I am a convert (and my sinuses don't hurt much now! yay!) (edited)

[folkmew]

Sure, I'd heard about "neti pots" because of doing some yoga - but it just seemed weird. Even when I could understand in theory why it might work it still just seemed weird.

However, in a recent post I complained about my sinuses and how they were making me miserable and a few people mentioned that they did "nasal irrigation". So I figured -

Comments

[jecklar]

Oh, darling, darling! You should have waited for me to respond to your earlier comment! There are some things you need to do to keep it from being painful. When you do it right, it isn't painful even slightly.

First and foremost -- DO NOT USE TABLE SALT!!! It's the iodine added to table salt that causes the pain. If you use kosher salt or sea salt, it's fine. In fact, it isn't even painful to use too much salt, then -- it's the using of too little that can be ouchy (that's from the water).

Secondly, make sure the water is warm enough. Man, nothing feels worse than cool water through your sinuses! Keep in mind that your blood temperature is just about 100 degrees, and the tissues in your nose are thin and filled with blood vessels. Eighty degree water feels luke warm to us, barely warm at all. So for irrigation water to feel good, you actually need to make it feel very pleasantly warm without being hot. It takes a bit to fine tune your feel for this with your finger, but I suspect it's about the same temperature that's perfect for baby formula.

Finally, it's often useful to irrigate through one nostril, kind of let it drain out into the sink (without blowing your nose), then irrigate through the other nostril, drain into the sink, then blow. (Although when I'm really clogged from a cold, I'll blow after each nostril.) Once you've blown as much as seems reasonable, bend over at the waist so that your head is down near your knees and blow some more. You'll be surprised how much additional water you get out, and it makes sure you don't leave lots of water up in your sinuses.

It's admittedly gross, but it really isn't uncomfortable at all! Just a little weird-feeling. Try it with kosher salt and warm water, and see if that doesn't help.

[folkmew]

AH. Table salt. Right. I knew that. ahem.

I have a ton of sea salt. I shall try that next time.

I also will try the bend over thingy. Haven't done that yet. I figure this has a pretty forgiving learning curve. I suppose you could somehow do serious damage but I can't see how doing what I'm doing. :-)