mothers day

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Neti Pot

Ever since I started on my diabetes medications I have had an almost constant runny nose. I had always been so thankful I didn't have to suffer with the hay fever Ed has but the end result is practically the same (except when his eyes get into the act)...sniff sniff sniff sniff sniff all day long
S0 - Last week I got me a neti pot! I had watched the Oprah show where Dr Oz and Oprah discussed the benefits of a 'nose bidet' and I watched as a total stranger came out of the audience and with just a little instruction from Dr Oz proceeded to pour water into her nostril from the pot and after about 5 seconds I watched as that same water drained from her other nostril. About six months later they had that same lady back to visit and she said that the neti pot had stopped her sinusitus and constant nasal problems. So I decided I wanted to see if it really worked.

I found one on ebay and ordered it and tried it for just one week. I immediately tried it out with just plain tap water and that was a MAJOR mistake - owwwww! plain water and sinuses HURT!! So then I searched on the internet and found that you needed to add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of salt to the cup of water to create a saline solution closer to your body's own levels.

Then I poured into the right nostril and after a few seconds the water made its way up my nasal passage through the sinuses and back down the other nasal passage and out the left nostril!! I found that if I could feel it running down my throat I needed to lean my head more to the left. Amazingly there was no discomfort in pouring the water from the neti pot through my nose and out again. At the end I would sneeze and totally clean out my sinuses. And then I had NO drainage for at least 10 hours!!! Wonderful.

What was even neater was Kelly's reply. Ever since he had a missionary companion fly off the handle and sock him in the nose (breaking his front teeth and giving him a deviated septum) he has suffered with sinus problems and sinusitus. I gave him my neti pot after using it for one week and told him to try it for two weeks. If he didn't like it or it didn't help he could give it back to me. BUT, if it did help him he could keep it and I would order me another one!! He took it on Saturday, tried it on Sunday and called me Monday night as he was driving to work to tell me how great it worked!! He was sold on it in 24 hours. I am going to buy me another one and let him have his!!

Mauri says that she just sniffs salt water - I would be interested to know how she does that. It is so fantastic to find a solution to health problems that doesn't involve drugs!!!

4 comments:

Kristanne said...

they have an over the counter saline spray that works just like cold nose sprays, other than the fact that it is simply saline. It is more expensive than homemade, but it is only about 2 dollars a bottle.

Melinda said...

I'm afraid that every spring when I feel like I'm coming down with a cold that never materializes, I'm actually dealing with allergies. I ought to just admit it. The neti pot sounds like a good idea.

Unknown said...

I don't care for the saline sprays, they smell nasty and i gag on them. I don't have a neti pot, but I do make my own saline mixture with just warm water and salt and if I feel like I have a bacterial infection, I'll add a little hydrogen peroxide and then sniff it. It has never failed to knock it out (unless I fail to do the saline!)
The Neti pot sounds more gentle, I am gonna have to find one for me.
I am glad it worked for Kelly so well and for you too mom.
Nothing like blogging about boogers, lol.

Anonymous said...

Really classy stuff, huh!! The neti pot is gentle - I've ordered me another one. I haven't even checked to see if you can get them at Walgreens or somewhere like that. I will probably continue to use mine daily because my sinus drainage is caused by one of the medications I have to take daily - rather than using it to stop an infection I use it to stop the drainage.

Your dad is wondering if there are plastic neti pots out there that he could use to travel with!! He is afraid a glass one will break in his luggage