I am currently trying to convince DogDad, he of the Winter Nosebleeds, that he needs to try it and he will like it. No dice SO FAR.
Although, hrm, maybe if I told him that an Extraterrestrial Prison Doctor who snacks on Neutronium recommended it… 
Oh, you poor thing! I abase myself. I thought it was a simple tactical problem.
Have you considered getting a positive pressure system? It’s basically a squeeze bottle that lets you put the solution under pressure. It’s supposed to be able to take out those blockages.
I wonder if something like a deviated septum would cause water to flow all wonky like that?
I’ve been wondering about that. I have a deviated septum, and I just bought a neti pot the other day. I haven’t tried it yet, but probably will later today. I guess I’ll let everyone know how that goes.
If what you pour into your left nostril goes out your right nostril, then you can’t be well and truly obstructed on the right side. Unless one of your “boogers” (damn, I need to remember the medical term for booger) acts as a one-way valve…
Well I am unaware of any deviated septum in my head, but who knows?
On the plus side, things are s-l-o-w-l-y improving. Today, while water still did go down the back of my throat on the right side, I also for the first time had a small trickle coming out the other nostril. This, my friends, is real progress. But I am still blowing out clotty lumps of snot from the right side (sorry to be so descriptive about the grossness that inhabits my head) so I think this may be a process over time.
Yeah, QM, I think that’s probably what’s going on.
I’m still offering mixed reviews. The pressure in my sinuses has improved, as has my ability to breathe.
But now my ears are really, really blocked. That might have happened anyhow with this cold, but who knows. All I know is that I can’t hear a thing and find myself talking REALLY loudly. Also, disequilibrium is making me seasick.
Have you tried increasing the salt concentration?
I know you were asking lorene, but I do think that helped me. I use half a pot of water to one packet of stuff. I can definitely feel it but it’s not bad.
I’ve been having that situation as well. I know they’re one-way with air as I can exhale but not inhale.
There I was, minding my own business at the mall on Christmas Eve, when I suddenly found myself in the drugstore buying a Neti Pot… I watched a few videos online on how to use it, and just tried it for the first time…
I’ve always had bad allergies, sinus headaches and a stuffy nose… and I still do, but I managed to get water through each nostril and not drown myself… and I’m almost looking forward to doing it again!
I blame all of you!
Thanks…
Y’know, I tried one of those cans of nasal saline rinse a while back. The water always dribbled out of the same nostril, so I thought I was doing it wrong. Now I wonder if the fact that I have no upper sinuses is the problem. Do these things work as well for you if the rinse comes out the same nostril it went in?
Absence of sinus shouldn’t prevent flow in one nostril and out the other. The things that would do that would be a plugged nostril, either by mucus, anatomic abnormality, foreign body (I’ve seen bullets obstruct more than one nostril before) or swelling of the nasal tissues.
And yes, it won’t be nearly as effective going in and out of the same nostril at the same time.
BTW, please noone try to tell me that Rhinolith is the medical term for boogers. That term only applies to the very dry, very hard specimens.
Ah, yes, and we were all rushing here to tell you…
By the way, I meant to mention that I somehow find the image of felons in a prison using neti pots strangely amusing. I think it’s just the contrast with some of your other stories.
I’ll try upping the salt concentration.
Speaking of rocks, could the crap draining back from the sinuses cause tonsil rocks in someone with chronic sinus problems? Have you ever had a patient who started getting (or had) tonsil rocks when they started using a Neti pot, and if so, did those eventually go away?
Can it take months for some people with chronic sinus problems to see all the improvement they’re going to see from a neti?
Thanks for any experience you can share.
I wouldn’t expect tonsil stones at all in sinus situations. And neti pots would be inclined to reduce the risk, rather than increase it, if it had any effect at all.
It may take months for sinuses which are really plugged to see benefit. Remember, sinuses are (relatively) huge chambers in the head, with itsy-bitsy windows into them. The saline solution must trickle in via the tiny windows, decongest the swollen tissue by the windows, soften things up in there, then trickle out again.
Some folks with badly opacified sinuses may never see resolution, even after months or years of neti pot use. But overall they still benefit from the decongestant effects on the nasal passages. And studies do indicate that even in the worst cases, people are less uncomfortable than they would be without neti pot use.
Patients with cystic fibrosis are now being treated with hypertonic saline mists into the lungs to help clear them out and improve function. It’s sort of a neti pot for the pulmonary tree.
Now, Qadgop, there is something you did not tell me about using the neti pot. About what it would do to me. And I must take you to task for it…
… just before my period I usually get a couple days of congestion and nasty sinus headache to go with it. But not this time. Sure, congestion, but no headache.
Got anything for my other PMS symptoms?
Since you’re male I’ll give you a pass on this one, but don’t let it happen again, m’kay? 
OK, that’s good to know–thanks! I’m definitely seeing improvement, but I’m hoping there’s more ahead. Sounds like that’s a reasonable hope in my case.
In addition to normal runny mucus, I have lots of gunk that is the color and consistency of paste. I get a teeny, tiny bit of that out each time I rinse, but I wasn’t sure if it was old stuff coming out slowly, or new stuff. I’m now thinking old stuff. I’m definitely not getting tons of stuff out the way some folks are reporting here, yet I’m breathing much better.
Yeah, and that could be the case for me. I didn’t realize I had sinus problems until an allergy & asthma specialist ordered a CT scan. I’ve had problems for so long I guess it just felt normal, and it’s not like docs before him hadn’t pushed on my face when I had bronchitis, but it never hurt when they did that. Anyway, the scan had white everywhere, and it was done at a time when I didn’t have bronchitis and wouldn’t have thought I was even congested. I’d gone to that doc because I wondered if I had asthma and that’s why I kept getting bronchitis every winter. Nope, no asthma. The bronchitis was the result of sinus infections. Worse infections than my baseline problems, that is.
Anyway, if I see even a 5% improvement in my overall health from this, that would have a huge impact for me. I’ve already seen enough benefit that I’ll keep doing this, even though I don’t like actually doing it. It beats anything an ENT might do to me. 
Huh, that’s really interesting.
Thanks again for answering my questions!
Orgasms seem to reduce many PMS symptoms.
Seriously.