Sunday, July 20, 2008

Neti Pot Nasal Wash

When I was a teenager and into my young adult years I used to do a mild salt water wash of my sinuses. You'd cup a little water in your hand or in a small cup and sort of inhale it into one nostrul at a time. I remember as I would do the other one I'd have to stopper up the nostril I'd already loaded up otherwise it would all leak out. Once I'd loaded up both nostrils I'd bend over and hang my head down for a little bit. Presumably, this allowed the warm saline solution to wash into my sinuses. Then, for the really dramatic part I'd bring my head up and holding one of my nostrils shut would hose out the most disgusting crap out of my nose. Then, I'd switch sides and honk out the other one. It never failed to amaze me the stuff that came out of my nose.

It goes without saying that you'd have to clean the sink out afterward.

Anyway, breathing was great for many years and for some reason I stopped doing it. Can't quite remember why other than I might have felt I was getting addicted to this manner of cleaning or got tired of having a drippy nose for a few hours after every treatment. That, was the only downside that I can remember.

My sister recently extoled the virtues of her own Neti pot. I asked what the hell was a Neti pot and she began to tell me how she and my brother-in-law now regularly clean their nasal passages using this little gizmo. She said she met with a bit of resistance from my brother-in-law but was finally able to convince him to try it too. He told her that he hasn't felt this great in years. She said she's had a decrease in the frequency and severity of the sinus headaches she suffered from for years.

So, I bought one.
You should have heard DeeDude just now when I told him to come watch. I almost choked he was so funny. He said I should take a movie and put it on the blog. I think I'll pass on that one and instead just tell you how it went.

Luke warm water and a tiny bit of salt. Stir it up in the pot with your finger and pour. Breathe with mouth open and as you pour into the one nostril IT COMES OUT OF THE OTHER ONE! So, this is a slightly different procedure than the one I used when I was young. The advantage I can see right now is I'm not dripping all over the front of my shirt. The one thing I'm thinking, though, is that disgusting crud did not come out. So, it's cleaning my nostrils and not way up deep into my nasal passages.

And, it was funny to see DeeDude's reaction.


3 comments:

Donna said...

I use a spray bottle so the salt solution will get on up into the sinus..salt toughens them. Happy day Girl!hughugs

Dee said...

I have a neti pot. I use it when I'm congested because it helps break things up in there, but sometimes I'll let the water flow and it will back into my Eustachian tubes and I'll have an annoying ear pop thing to deal with until everything drains out.

laura said...

I use nasopure for my nose washing. I found it at nasopure.com. It allows me to wash standing up. No more aching back from bending over the sink. It is advertised as the modern neti pot.