What are Sinuses??

You're sneezing, coughing, and you have a bright red nose. You figure it's just another cold, but this one sticks around way too long. Is it really a cold? Maybe not. It could be a problem with your sinuses.

What Are Sinuses?
The sinuses (say: sy-nus-is) are air-filled spaces found in the bones of the head and face. Sinuses start developing before you are born and some of them keep growing until you're about 20. There are four pairs of sinuses, or eight in all. They are located on either side of the nose in your cheeks, behind and between the eyes, in the forehead, and at the back of the nasal cavity

Like the inside of the nose, the sinuses are lined with a moist, thin layer of tissue called a mucous membrane (say: myoo-kus mem-brayne). The mucous membranes help moisten the air as you breathe it in. The mucous membrane also makes mucus, that sticky stuff in your nose you might call snot The mucus traps dust and germs that are in the air we breathe. On the surface of the cells of the mucous membrane are microscopic hairs called cilia (say: sih-lee-uh).

The cilia beat back and forth in waves to clear mucus from the sinuses through a narrow opening in the nose and then move the mucus toward the back of the nose to be swallowed. Gross, huh? If you have a cold or allergies, the membrane gets irritated and swollen and produces even more mucus.

What Do Sinuses Do?
No one is completely sure why we have sinuses, but some researchers think they keep the head from being too heavy. Sinuses are pockets of air, and air doesn't weigh very much. If those pockets were solid bone, your head would weigh more.
Sinuses also give you the depth or tone of your voice. Did you ever notice how funny your voice sounds if your nose and sinuses get stuffy when you have a cold?

When Good Sinuses Go Bad

What about that cold that won't go away? A cold virus can:

• damage the delicate cilia so that mucus is not swept away
• cause the mucous lining of the nose to become swollen, which narrows and blocks the small opening from the sinuses into the nose.
• lead to the production of more mucus, which is often thicker and stickier, making it harder to flow out of the sinuses.

When the tiny openings that drain the sinuses get blocked, mucus becomes trapped in the sinuses. Like water in a stagnant pond, it makes a good home for bacteria, viruses, or fungi to grow.

If a cold lasts for more than 10 to 14 days (sometimes you may have a low-grade fever you may have sinusitis (say: syne-yuh- sy-tus). This means an infection of the sinuses. Sinusitis is a pretty common infection; in fact, close to 37 million people in the United States have sinusitis each year.

Acute sinusitis may be diagnosed when a cold lasts more than 10 to 14 days. Chronic sinusitis means a person has had symptoms for more than 3 months. Symptoms may be similar to acute sinusitis, but typically are less severe and not associated with fever.

In either case, symptoms may include:

• fever.
• persistent nasal discharge that often is yellow or green (this alone doesn't always mean you have a sinus infection).
• daytime cough (your cough may be worse at night).
• puffy eyes, especially in the morning.
• bad breath.

Less often, a kid could have headache or pain behind the eyes, forehead, and cheeks.

What Will the Doctor Do?
If a doctor thinks you have a sinus infection, he or she will probably examine your ears and throat and take a look in your nose. The doctor may also check your sinuses by tapping or pressing on your forehead and cheeks. If you have a sinus infection, the doctor may prescribe an antibiotic. If bacteria are causing the problem, an antibiotic will help by killing the bacteria. If it's a virus, antibiotic medicine won't work.

In the case of a bacterial infection, the antibiotic should help you feel better in a few days. A decongestant or nasal spray may also be prescribed to help you feel better. If the sinus infection is chronic, the doctor may have you take medicine for a couple of weeks, just to be sure all the bacteria are knocked out.

Sometimes, if a sinus infection is not getting better, comes back even after you take all your medicine, or if the doctor is thinking about doing surgery, he or she may send you to have a CT scan of the sinuses. The CT scan is a special X-ray that takes a picture of your insides. It doesn't hurt, and it makes it much easier for the doctor to see what's going on. Your doctor can clearly see what the sinuses look like and then decide what kind of treatment will help you get better faster.

The good news about sinusitis is that it's not contagious, so if you are feeling well enough, you can go to school or go outside and play. In no time, you'll be over your infection - and you'll be saying so long to sinusitis!

Hypnosis and the Benefit of Deep Breathing!!

Essentially, the word hypnosis is just another word for relaxation. Yes hypnosis is brought on by suggestion, but it's that deep state of relaxation that qualifies hypnosis. I sometimes use the term creative relaxation. When I say that, I'm referring to the fact that it's the use of hypnosis that I call therapy. I've always defined hypnosis as just what it is, an altered state of awareness through deep relaxation.

Some people define relaxing as just taking time to read through a magazine or have a cup of tea. But really just changing activities is not relaxation. When you reach a state of total relaxation through hypnosis, you will see the difference. And it's in this totally relaxed state that you can bring some balance back into your life. Some people call it recharging their batteries or use any other metaphoric term, but it all means the same thing.

Real, deep, relaxation used daily or regularly has a terrific effect on all our internal systems, far beyond what a coffee break can do.

As to the question of whether sleep is equivalent to relaxation, most of us know from experience that it is not. Experts even state that hypnosis, or deep relaxation, is actually more beneficial to the overall well-being than merely sleeping nightly. We know that sleep can be disturbed by stressful energies and that we can wake up feeling even less rested, less energized, than when we went to sleep. However a deliberately executed session in hypnosis, or relaxation, has you concentrating very pointedly on just that, relaxing. You lie very still, and you let only positive energy consume you. Essentially, when you practice self-hypnosis, you control the result by guiding the entire session. All hypnosis is based on total relaxation. This is certainly more beneficial than just going to sleep because you are tired.

Power naps are useful in recharging as well, and addressing fatigue, but during deep relaxation or hypnosis, you are also creating the opportunity to reduce or alleviate a particular ailment through concentration. Sleep, whilst absolutely necessary, doesn't allow this opportunity. If you spend ten or twenty minutes a day or several times a week, practicing self hypnosis, you are sure in a few short weeks to feel a difference in your life, to feel more balanced, and more relaxed, and more in tune physically, emotionally, and in every other way.

There are probably hundred of ways you can achieve a deep state of relaxation, but they have one common element, which is deep breathing. It is a natural human occurrence that when you exhale, your body relaxes. This is a known fact, and a biological certainty. That's why it's the first thing that a medical professional will ask a patient to do when he wants his patient to relax.

In any type of emergency or panic situation, the victim is always instructed to take deep breaths. This is intended to calm, or relax the individual.

The more deeply you inhale, the more you will exhale, and therefore the more you will relax. So when we want to induce hypnosis, deep breathing is the first suggestion we make, typically because it starts to bring on relaxation. And when the person starts to relax and regulate their breathing, they will become gradually more relaxed.

We know also that when we sleep, our breathing slows and settles into a quiet, deep rhythm. We seek to achieve the same thing in hypnotic induction, to slow the breathing rhythm, because slowing our breathing slows down our system, and helps to bring about a shift in awareness. We achieve this state by slowing a person's breathing naturally and comfortably.

Starting an induction with a few deep breaths immediately creates a shift, and sends the message to the person that now it's time to relax. When you add concentration to the equation, you have a terrific recipe for hypnotic induction. Because concentrating on your breathing helps you become more aware of your internal experience. A person's breathing pattern can often be a telling sign for a hypnotist that a subject has achieved a deep state of relaxation, and slipped into a state of hypnosis.

In my hypnotherapy sessions I don't impose any set technique to deep breathing. Whatever a person's natural breathing method is what they should continue to do. There seems to be a typical pattern of breathing in through the nose, while exhaling out the mouth. If that's the comfortable breathing technique fro someone, that's perfect. If it's in and out through the nose, that's also fine. Whatever you are used to or whatever comes naturally.

You can practice this on your own, at any time. Just concentrate on taking a few deep breaths, and you will feel your shoulders drop, and your heart rate will settle. This is relaxation and the basis of hypnosis.

Is Your Job Putting on Weight?

Robert DiGiacomo, for Yahoo HotJobs!

While your job can't be blamed directly for your putting on the pounds, the potent combination of too much work stress, too little sleep, and not enough physical activity can lead to weight gain.

The best offense against work-related flab, experts say, is the often-repeated mantra of exercising regularly and eating right. Start by understanding why you're at risk of gaining weight on the job, so you can take steps to avoid it.

The Stress Connection
Too much stress causes your body to produce more of a hormone called cortisol, which not only triggers your appetite but cues your body to store fat cells and produce less testosterone, which results in less muscle mass, according to Shawn M. Talbott, a nutritional biochemist, author and consultant.

"It's just as important to get the stress under control as the exercise and diet," says Talbott, author of "The Cortisol Connection -- Why Stress Makes You Fat and Ruins Your Health." He adds, "If people do each of those three, they get a lot better results than if they have one of the three."

A Practical Diet
The size of your hand can serve as a practical guide to how much you should eat, according to Talbott.

For each 500-calorie meal, your fist represents the desired amount of carbs and your palm is the amount of protein, while your hand opened up is the portion of fruits and veggies and the circle you make with the OK sign between thumb and forefinger is how much added fat you should take in.

"It's a way to count calories without counting calories," Talbott says.

Smart Snacks
Stay away from the vending machines by bringing to work your own healthy snacks, such as nuts, popcorn, or granola bars, in pre-portioned packages, according to Marisa Moore, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.

"The key is not to bring the entire box or package," Moore says. "If you bring the entire box, you're tempted to eat more than one."

Maximum Exercise, Minimum Time
For his busy corporate clients who find it hard to squeeze in a workout, Talbott recommends a three-times-a-week program of 28 minutes of interval training, combining intensive activities with cool-down periods.

"If time is the big issue, [this is] the shortest amount of time we can have someone exercise and see results," he says.

Healthy Riding
If you have a long commute, you can avoid having the car become a filling station by having breakfast before you leave for work, and a light snack prior to returning home.

"Everything looks good when you're hungry," Moore says. "You don't want to stop by a fast-food restaurant on the way to work or home, because you'll fill up with 1,200 calories before you know it."

Employer Assistance
Several companies, including General Mills, Florida Power and Light, and Pitney Bowes, are helping employees stay fit, says LuAnn Heinen, director of the Institute on the Costs and Health Effects of Obesity at the National Business Group on Health. Efforts include encouraging employee fitness, including adding walking paths to corporate campuses, making sure lunch meetings include salads and low-fat items, and giving discounts on salads and healthy items at the company cafeteria.

"These are employers who are consciously improving the environment to make it a downhill slide to stay healthy," Heinen says. "It's really about supporting the people who already have tried to be healthier."