A huge amount of research is being done to find out more about the ‘mechanisms' of inflamation. You would think that doctors would know all there is to know about such a common phenomenon, but it isn't the case.
The relationship between state of mind and control of inflamation is now fairly well established science, but hugely complex and still far from being understood. A broad spectrum of medical problems, are it seems, directly related to inflamation, but it should go without saying that having a sudden closure of these tubes or cavities needs expert monitoring. I'm making an assumption that chronic inflamation is what we are dealing with, but you must think laterally, and have it professionally monitored for other possibilities.
Why I take salt very seriously is a long story, but for now, check with your GP to see if there is any reason he can think of why you should not try saline remedies.
My own experience was when I walked away from a good job once, I just could never get well.
They were a great bunch of guys flying out of LGW and even the 1,000hours / pa didn't faze me, just the crews dropping like flies with colds giving the others more and more to do. Finally it was my turn to be ill, and 33 years later I can still hear crewing's reply-- to me saying that it was the first day my temp had come below 100. "Good. Can you fly tonight?" He replied, and he wasn't kidding.
Time and again I broke common-sense rules and flew too early after a bug, and one day I suddenly got a headache as we climbed. It got worse and worse until I was in agony. We fiddled the pressurization, and spent a lot of money on fuel flying low, but the pain was horrible, I thought the top of my head was coming off. When we got back I went sick saying that I had had enough, and that I was going to be completely well before going near an aircraft again.
At this stage I was nearing the end of another course of antibiotic.
A week of swimming etc., left me feeling fine, but the sinuses and ears were still sore when diving and the antibiotic was well past its active period. I tried breathing in steam with some old concoction that smelt like tar mixed in, but it wasn't till I tried getting salt water–about the same concentration as the sea–into my cavities that things changed. Doing it upside down was tedious and it @#$%^ hurt.
Slowly, I could almost hear the squelching noises as the pathways allowed minuscule amounts of the saline solution into the swollen areas. The more I could get in, the more it allowed in next time.
If it had just been one time, it would not be significant, but it has worked several times.