I’ve always wondered why I can’t do this. Tried it sort of halfway, holding a lower-powered dustbuster near my nostril. Didn’t do any good, and I had a bout of vertigo (so it was do something: rattling my inner ear around).
‘blasting’ water up your nose is probably a bad idea - you could easily end up forcing fluids up your eustachian tubes.
Pouring water through your nasal cavity can do more than just wetting the bottom of the passage just by leaning forward.
I guess “blast” is too forceful an idea. I like the directed stream of liquid that reaches the top of the sinuses easily. There’s not much pressure, so for instance your sinuses including eustachian tubes don’t feel any big burst of pressure (such as when stifling a sneeze).
I was concerned that with a “pouring” action, the top of the sinuses would be missed. Perhaps this is not the case.
Nasal Cycle…
Learned something new. Thanks
The commercials Freak me out!
Plus, that thing is huge. A neti pot can hide in the medicine cabinet, but it’d be weird to have a friend walk into your bathroom and have this “Nasal iMac” as a focal point.
(In our tiny 1920s bathroom, it’d take up the entire small counter. And there’s no under-sink or cupboard either).
Post nasal drip. I would at times be awake at night coughing after a catch (phlegm) in my throat that I couldn’t quite reach, at times causing me to gag.
Doctor prescribed Omnaris Nasal Spray. Small nose spray bottle.
After a couple weeks I sloughed off using it. Doc said no. Give it at least 30 days minimum.
I did. It helped a lot. I still get phlegm build up but not near as much. I think it’s something I’ll always have to use, but that’s no big deal - my prescription is paid for.
I’ve wondered about whether or not I could even tolerate any sort of nasal/sinus irrigation. Am I the only one who finds it very unpleasant if not downright painful to have liquids introduced into the nose?
They do take some getting used to. You want the water to be warm (but not hot), close to normal saline levels of saltiness (slightly above normal saline is best), and the pressure to be gentle… the pulsing effect of the Water Pik version is pretty pleasant overall. Even at best, yeah, the innards of your nose aren’t used to being underwater, and it conjures up recollections of being upside down in the pool and inhaling water when you were six, and memories of drinks that went the wrong way and subsequent sneezing-coughing fits. After you’ve done it a few times you aren’t so bothered by all that.
You know how it feels when you accidentally get water up your nose swimming? When it’s you putting it in, either by bottle, syringe, or machine, it feel like that less than 1% of the time in my experience. Triggering my gag reflex is a much bigger issue than feeling that terrible stinging pain that comes from unintended inhalation of water.
I was never able to get any further than making up the solution and standing there in my bathroom holding the pot.
My gf OTOH just did it.
Then again she loves to snorkel. I tried it once and hated it, quitting after ten minutes.
I hate water getting up my nose when i swim. So much that i don’t do the crawl. But so long as i use enough salt, i don’t mind using a neti pot.
ProTip: stay in the boat. 
I do a mean side stroke. I also dog paddle, swim back stroke, and often wear flippers and just gently propel myself by wiggling my legs, while steering with my arms.
Snorkeling is awesome. I don’t get any water in my nose while snorkeling.
So, Shoeless, what did you decide to do?
Nose clip. Best thing for keeping water out when swimming. I don’t go near water without one.
I keep thinking one of these days while I’m out running errands I’m going to pick one of these up, but I never get around to it. Maybe I should put it on my Christmas list. 
I missed this thread the first time around, but I highly suggest doing this.
Remember, when your sinuses are stuffy it’s not because your head is full of goo, it’s because your sinuses are inflamed. The saline solution soothes them. And it also gets out gunk if you have gunk up there but if you keep the inflammation down, the gunk doesn’t get stuck in there in the first place and everything flows like normal.
I’m a huge proponent of the Neti Pot. I’ve been using one daily without fail for over 10 years now. I used to have terrible ear infections and regularly have sinus infections and sinus headaches. Not anymore!
Sometimes I do still get sinus infections but they are few and far between (and probably caused by a dirty CPAP). And every so often I need to shoot a little nasal spray up my nostril to be able to be fully open at night. But in general my sinus health is great and it’s a million times better than before I started using the Neti Pot.
I don’t have any advice for how to get over the fear of using one. I took to it immediately. I have suffered a LOT with ear infections and the pain of burst eardrums is far worse than the possible uncomfortableness of running saline through your nose.
Hope you found something that works!
I’d always had a little ick factor (not being a swimmer)—and sounds like a lot of trouble to set up and to clean—about neti pots, but the descriptions in this thread of the NeilMed squeeze bottles were enough for me to take a chance on one. No problem at all using it, and at somewhere around 110ºF it borders on being enjoyable. I do it standing in a hot shower, top of head leaning against a side wall, meaning there’s virtually no mess or cleanup and I emerge with the inside of my head feeling as clean as the outside.
OK, zombie thread, WAKE UP!
I’m thinking about getting myself a Navage. The user reviews I’ve read, from different sources, are overwhelmingly positive. The big complaint is usually the cost of the K-Cup style “salt pods”.
But, wait, there is relief (heh) available. You Tubers show a pretty simple hack that allows you to bypass the “safety feature” that will normally prevent you from using their proprietary pods. You can use salt packets (I think they are intended for Neti Pot use (?) and easily disable the tabs that prevent bootleg mucus sucking.
So, any users here? How about you, @Shoeless?
mmm