FYI, don’t throw out the dental floss:
"I’ve long been a fan of using Listerine as an oral antiseptic: instead of flossing, I shoosh the stuff between my teeth in the morning, and have not had a tooth/gum infection since I started doing this (and I used to get them all the time). "
In response, Listerine being as popular as it is, it is entirely to strong, I recommend to my patients to use a non-alchohol rinse. (i.e. Tom’s Natural, Crest pro-rinse, Breath Rx, other rx brands) I recommend this not because listerine doesn’t do the job but because it kills too much bacteria. There is a normal flora of the mouth and nasal passages and ear passages that naturally break down bacterias. Not only that, but also, it dries out the tissues and can exacerbate open sores, cold sores, herpes, cankers, and contributes to xerostomia. If my patients are dead set on using it, I do recommend that they use it by 1 part water and 1 part listering or other alcohol containing products.
In response to the non-flossing habits. Again with my patients I describe it like this: The tissues around the teeth form what is called a sulcus or “moat around a castle” as around the tooth. Inside the sulcus is where the body has a natural fluid that flows and flushes bacteria out, also in that moat food debris and saliva and bacteria build up there. When you are flossing your are using the floss to scoop that stuff out of there, if you rinse only, the rinse is only killing a portion of the bacteria (at the top) By cleaning out the bacteria you are preventing an acid attack on the tooth forming decay or a different bacteria that causes gingivitis which can then cause periodontal disease which can only be mildly helped with rinses.
Salt water rinses are best for any ailment in the mouth or orafice in the body, the body is naturally made up of those ingrediants. you can’t go wrong.
“It so happens that I began to feel under the weather just today, and just did my first hit of the winter. I hope I’m not risking permanently losing or dulling my senses of smell (and taste) with this “treatment”… Am I?”
In response to this part of the question: A lot of our patients report tooth pain when this time of the year comes around, the reason being is because of the sinus cavity being so close to the teeth and sometimes the teeth are protruding into the sinus cavity causing a increased sensitivity. So by putting Listering up your nose, in your ears or down your throat wiil have reprocussions that you may not want to deal with more so that having a mild head cold.
Putting your head or an alcohol vapor works better for cold sinus congestion. And in regards to the taste buds, they are definetly effected by the high alcohol content, all you should have to do to keep from getting so many head/chest cold is to brush your tongue and floss under your gums!!! Get that bacteria out from under your gums and out from under you mushroom shaped taste buds which also cause bad breath to boot!!! FLOSS, BRUSH, RINSE in that order!!
The AYR I buy (at most drugstores) comes in liquid, which one snorts, or a spray, same thing. It was recommended by my doctro, after I kept getting horrible sore throats, which even prescription medicine wouldn’t help). Once I started using it, they went away and never came back. Your welcome.
By the way, AYR is a saline solution, and is only $5. It lasts me months.
As an addenda to Post #20. I found AYR nasal spray at the CVS drug store. Price comparable to Ocean Spray, Nasal Saline Spray, and similar brand and generics. All are aquaeus solutions of NaCl with added stabilizers, buffers, and/or preservatives. I doubt that any one of them is really more effective that another.
My option is nasal washing with a neti-pot or similar means of flushing the nasal and sinus areas with mild salt solution.
As a follow up, A guy I work with has a cold right now. In a couple of days, I will probably get it also. My co-worker did indeed snort Listerine up his nose. He expressed a burning sensation like liquid fire coursing through his sinus cavity. So that is what happens when you snort Listerine.
Later people
I’ve have an chronic sinus infection and also sustained a gum injury due to a physical assault. My dentist gave me chlorhexidine .12% to deal with the gum infection. It worked immediately which got me thinking the gum infection came from my sinuses. My thought was if it worked for my gum issue might it help with the flame on in my nose and ears. I asked my pharmacist and he shrugged me off. No guts/no glory so I decided to give it a go and since yesterday have a noticeable improvement with at least a 30% reduction of pain and sinus pressure. I found this thread and thought I would add my 2 cents. Chlorhexidine is not as strong as mouthwash so it does not burn or cause irratation and you can get it OTC. If all I get out of it is 30% less sinus pain I will take it because nothing my doc tried has worked nor did saline rinses budge it. With the burning sinus pain I have had I was desperate and fearful when I applied the mouthwash in my nose — nada happened — no flame on or burning — so I put some in my ears too. So far I am glad that I did.
Chlorhexidine can cause deafness if it gets in your ears and can be fatal if it gets in your lungs.
Maybe don’t put it in the wrong holes.
(yes, it’s an old thread, I know)
I soak a Q-tip with alcohol and swab it around inside my nostril. Then I inhale it. Sometimes it just burns, sometimes IT JUST BURNS, but it really seems to help. I follow that up with another Q-tip dabbed in the above-mentioned Ayr.