Friday, May 6, 2011

Nervous Neti

So, I bought a neti pot last week.

It looks kinda like this:
I tried it out the first day I had it, following the directions on the box (which were surprisingly straight forward).  Tilt head forward, seal pot against top nostril, twist head to stack nostrils, open mouth, slowly pour water into sinus cavities.

There is nothing quite like the sensation of drowning in a pool to pull you back to your childhood years...

I've never liked the feeling of getting water up my nose. I questioned why I was now doing it willingly... along with with whether or not I had knocked my head against something recently as my sanity was also in question.

Unwilling to give up so easily, I tried again. Same sensation, but this time it seemed like it was actually doing something. I got the end of the pot and called it good.

Everything smelled like water.

I don't even know how to describe it. It seems like a smell fabric softener companies would be trying to recreate. Everything just smelled clean. My sinuses burned, but it seemed worth it.

I've been at it for a few days now, and I think I'm going to stick with it. It does a surprisingly good job of helping to alleviate sinus headaches, which I'm quite prone to. I've gotten a little better at getting the water to flow through, and it burns less when I do it now.

What do you do to battle allergies and sinus infections?

6 comments:

Obsessive Compulsive Daniela said...

Yah! I'm glad it's working!

Trish said...

Prior to moving out of an apartment where the forced air heater/air conditioner didn't know that the fan shouldn't stay on 24/7 heat the place, I was using NeilMed's NasaMist all-in-one (works like a neti) like crazy. I almost switched to the neti but now that I moved into my condo where the heat/fan turns off after it has reached it's setting...my sinuses are 3,000x better.

Anonymous said...

It doesn't burn if you put about 1/2 tsp of salt in the water. :)

Cassie said...

@Trish - It's amazing how a change of environment affects things, isn't it?

@Anonymous - I'll try upping the salt :) Thanks for the tip.

Daisy said...

I've heard of those and have never used one. Like you, I hate the feeling of water in my nose.

I'm surprised they work! I usually just suffer through it or pop and allergy pill, which gets quite expensive.

Cassie said...

I've been on daily antihistamines since I was a kid, so I know what you mean about them being expensive! Mine were almost $400 a year until they came out with a generic version. The pot was less than the cost of a generic pack, so I figured it was worth a shot.