WooHoo! On New Year’s Eve, Q the M, M.D. tells me to Go Crazy! 
Eh, relax, Qadgop. I’m not going to seek out craziness tonight. The kind of crazy I get on NYE is depressed, anyway. :smack: 
I have, but won’t anymore. I used special non-toxic salt, grapeseed oil to kill bacteria, cleaned it scrupulously, and it only ended up extending the sinus problems for years.
Now I use sterile saline (like Ocean) right from the bottle, and it’s cheap enough to throw away after a cold or infection.
The Dope just paid for itself! I’ve been battling recurrent sinus infections all year, and they keep coming back no matter what antibiotics we throw at them. This sounds like it will help considerably.
When I have a particularly tenacious sinus infection, my accupuncturist can usually get rid of it in one treatment. Just another option.
I found that mine couldn’t quite keep up with my dust mite allergy, so I use Flonase every other day now.
However, when I get a nasty cold, I love using my Neti pot. I bought it at the health food store for less than $20, and got a tub of salt with a spoon that measures out the right amount for the pot.
I can feel when I’m congested sometimes that blowing my nose is not clearing out some of my sinuses. However, I’ve learned to tilt my head around while using the Neti so that it rinses out all the yuck that otherwise accumulates in there and turns into sinus infections. It’s is such a relief to clear all that garbage out! (Labyrinthine sinus cavities with teeny tiny, easily blocked passages between them are my personal piece of evidence #22967 that there is no omniscient, benevolent god out there.)
I have to know-- What is the first time like? Will globules of years-old mucus shoot out of my nose?
If that’s the case, I’m SOOOO getting one!
Yep, your eyes, too. Then your ears. I hate it when it comes out my navel though.
Ditto. I got turned on to this in a previous thread, Is Nasal Irrigation Effective?
In fact I think I’ll log off and go mix up a batch for my shower tonight. Happy New Year’s Eve! [snorrrrk]
I hope this doesn’t sound like too dumb of a question, but will it work as well if you have a deviated septum? (Just part Russian, not broken.)
The Grossan HydroPulse thingie that’s currently the Google ad for this page is the one I use. It’s just a special tip for a standard Water Pik, and it lets you (“gently”) power rinse your nasal-sinus system.
I’ve got a deviated septum myself, Portia. Unless one were to have one nostril totally sealed off, it would not be a problem.
Correction — I use the cheap Sinus Irrigation Tip, not the more expensive HydroPulse thing (which I guess replaces the standard Water Pik). And I just use plain old non-iodized table salt, just shy of 1 tsp per cup of water, somewhat hypertonic (shrinks the swollen membranes a bit).
Thanks for the suggestion! I have been battling a sinus infection for a month now, and I went out and got me one of these today. Wonderful feeling, and a bit weird. I think I shall be doing this regularly.
Do you use a neti pot?
The photo looks like yours is ceramic/pottery.
There are quite a few sold on the web. Even a stainless steel version.
I have a “Sinu-Cleanse” blow molded from a grey plastic. Light weight easy to handle.
I use 1/2 tsp. max. of sea or non-iodized salt to 4 oz. of water with a small pinch of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) as a buffer.
Start out using half that much salt. Water should feel mildly warm not hot. 
Portia–the person who introduced me to nasal irrigation had a severely deviated septum and did not use a neti pot himself; he snorted the saltwater and spit it out his mouth. I do think that having a narrow nostril would make it harder to get the water to flow correctly, since with a neti pot, it goes in one nostril and out the other.
I just purchased and used my SinuCleanse neti pot tonight. Um, wow. I should have used better judgement & used 1/2 the packet of salt & soda mix. I sorta felt like I’d been at the pool all day. What’s weird is that it wouldn’t drain out of my left nostril (I read up all about that on their website). Interestingly, this is the same side that gives me problems when I blow my nose-- (TMI alert) snot comes out of my left tear duct.
But, I will try it again tomorrow. I’m determined to have squeaky-clean sinuses.