Growing up as a child in the Deep South of the US where the local population had a healthy suspicion of vaccination, we were often swept by plagues of measles, the ‘Flu, digestive disorders and respiratory complains, but one of the most dreaded was an outbreak of the fabled Pink Eye. “Pink Eye?” I hear you ask incredulously, “what is that?” This nasty contagion appeared regularly and would lay low great swathes of the population, especially school children. The treatment necessitated your being shut up in a stuffy bed room, all curtains closed and pinned up with only a dim night light. Bed rest with plenty of fluids and perfect stillness lest the condition worsen and blindness or permanent visual weakness result. Hands were washed with coal tar soap and towels boiled. The best thing about all this fuss was missing school, and in fact the outbreak was often so virulent that the county school would close altogether!

Sinus problems are a common feature of winter for many people and a yearlong problem for others who are allergy sensitive. Sinus difficulties may result in snoring, bad breath, dry morning mouth, facial pain and various types of head-aches. This pain may be very severe and the sinus headache so debilitating it may be misdiagnosed as migraine. Individuals’ sinuses seem to be as different as the individuals themselves and what helps one sufferer may not be appropriate for another. Because this malady is so ancient and so widespread, many different and effective cures have been developed. Not every cure is suitable for every patient!