Spring! What a delightful season. Flowers are blooming, trees are dressing up in all kinds of greens, sunrises are glorious and the awakening of the Earth is making our hearts expand and fills our heads with possibilities…

And yes, Spring may also fill our sinus with mucus and make us sneeze our eyeballs out!

What a delight!!

If it is the case for you, you want want to read on. Maybe it will work for you too.

Notes:

1- This post contain affiliated links. if you decide to make a purchase I may get a small commission at no extra cost to you

2 – This is not medical advise! It is solely based on my experience. Like with any other supplement, you may need to seek your doctor’s advise, especially if you are already taking medication. Etc. etc.

My runny nose

Do I have allergies? I never thought so. I mean, large quantity of dust does make me sneeze, but not for a long time and I never really had hay fever or any sort of reaction that lasted…

… Until I lived in London and I worked in an office with a ventilation shaft above my head and things quickly became problematic. Some days, I would start sneezing within 30 minutes upon arrival and it would only stop when I got outside. I used so many tissues that I am alone responsible for the deforestation of the whole of the UK.

After various discussions with the people in charge of ventilation and my boss, I agreed to get tested (because the problem had to be me, not the ventilation!) but it turned out that all of the results were all negative. I wasn’t allergic to any of the most common allergens. Not even dust! Yet, I kept sneezing.

I changed desk, it helped, then I moved out of the UK, then I became independent and worked mostly from home! That definitively solved my “sneezing in the office” problem!

It didn’t completely solved the sneezing and runny nose though. Something had been triggered and I became a regular morning sneezer. So am I allergic to something? I mean maybe but I’m not going to undergo hundreds of further tests to confirm.

Anyway, most times, the sneezing and runny nose only lasted for a little while, although I’ll admit that some days it lasted much longer and was quite tiring. And a lot more trees were sacrificed in the process. This was until I found my cure!

The most common runny nose causes

Allergies, sinus infection, common cold or flu, dry air… these seems to be the most common causes of runny noses. But then again, super fun/scary stuff like hormonal changes, deviated septum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak can be the cause.

It is absolutely worth seeking medical advise if you get a recurring runny nose, especially if you have other symptoms.

For me, again, it isn’t clear what is causing my runny nose but it doesn’t seem to be anything terribly bad. Clearly the ventilation in my London office was to blame, despite what the technicians said.

The most common recommendations

When faced with a runny nose, there are a couple easy things that you can do which will help.

Drinking a lot of fluids including tea is highly recommended. For some reason, the more hydrated you are, the less it comes out of your nose!

Steaming is usually helpful. The use of a few drops of eucalyptus essential oil makes it that much more efficient for me.

Saline nasal spray can be helpful too.

Some say spicy food will alleviate things in the medium term. It has to have capsaicin apparently.

Personally, vitamin C, is always helpful.

Lemon & ginger water helps in the long run and it’s delicious!

But when Spring comes and a runny nose is a daily occurence, steaming daily isn’t fun…

Grapefruit seed extract

Thankfully, I recently realized there was one thing that stoped my sneezing immediately… Grapefruit seed extract!

Seriously, for me it’s a miracle! I don’t even understand why I didn’t realize this sooner.

I used to always have one of these little bottle at home but only used it when I felt I was coming down with something like the flu. I never used it when I ‘just’ sneezed!

But recently the going back and forth to my dad’s place is taking a toll on me and I’m paying more attention to all the little things I can do to help me recover from such trips.

So now, this little bottle is staying close by and I started taking a few drops in the morning. And one morning I started sneezing, I took a few extra drops and realized a few minutes later, the sneezing had stopped.

And it worked again on the next occasion… Could it be my miracle sneezing cure?! Could it be that simple? After a while of testing, it sure seems like it.

What is grapefruit seed extract?

It really is all in the name as it is made from the seeds of grapefruit!

What it does?

Apparently and in short, grapefruit seed extract is antimicrobial and suppresses the growth of bacteria and fungi.

With a bit more details, it seems to be because it contains naringenin, a phytochemical with antioxidant properties as well as claimed antitumor, antiviral, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiadipogenic and cardioprotective effects!

It sounds too good to be true and research are rare to demonstrate all these potentially miraculous properties.

What it taste like?

Kind of like lemons! Or I guess grapefruit. It’s nice.

How to use it?

The recommended dosage is 15 drops, 2 or 3 times a day in a glass of water.

In case of sore throat, you can also use it to gargle, in which case 10 drops, several times a day, can be used.

Since it has anti fungal properties, I suppose you could also use it on your skin. Not sure how though? Maybe by mixing a few drops with some oil. I haven’t needed it that way so far.

Different presentation

I swear by the liquid form but it also exist in little tabs. I rarely use it that way but depending on your reasons to use this product, it might be useful to you.

Grapefruit seed extract is sunshine in a bottle!

Well, I have found my sneezing & runny nose cure! It works wonder for me and I’m no longer responsible for the deforestation of a small country!

Does it mean it will work for you? No but then again maybe it will! There is little risk to try it, in my opinion. Again, except if you already take some medication, in which case, you should first ask your GP.

So that’s it. I thought I should share this glorious news, because Spring should be enjoyed to its fullest extend!

Let me know if you try it or if you have another miracle cure!

A little further update:

Something else helped me greatly and you might benefit from it too. What’s that? Face massage and particularly lymphatic drainage massage! Despite the title of the video, for some wizardly reasons, this lymphatic drainage did wonders!

Try it!