So there!” 🙂