Recently various members of my friends and family ridiculed me for my use of a Neti Pot to help with my sinus congestion from allergies and dust. Imagine their surprise over the recent buzz because of Oprah around a simple device that I’ve been using for quite a while. Funny part is that my cousin called me a while ago asking if I used a Neti Pot. I explained that I did and then he made some comment about Oprah. Here is a bit of info regarding my use of the Neti Pot, some recommendations based on experience and a video demonstration.
I tend to suffer from sinus congestion fairly frequently. Often this is due to mild allergies or environmental conditions such as dust. Sometimes it is due to mild sinus infections. I find that I’m able to get substantial relief by using my Neti Pot and will sometimes get out of bed in the middle of the night to rinse if I can’t sleep due to congestion.
I have a ceramic Neti Pot but I recommend that you get an unbreakable one. You’ll likely find yourself wanting to bring it with you when traveling and not having to worry about it breaking will make that easier. I now have one at my home and one at the home of the people that I most frequently go out of town to visit.
Ceramic Neti Pot Unbreakable Pot
The basic idea behind the neti pot is using a mild saline solution to flush the sinuses. There are several ways to get the right saline solution. I used to just use kosher salt and it works find even if it’s not “pharmaceutical grade”. I then ran across some “pharmaceutical grade” salt intended for the purpose and switched to that for a while. BTW the special salt is actually pretty easy to find if you look for it. I just hadn’t been looking because I was okay with the kosher salt. Recently however, I discovered these NeilMed Sinus Rinse packets.
They have a pre-measured amount of two salts in them for use with 8 oz of water. This makes them great for travel and more convenient than measuring out the salt. I have to admit though, I used to just eyeball out a teaspoon into 8 oz of water so it wasn’t that big a deal when at home.
I just use lukewarm tap water up to the mark that I’ve made in my pot that indicates 8 oz. Then I add whichever option I’m going to use to create the saline solution and I use a little battery powered mixer to be sure that the solution is well mixed. This also helps if I’m adding something beside salt. At various times I put several drops of Echinacea tincture or a single drop of grapefruit seed extract in the saline solution that I use. I generally use one of these if I feel like I’ve got a mild sinus infection. I’ll use them twice a day for about a week. This isn’t medical advice in any way just something that I’ve found helps me. Careful not to overuse any of the ingredients of the saline solution. I put 3 drops of grapefruit seed extract in one night and my nose hurt so much I couldn’t sleep that night.
Once you mix up your solution it’s pretty simple. Lean over a sink, turn your head towards the hand holding the pot and stick the tip of the Neti Pot into the “upper” nostril. Tip the pot up and run about 1/2 of the solution through. Tip the pot back down and then repeat on the other side. Have some tissue nearby because you’ll want to blow your nose.
Wash the pot and set it aside to dry.
