Stretching over the Sinuses

Stretching over the Sinuses

The red circles are starting and ending points for your fingers. The lines and arrows show the direction for the massage strokes. Where there are simply circles, there is little to no movement from that one area of the face.

Arlene Fleming

It is not uncommon to feel stuffed up during a flight, so this part of the massage targets the sinuses on either side of your nose.

Keep your head upright and centered. Use your thumbs for this exercise. You turn your hands outward, palms facing away from you. Place your thumbs at either side of the nose, beside the flares, where you feel a slight depression. Gently push in with your thumbs. You drag your thumbs across the sinuses as outlined by the red lines in the illustration, and maintain an even pressure throughout. Keep your thumbs on the face for the entire motion.

While pulling your thumbs slowly across the maxillary sinuses (named for their location on the face, essentially the cheek bones) you may feel them clear a little or drain. This motion should be done very slowly and take you at least 15 - 20 seconds. Count quietly if you need to. Repeat several times if you wish.

To encourage drainage if one side feels more clogged than the other, gently tilt your head towards the side that feels less full. So if my left maxillary sinus seems more clogged up, I may even repeat this massage stroke after I have already done it on both sides. In this case I would tilt my head slightly down to the right to promote drainage of the left, and would only do the massage stroke along the left side.