# Problems with my new neti pot... Help! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 10, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problems-with-my-new-neti-pot-help/520761 "2009-12-10T20:06:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problems-with-my-new-neti-pot-help/520761/21 "2009-12-12T05:53:40Z")
Breathe through your mouth and don’t close off your nostrils. Let the water go in/up one nostril, through your sinus cavity, then out the bottom nostril ( while your head is tilted to one side.) ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problems-with-my-new-neti-pot-help/520761/22 "2009-12-12T06:10:08Z")
[Here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmRi4V4-ZUc) is a little cartoon on YouTube showing how to use a Neti Pot. There are hundreds of videos on there showing how they work if you don’t like this one. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problems-with-my-new-neti-pot-help/520761/23 "2009-12-12T07:12:22Z")
Thanks. I read the instructions and watched a couple of videos. The one thing no one mentioned was whether or not to block off the nostrils from the throat. The water came out the other nostril no matter how I did it so I wasn’t sure which was right. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problems-with-my-new-neti-pot-help/520761/24 "2009-12-12T15:59:40Z")
It really doesn’t matter because if you lean forward slightly, it won’t go back into your throat. If you have a problem with it going down your throat either close that off or lean forward more. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problems-with-my-new-neti-pot-help/520761/25 "2009-12-13T07:16:02Z")
I was leaning forward at the waist but my head wasn’t tilted enough. I adjusted the tilt and it worked perfectly. I woke up this morning with my sinuses feeling tight and my nose feeling very dry. I took a long hot shower to loosen up my head. Then, I used the Neti pot. This totally gives new meaning to getting the juices flowing. Anyway, between the shower and the Neti pot, my nose stopped feeling painfully dry when inhaling and my sinuses loosened up. I did that around 12:30 pm. The tightening started coming back around 7pm and didn’t really start hurting until about 30 minutes ago. I’ll do it again before I go to bed. My nose still doesn’t feel dry. Today was the first day in months that I could wear my contacts without my eyes feeling like they were going to explode. I think I love this thing. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problems-with-my-new-neti-pot-help/520761/26 "2009-12-13T13:02:11Z")
> [@congodwarf](#): > > I was leaning forward at the waist but my head wasn’t tilted enough. I adjusted the tilt and it worked perfectly. > > I woke up this morning with my sinuses feeling tight and my nose feeling very dry. I took a long hot shower to loosen up my head. Then, I used the Neti pot. > > This totally gives new meaning to getting the juices flowing. > Anyway, between the shower and the Neti pot, my nose stopped feeling painfully dry when inhaling and my sinuses loosened up. I did that around 12:30 pm. The tightening started coming back around 7pm and didn’t really start hurting until about 30 minutes ago. I’ll do it again before I go to bed. My nose still doesn’t feel dry. > > Today was the first day in months that I could wear my contacts without my eyes feeling like they were going to explode. > > I think I love this thing. yay, another convert =) ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problems-with-my-new-neti-pot-help/520761/27 "2009-12-13T16:19:06Z")
My biggest problem with the neti pot is that every time I try it, I end up confessing to being a member of Al Qaeda. ---
**Author:** ![MeanJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanjoe/32/5693_2.png) [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problems-with-my-new-neti-pot-help/520761/28 "2009-12-14T22:14:22Z")
> [@redtail23](#): > > I tried using distilled water, but don’t have any way handy to heat it. Trust me, warm tap water is MUCH MUCH better than cold distilled! > > My roomie loves the squeeze bottle. I like the pot better. I use my squeeze occasionally in the shower when I’m in a hurry, but it doesn’t do as good a job. I fill my squeeze bottle with distilled water and add the packet. While I’m doing this, my sink is running with hot water and the drain is closed allowing it to fill up. I then stand the bottle up in the hot water in the sink and let it sit for a few minutes while I do other _ahem_… bathroom things. Works great for me! ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problems-with-my-new-neti-pot-help/520761/29 "2009-12-15T03:36:31Z")
It is better to have the salt solution slightly hypertonic. I use 1 teaspoon measured with a standard teaspoon measure. The three things to get right are the tonicity (saltiness), temperature and pH. If the solution is not salty enough it will burn. The temperature should be lukewarm. A quarter of a teaspoon of bicarb soda buffers the pH (optional). Use a pure salt that does not have anti-caking agents, NOT table salt. Rock salt is too slow to dissolve and may contain impurities. I also add some xylitol. Here is an article you can read up on if so inclined. I love the naming of the Sino-Nasal Outcomes Test or SNOT. Those otolaryngologists guys are a crackup. > [@](#): > > The Efficacy of Hypertonic Saline Nasal Irrigation for Chronic Sinonasal Symptoms > A version of this paper was presented orally at the NAPCRG Conference, Banff, Canada, November 25–28, 2003. > > David Rabago MDa, Corresponding Author Contact Information, E-mail The Corresponding Author, Thomas Pasic MDb, FACS, Aleksandra Zgierska MD, PhDa, Marlon Mundt MA, MSa, Bruce Barrett MD, PhDa and Rob Maberry BAa > > Department of Family Medicine, Madison > Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Wisconsin Medical School-Madison > > Objective > To assess quality of life (QOL) in patients with sinonasal symptoms in response to hypertonic saline nasal irrigation (HSNI), and to assess HSNI use patterns. > Study design and setting > > The study was an uncontrolled 12-month follow-up to a randomized controlled trial (RCT) and used HSNI in a community setting. We included 54 participants with recurrent or chronic sinonasal symptoms. Forty participants had been in the intervention group of a previous study; 14 had been control participants. Primary outcome measures were the Rhinosinusitis Disability Index (RSDI), a sinus-symptom severity assessment (SIA), and the Sino-Nasal Outcomes Test (SNOT-20). Secondary outcome measures were frequency and pattern of HSNI use, side effects and satisfaction. > > Results > \ > > Conclusions > Participants with chronic sinonasal symptoms reported improved QOL and frequent, satisfying use of HSNI. > > Significance > HSNI is an effective adjunctive treatment of chronic sinonasal symptoms. ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problems-with-my-new-neti-pot-help/520761/30 "2009-12-18T23:05:54Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Maybe just the taste is nasty. Exactly. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the water, and I know many people that say it tastes fine to them. I can taste the chemicals they use to treat it and it’s nasty. I can taste a lot of things that other people can’t, so I’m used to that. I drink the same water filtered, so it’s not like I’m concerned about the quality. I can’t taste it in my nose, so that’s not a problem. 😛 **congodwarf** , welcome to the fold! I’ve gotten at least a half-dozen people hooked on netis. It’s tremendous being able to breathe! ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problems-with-my-new-neti-pot-help/520761/31 "2009-12-18T23:37:55Z")
I’ve got a question for all you experienced neti-ers. I took my pot with me while travelling this week - I only use it sporadically, but I was coming down with a cold and thought it might be helpful. I used it once a day and quite possibly it’s reduced the sore throat (not sure how, but I’ve awakened with a somewhat sore throat each morning and it went away after using the pot). Well, one evening, I used it an hour or more before going to bed. I turned onto my left side when I was ready to go to sleep… felt something funny, sniffed - and was rewarded with a mouthful of salty water. Rather a surprise, for sure! So the question is: where was that water all that time? was it lurking in a sinus? just pooled in some main nasal passage? ---
**Author:** ![gang\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f07891/32.png) [@gang\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gang_green)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problems-with-my-new-neti-pot-help/520761/32 "2009-12-20T20:07:33Z")
Water can pool in your sinuses. I usually stand up and then lean forward again after I finish. Most times I do get some extra water out that way. I know how it feels to have that warm water flow out onto my pillow. I’d been having nosebleeds and freaked, thinking I was bleeding onto my pillow. When I started doing the nasal saline (I use the bottle), it didn’t do anything for me. Found out that it was because my sinuses were so blocked up that they required surgery. Once I got over that, it works much better, and I can definitely feel the water going up into my frontal sinuses. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problems-with-my-new-neti-pot-help/520761.md?page=1)