neti pot

[lost indie]

If you don't know what a neti pot is here is the wiki...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasal_irrigation

I've always been a person with nasal problems. Winter is especially bad for me.
A couple of months ago I purchased a nasal irrigation system. Mine is a little different than the one in the wiki but the result is the same. I'll never live without one again.

Imagine if you had lived without a toothbrush or tooth paste and someone gave them to you. It's the same thing but in the nasal passages. I feel so much cleaner and clearer.

I've not had a sinus headache or sore throat since using the neti.

My eyes are whiter and my vision is better.

My hearing is better.

My complexion is clearer.

I can breath through both nostrils at all times. For me that is huge.

I sneeze and cough far less often.

My breath is fresher.

The only negative is a slight feeling like I have "pool ear". I had that for about a day last week.

Anyone else out there a neti user. It looks scary and sounds totally gross. But....it's cheap (mine cost about $12 and came with 50 little salt packets. When the packets are gone I'll just use plain salt.

So....take the lost indie neti challenge..

:hifive:

[AndSteph]

I don't know that I will get the neti pot, just yet...but my mother has it or something like it....horrible sinus problems...to the point it only helps, she still gets very severe pain, just hasn't happened as often. She has suffered for years, but very resistant to the fact it was sinus, insisted it was her teeth.

We were visiting a few months ago and she was hurting, and my daughter told her of a friend who "sniffs" salt water to clear his passages and swears by it, that help too. Then she got the neti pot you mentioned...

I am on my way to a similiar problem started about a year ago...doctor gave me a sample of a nasal spray the other day and said that a saline one would work too. It has helped.

Good advise

[StoneFox]

I've been using a neti pot since October 2002. It is absolutely the best thing I ever used for my sinus problems. I used to get horrible sinus infections, but not any more.

I'm with you lost indie!!

I don't use regular table salt, I use sea salt. Plus, you can buy pre-measured packets at the natural health stores.

[Topaz]

If you choose to use a neti pot... please use sterile water in it. Otherwise you risk introducing unusual pathogens into your nasal cavities.

This has happened to a poster I know:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread37886.html

The bacteria mentioned in the above link are found normally in tap water.

You can buy sterile water easily---on Amazon. Or at your local pharmacy who may have to order it for you.

When we compound products for nasal inhalation, a sterile environment is used.
Including sterile containers and water/saline.

The drug regimen this poster has to use is not going to be easy, and will
upset her whole system. Just getting diagnosis was time consuming and
difficult for her.

[Auburnmommyof2]

The neti pot is great! I used it during my last pregnancy and use it all the time. When I first heard of it i thought it would be really uncomfortable. I use mine often and it helps so much!

[Topaz]

to what can happen if you do not use sterile water and a very sterile
neti pot to irrigate with:

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=6046064
This is a very preliminary report, with many unanswered questions. Most sinus infections are caused by viruses and some by germs that are sensitive to standard antibiotics. But for an infection that don't get better for weeks, a patient might consider this very unusual infection and check with a doctor.

To the best of my knowledge only Mayo does the test for this organism at this time. The person I know goes to this doctor's office.

[Harmony]

My husband has severe allergies. His allergist recommended NeilMed Sinus Rinse a therapeutic saline nasal irrigation. It can be bought in a kit over the counter. It helped him alot.

[Topaz]

Distilled water is NOT sterile. It is condensed off cooling plates, which contain any number of organisms including fungus and things like various mycobacteria, which survive difficult situations. They do not sterilize the condensation plates.

Distilled water contains no electrolytes, calcium, magnesium, iron, that
tap or well water may have. But it is NOT sterile.

If you use a reconstitutable product that comes to you in a powder, you
risk infection unless you use a sterile saline or sterile water product.
These cost more, but there is a good reason for it.

Would you accept a non sterile nasal spray for your prescription?
The saline nasal moisturizer sprays are ALL STERILE for this reason, as well as the RX nasal drugs delivered by spray.