Got Allergies? Try Pouring Liquid Up Your Nose
A couple of years ago, I was complaining to my friend about my allergies and she suggested I try a neti pot—she said she had one and it really helped her. I nodded politely but assumed she was crazy, because we were in Brooklyn and because she works in theater. I also didn't like the idea of irrigating my nose, because the only reference point I have for that sort of thing is diving incorrectly at the public pool, and it's never pleasant. But the New York Times says neti pots really do work, and several recent studies indicate that they can be effective, and cheap, treatments for nasal allergies.
I'm sorry I doubted you, Liza. But I'm still probably not going to try it, considering the guy in the photo above compares it to "waterboarding" and a "faux drowning sensation." But hey, knock yourselves out. Maybe you can save a little bit of cash on nasal sprays and allergy pills.
"The Claim: Nasal Irrigation Can Ease Allergy Symptoms " [New York Times]
(Photo: Buffawhat™)
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In addition to using it when I start to get allergy symptoms, I also use it when I start to get a cold or other upper respiratory infection and it seems to shorten the duration and severity of those symptoms as well.
Neti pots = So gross, but so effective. Ended my latest sinus infection and has seriously cut down on my rampant sinus headaches.
Never used a Neti pot, but I used the Sinu-rinse bottle that shoots the water up into your sinus. Sounds terrible.
MOST AMAZING THING EVER.
I could actually breathe after using it, and you wouldn't believe the crud coming out the other side.
Just a warning, they say that you have to use the special buffered solution, otherwise it'll burn like hell. Also only supposed to use it twice a day. Try to restrain yourself.
It works better than any drug or spray on the market. I have sinusitus and started irrigating my sinuses 5 years ago after my doctor recommended it. Before that I was on anti-histamines for over 10 years that never really worked very well.
A neti pot really isn't that bad. Really. If you're doing it right. When the water is the perfect temperature, and your salt solution is correct, you really don't feel the water. Tip your head and breathe out of your mouth and you won't swallow the water or choke on it either.
The only thing I have trouble with is when I'm really sick and stuffed up, the neti pot doesn't help - my sinuses are just too stuffed to empty out completely and I end up filling the empty side with water and screwing up my hearing as well.
Use daily and it gets very comfortable and easy, and keeps your sinuses clear. You'll get fewer infections.
IT'S NOT THAT BAD!
You can use an ear syringe instead of a neti pot. Keep it clean and add 1/2 tsp of salt to 1 cup of warm water to use in the rinse.
tried it after my first septoplasty (repair of deviated septum) still left me longing to breath like 'normal people'
it helps some, but for me, not sure if its worth the madness. maybe I need to mix a more isotonic solution. it feels awkward, which I can deal with, but it also feels like deep-throating a moray eel (I'd guess that is). lots of burning in the throat.
lots of friends swear by it though. buy a generic (way cheaper) and try for yourself, meyhaps I'm a pussy.
@Sunil Satheesachandran: Oh, gosh, yeah, don't try putting any water up your nose without adding salt, whatever the delivery vessel. And yes, if it's too salty, that will burn also.
If you want to be as thrifty as possible, you can just buy plain UNIODIZED salt and just use that or add a little baking soda to the salt. I forget the ratio but it should be easy to find.
I have the NeilMed bottle. It's better than the neti pots (which I've also used) because it's easier to transport, it's unbreakable, it's easier to mix the solution, it's easier to see how much of the solution you've used (since you're most likely trying to use half on each nostril). I know for sure that Walgreens carries it, and I believe their website lists the stores who stock it. It's reasonably priced. [www.neilmed.com]
The trick for nasal irrigation is to lean a certain way; a little bit tilted down and to the side that the water will be draining from. The only way it will feel like waterboarding or make you gag is if your head is too far upright.
You can get the same effect with a saline spray - it comes in a little squeeze bottle like nasal spray, but ONLY has salt water. (Ocean is one brand.) Sprays are more gentle and don't give you that feeling of OH GOD THERE IS WATER IN MY HEAD! that you get with a neti pot. It's also easier to control the amount (so you aren't stuffing up your Eustachian tubes).
@Sunil Satheesachandran: "Try to restrain yourself."
Oh, so you know sinus infections well! Once you find something that works, it's hard to hold back. I've only had low-level stuffiness for the last year (fingers crossed), but my mother swears by Neti Pots.
@mythago: Eh, I beg to differ on the "same effect" count. Yeah, nasal saline spray is better than nothing. But with only the spray, there's just not enough volume. You're not washing the sinuses, just moisturizing the lower nasal passages. Kind of like comparing sprinkling water on your hand with swimming in a pool: both get your hand wet...
Again, if you feel that uncomfortable while using the neti pot or nasal rinse bottle, then you need more practice and/or you're doing it wrong.
@Ellen Wiegand: It is an uncomfortable sensation and I havn't had a sinus infection for a while either. I havn't used it but Im still infection free.
@LastVigilante: Holy crap, that was great. I have tears from laughter (and a bit from what he did). Thanks for the video.
I don't use a neti pot, I just sniff a 1:1 salt/soda solution - 1/8 tsp. per 4 oz. warm water - from my own cupped hand. (And is this too gross? I then blow my nose out in the shower.) I started doing it after reading this article. When my kiddo was a baby, I would use a few drops in his nose before suctioning it with a bulb aspirator.
@ribex: If you just delicately puff a little water into each nostril, sure. But you don't have to jump in a pool to wash your hands either...
Some people just don't like a head full of water and it's not because UR DOING IT RONG. Sprays are a helpful middle ground.
Reminds me of swimming as a young guy in the over chlorinated public pool.
So that means the tortured prisoners in Gitmo are actually being cured. Weird.
@Ellen Wiegand: It does feel a little unusual, but in case anyone find it actually painful make sure you are using the correct solution of saline water. It shouldn't be painful.
@Ellen Wiegand: Any tips on how to do it correctly? I have tried to use a saline spray (not in a neti pot but a spray bottle) and that went right in and out of one nostril, and then I sneezed for about 20 minutes. I clearly was not doin it rite, but I want to!
@Ellen Wiegand: I've never used one, and I haven't had a sinus infection in like 10 years. I don't think that argument proves anything either way.
@hmk: when you're really sick & stuffed up, get in a hot shower for 10 minutes THEN use the neti pot. And please don't look at what comes out at that juncture. Feels like heaven, I tell ya!
I'm a former suffer of chronic sinusitis and sinus infection who was told a septoplasty (like Billy above) "may" have a positive impact - after 6 mos of doctor visits and CTs of my sinuses and to learn maybe surgery will help...my uncle the pharmacist sent me a neti pot with a huge supply of the powder and I am cured. Surgery or 2 minutes of neti every other day? Sign me up for neti-pot fanhood.
@EllaMcWho: and this should be a frugal tip - I was EASILY spending $50 per month on OTC and prescription drugs. Now I don't.
don't underestimate the power of this technique. Idiot doctors have tried prescribing me a variety of drugs to deal with what used to be severe allergy problems; some of them made me heart beat as if I were running a marathon, others (a common over the counter allergy med that starts with "z") made me feel like I was going insane.
They said I was well on my way to developing full-blown asthma, so I also had to breathe steroids to keep my passages open.
I pursued nasal irrigation on my own and have gradually taken myself off of every other allergy treatment. I'm a highly allergic person, and saline is my ONLY treatment, and I have never felt better.
As far as it being "gross," is it any grosser than blowing your snot out onto a piece of tissue? It's less gross than that as less mucus (are you saying "ew" right now?)is produced than if you do nothing, which is what most people do. Whatevs!
I'm a chronic sniffler and I gotta say, all your comments are making me seriously think of picking one of these up.
I started with a plain saline solution a couple years ago and then someone recommended Alkalol. Its a crazy mixture of... Well- here's the link:
[www.alkalolcompany.com]
The way I look at it, its sort of like snorting liquid tic tacs. If you think regular saline solution feels weird you'll want to slap your mama after using this stuff. Its crazy shit but does one hell of a job in clearing up seasonal allergies and easing a cold.
I'm gonna clean my nose out tonight!
I have used the NeilMed bottle (available at CVS and others) and the pre-measured packets. The solution does not burn or hurt in any way. It's a very cheap and effective way to deal with allergies or onsets of colds, etc. It really does work!
You're wasting your money buying pre-measured packets. You can buy a lb of pickling salt for $1 and will last you forever. Mix 1/8 tsp with a cup of water to make your saline.
@xkevin108x: I get the feeling "I used to get sinus infections all the time before I used neti pots" was implied there.
@Ellen Wiegand: I've only heard great things about them, and apparently if you get good at it and do it right, it's not that uncomfortable. Not that I've been brave enough to try it.
@so_gracefully: Saline spray is different and mostly gives relief from dry membranes.
@xkevin108x: For those of us who get sinus infections constantly, anything that makes them stop is worth investigating ... when you get them chronically, the more you get them, the more you're LIKELY to get them. They don't go away on their own.
IIRC, the most effective treatment for them is sticking some radioactive material up your nose on a stick which they used to do in the 50s. The problem is the minor side effect of BRAIN CANCER. Oh well.
@zandar: Ha. Zyrtec TOTALLY cured my allergies but made me sweat so much I was going through four shirts a day and I shook like a leaf all the time. I also threw up almost everything I ate. But I was living in North Carolina at the time, where I'm allergic to the entire state, so it was a REAL BATTLE as to whether the Zyrtec was worth it ANYWAY even though the side effects were so rotten for me. LOL
(FloNase finally fixed my allergies without making me nonfunctional in other ways. The only side effect for me was that everything smelled like lavender, which isn't the worst thing in the world.)
I use my neti every night! I like to think that it's helped mitigate sinus infections, colds, & allergy symptoms. I use regular salt, & there's no pain. Except for the few times that I tried to use it in my ass, but that was right when I got it. I didn't know!
@Eyebrows McGee (on Twitter: LPetelle): I've tried the NetiPot and flonase and flonase still wins, hands down.
ha! Love the pic.
@LastVigilante: Oh lord! I thought just the salt water part was funny, but then there was so much more....
Works great for me. Like others have said, it works best if used somewhat in a preventive manner, before you get too stuffed up. Every time I mow the lawn, I hit the pot.
I used to take sudafed, claritin, and flonase every day for allergies, and still never felt that great. Also, the flonase would inevitably give me sores inside my nose. Now all I use is the neti pot and I rarely if ever have allergy problems. No more nose sores either.
Also, if you do it in front of the mirror you can gross yourself out watching all the crud coming out of your nose.
@Dancin' Hooooomeeeeeer!: Alkalol sounds like a website where you post hilarious pictures of your friends drunk.
MOST AMAZING THING EVER.
I second that sentiment. The first time was a little tough, but now I use it twice a day. best invention ever!!
@Bevill: I think it's like $10 for 100 count. Cheaper if you get the generic- I use them too, mostly because they are easier for traveling.
Just remember, don't put marbles in your nose.
I used to have really bad post nasal drip, which was like living hell, but I tried oil of oregano and it cured me right up! It's $30 for this tiny bottle, but you only use like 3/4 droplets in water a day 3 times a day. Still have plenty left and I stopped using it once it went away. My doctor gave me all sorts of crap that never worked, but oil of oregano did!
![[weheartit.com]](http://weheartit.com/images/thumbs/20090201152850.jpg){kind=link}
It's about the most uncomfortable sensation in the entire world, but it really does work. I haven't had a sinus infection since I started using it 3 years ago.