# Can I damage my nose with a ShopVac?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-damage-my-nose-with-a-shopvac/393526>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 24, 2007, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-damage-my-nose-with-a-shopvac/393526 "2007-02-24T17:44:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-damage-my-nose-with-a-shopvac/393526/21 "2007-02-25T17:11:27Z")

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Just get a neti pot, why don’t you? [http://www.jalanetipot.com/](http://www.jalanetipot.com/)

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**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-damage-my-nose-with-a-shopvac/393526/22 "2007-02-25T18:37:24Z")

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[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan]  
Just get a neti pot, why don’t you? [http://www.jalanetipot.com/](http://www.jalanetipot.com/)  
[/QUOTE]  
TDoesn’t that feel bad? :: remembering snorting water in the pool as a kid::

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**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-damage-my-nose-with-a-shopvac/393526/23 "2007-02-25T18:41:18Z")

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[QUOTE=Swallowed My Cellphone]  
TDoesn’t that feel bad? :: remembering snorting water in the pool as a kid::  
[/QUOTE]

It’s salt water, so it shouldn’t feel all that weird. Regular or chlorinated water would be quite unpleasant.

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**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-damage-my-nose-with-a-shopvac/393526/24 "2007-02-25T18:58:32Z")

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[QUOTE=Swallowed My Cellphone]  
TDoesn’t that feel bad? :: remembering snorting water in the pool as a kid::  
[/QUOTE]

Nope. The saline is about the same concentration as is in normal nasal mucous.

It basically rinses out the nasal passages much more gently than a shopvac would clean them out, while providing moisture to dry, cracked, and scabbed areas in the nares. One may repeat as often as needed, and I and a lot of patients swear by them for our chronic nasal congestion/allergies/sinus infections, which use to require buckets of antibiotics, decongestants, antihistamines and nasal steroids to treat (and not particularly successfully at that).

And no, I get no kickback from the neti pot people 😉

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