Is Humming good for your Sinuses?

Sinusitis is a condition that occurs due to inflammation of hollow, mucus-lined spaces in the nose. This inflammation leads to the trapping of air, mucus, and other secretions resulting in symptoms like pain, headache, and nasal congestion.

Inflammation of the sinuses is a result of upper respiratory infection. Some people are more prone to these infections than others as they suffer from respiratory diseases like asthma, allergies, and others, which make them more vulnerable to chronic sinusitis.

But current tools that are available for studying functions of sinuses are intrusive and difficult to operate, which makes research inconvenient.

How can the sinus be cured?

According to experts and researchers, proper ventilation of sinuses is essential to facilitate proper airflow between sinus linings and nasal cavities. Humming for a few minutes every day can contribute to improved airflow according to these two recent studies.

Studies that show the effects of Humming

The American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine published a study where researchers compared airflow in nasal cavities of people when they were humming and silent. They studied the amount of nitric oxide exhaled to determine the effect of humming on sinuses. Healthy sinuses with proper airflow are known to produce nitric oxide. The quantity of nitric oxide emitted while humming was 15 times more than during the silent exhaling. A study in The European Respiratory Journal came across similar findings. According to this research, humming leads to an increase in nasal nitric oxide by promoting the rapid exchange of gases in paranasal sinuses.

How does humming work?

When you hum a song, vibrations are generated in your head. These vibrations shake up and thus break the bond of mucus and other secretions trapped in your sinuses, throat, nose, and chest.

1. Cilia of the nose

Cilia of the nose are microscopic hairs that move in sync to remove bacteria from your nose to the back of the throat with the aid of the mucus layer. Further, these bacteria are taken down to the stomach where stomach acid deactivates them. Cilia move better in thin mucus.

2. Cilia of the chest

Cilia of the chest move upwards and throw bacteria and dust out from the bronchial passage and up the windpipe in the throat allowing you to cough it out. Proper functioning of cilia in the chest prevents coughing and wheezing. When cilia fail, dust and bacteria remain in the same place, which leads to coughing.

3. Mucus blanket

A dry chest or nose can’t function efficiently. This is because they won’t be able to throw out bacteria, dust, or any foreign particles. A mucus blanket is necessary for their proper functioning. But too thin mucus like water or too thick mucus-like jello is not suitable for carrying out its functions. Vibrations break bonds that attach and make it thick just like vibrations of a massager turn solid jello into liquid. As mentioned earlier, humming generates such vibrations decreasing the thickness and viscosity of mucus and thus aiding in the removal of dust and bacteria.

Conclusion

A few minutes of daily humming can assist you to keep respiratory diseases at bay. One can also try green tea along with lemon and honey for treating sinus. Tea improves cilia; honey suppresses cough and lemon thins the mucus.