I have horrible sinus/allergies. My sister gave me a neti pot, which she said has helped her husband immensely. Tell me about using it. Does it hurt? Does it feel like you’re drowning? Is it messy? Do you get water all over you, or do you do it in the shower or something?
Help me get over my neti fear!
StG
I saw someone use one on Oprah. There was no mess or discomfort and the woman seemed to feel better after using it.
A friend of mine said not to bother purchasing a neti pot; she just uses a small cup with a spout on it…says it works just fine!
I’ve never tried one, but we’ve had several threads on this topic and they’re close to universally loved. Take a look here.
I don’t have a neti pot, mine is more of a squeezey bottle. I do like it, and you’ve reminded me to get it out, as I’m feeling a little congested.
No, it doesn’t hurt. Make sure the water is close to body temperature. It does feel a little weird up in there, and makes my eyes run like crazy, but it sure does clear things out. I haven’t had an ear infection since I’ve had the thing, even though I"m not real religious about using it.
It is messy though, or that might just be me. I put my hair up, hang over the bathroom sink, and keep a towel handy so I can dry off enough to get a good blow without disintigrating the kleenex.
I love mine even though I haven’t remembered to use it in a while; I probably should, as I’ve been having sinus trouble lately.
It did take me a bit of practice. If you’re holding your head at the wrong angle, you can get water running all over the place and make a bit of a mess, but once you get the hang of it it’s easy and you can just use it over a sink. As long as I was sure to use the right amount of salt with water close to body temperature, I didn’t find it to be unpleasant at all, though it was a little bit scary the first couple of times.
Gee, when I started the thread in that link, I was so optimistic! However, the mister was too chicken to try it out. I demonstrated it once or twice (even though I have no congestion problems) to prove one didn’t drown, but he would never go for it. What a pity.
I don’t use a neti pot - a squeeze bottle from Sally’s works fine. It feels a little strange with the water going in but if you go slowly and sort of concentrate it’s not bad. I don’t know if it’s actually helping but my sinuses and general head area do feel better at least temporarily after doing the process. Definitely make sure the water is not hot (nor cold).
I find it kind of fun to see just how much water I can get up there. Those sinus cavities go on forever!
We have a thingie called an Ent-sol that attaches to a Water Pik as an alternative to the Neti pot. You have to keep the Water Pik on the lowest setting but it works like a charm. Make sure you have an isotonic solution, warm enough to be comfortable, else your head and sinuses are going to scream at you for days. Uniodized salt is the best to use if you can’t find sea salt and many health food stores carry the salt ready to be used in a Neti pot.
Another tip is breathe slowly through your mouth as you’re using the Neti pot. This will help you not to feel like you’re drowning. It feels funny at first but I’ll tell you what, daHubby hasn’t had a serious allergy attack since he started using it, and mine have lessened too.
I got one for Christmas. I haven’t used it yet, but I have used the idea before. I use a measuring cup and mix in some salt. I think I would get too much salt because it would burn a bit, but it sure does help getting everything clear. My wife has a sinus problem now, I should get her to try it, but she doesn’t want to.
Love mine, agree with what others have said - it’s a little scary and awkward at first, but after doing it 2-3 times, you’ll fall in love.
Tips:
Pretend you are trying to talk with a totally stuffed up nose, so “n” becomes “d” and so forth. That will give you the feel of the position you’ll want to hold your palate in (while breathing through your mouth) while using your neti pot, so the solution doesn’t go down the back of your throat. (Alternatively, if you have a wicked bad post-nasal drip sore throat that you can’t quite reach with gargling, you can let a bit of the solution leak through to relieve the pain.)
Tilt your head to the side, with your crown pointing slightly downward.
Go slowly. My neti pot has never hurt, but I sometimes get the “jumped into the pool without holding my nose” sensation, and it’s definitely more likely when I pour the water too fast.
Sometimes the exiting water runs along my lower cheek, rather than cascading elegantly in a stream into the sink. Changing angle slightly and starting again fixes it.
Once you get a stream going, try tilting your head in different ways to discover sinuses you never knew you had! I never get the ones just above my teeth at first; I have to roll my head around a bit, then I feel the water kind of “blub-blub” as it fills the cavity.
I do believe this has saved me from several would-be sinus infections. Suffice it to say, I’d blow and blow my nose, and be getting nothing, and then use the neti pot and . . . stuff . . . would come out that was not pretty, and would otherwise have just festered up there.
Thanks so much for the encouragement, folks. I don’t mind swimming and diving without plugging my nose, but the idea that you can pour stuff in makes me want to run and hide.
StG
I think we need Scylla to do an experiment.
I do it in the shower. My neti pot came with a bunch of little packets of salt and bicarbonate, and I’ll probably buy more when they run out, because they’re very convenient. I pour the packet in the pot and take it into the shower. I can just fill it with shower water - it’s about the right temperature anyway. Pour some in, blow nose, repeat. Rinse away any uck with shower head. Breathe deeply through your mouth while you’re doing it and it won’t leak into your throat.
I started because I didn’t want to take Sudafed while pregnant and I had blocked-up sinuses. Now I do it every day or two as a maintenance thing, and I haven’t had a cold yet.
Another “do it in the shower” person here. I am very freaked out by feeling like I can’t breathe (you could get ANYTHING out of me with waterboarding!), and I had no problems at all with the neti pot. I did have the sensation Unauthorized Cannon described, but once I recognized that it wasn’t going to make me cough and splutter like getting a snoot-full of pool water does, it didn’t bother me at all.
I do it when I’m congested. I use a squeeze bottle and it works fine for me. I will say, though, that if you have a full scale cold you should probably NOT use it because it will move around all the sick mucous into areas that aren’t sick. It definitely helped promote my ear infections that I currently have.
Of course if I had been using it before the cold started, I could have avoided all of this.
I used one for about a month. I did Stage 2 (in nostril and out mouth). I also filled each nostril with saline solution, inverted my head, drained, repeat.
It gave temporarily relief, but did not cure me of anything. It became too much trouble for the very short-term benefit, so I stopped doing it.
I had horrible sinus troubles for a while; I got one of these at Walgreens, and it helped quite a bit. I can’t say it actually cured me (I think now that the house I was living in at the time must have had some serious hidden mold problems), but it provided me more relief than anything else I tried.
The first time or two I did it, the drowning-reflex kicked in big time. Once you get used to the sensation, though, it’s very refreshing.
My boyfriend uses one. He loves it to death. He has sinus issues and he says it’s the only thing that helps him. He says you get used to it.
I’ve used mine a couple of times and can only echo what’s already been said. The biggest thing for me was getting over the fear that it was going to feel like snuffing up a pool full of water.
This thread is old but I just want to share my thoughts.
In sinus allergies you can do some home remedies too. Chicken soup has been praised as a natural remedy for illnesses for years; homemade chicken soup contains anti-inflammatory properties along with soothing steam that can ease a sinus infection. Apple cider vinegar naturally contains vitamins B1, B2, A and E and the minerals calcium and magnesium, which reduce allergy symptoms and clear sinus cavities. The high pH of the vinegar also reduces mucus build-up and helps clear airways. Mix a few tablespoons of vinegar in a glass of water; have a glass a day until your symptoms subside. Eucalyptus can be used as a rub, oil or a liniment to relieve nasal congestion.