Neti

Consider this my obligatory neti pot post.

I’ve been having increasingly bad sinus problems for the last year or more.  Benadryl wasn’t cutting it, and I’ve been pretty much addicted to sinus sprays.  I actually time it back roughly to the last time we flew back to the U.S. a year ago, and during the first leg had a guy seated next to us who had a bad cold.  The entire visit, I was sneezing, clogged, and with frequent painful burning sensations up there.  Probably an infection.

This continued off and on for a long while, never totally clearing up.  In the last month, I’ve been having occasional sneezing fits, sometimes to the point where I’d have to leave the temple or excuse myself.

Back in the U.S. again, it continued, and I think was worsened by the horrid no-humidity air on the jet.

Finally, I saw this post by John Cole over on Balloon Juice:

But apparently half the readership of this website uses a neti pot, according to the last thread. I am already in love with mine.

I already think the neti pot is the best lifestyle discovery for me since since Hola Fruta, Grapples, the Bodum, and having an ice cold glass of Clamato with a tuna sandwich on rye. Oh, and cinnamon in coffee.

So, sick to death of this endless sinus pain, pressure, clogging, and running — and being in a place (Sunnyvale CA) where I could easily pop out to the local pharmacy or Whole Foods store, I decided to take the plunge.  Got myself a pot, one of the Himalaya brand types, porcelain.  I bought the nose-salt stuff later at a Walgreens (cheaper there by far).

Eventually I steeled myself for the experiment, nervous because I’ve always hated it when I got water up my nose when swimming.  Yikes.  First attempt, I got a little down my throat, but leaned further forward and that did the trick.  Felt damned strange…but good in a weird way.  When I came out of the bathroom, Stephanie said I looked stunned.

I had to admit — and this is no exaggeration — it was a pretty massive head-rush sensation.  Now, about an hour later, I can breathe, with none of the old sensation I’d had before as if some bug had crawled up into my sinuses and died there.  No stinging, a little residual runny-ness after until it all drained…a touch of ‘post nasal drip’ from the stuff that did go backwards instead of out.  But damn, I can breathe again.

Okay, another convert.  Wish I’d done this sooner.

Update – Day 2: I’ve used the neti three times now.  Twice I think I had some rebound congestion from coming off the nasal spray (late last night, and then woke up with it — but that’s been the norm for me for a long, long time now).  During the 2-3 hours after a wash though, my head feels extraordinarily clear and I can feel air moving up through a far greater percentage of my sinus passages than before.

It remains tricky to get the water to flow properly (up and over — not up and back).  Still, the results upon the first try were so obvious and positive, I’ll keep up with it.