I've written a new article for Ncubator.ca called Sinus Irrigation
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Great article Jody. Love my neti pot!!!
My biggest problem is that I can bend over hours later and have water gush out my nose. I had sinus surgery, and I think I have more places for it to hide.
Hey Jody,
You've got another devotee here! I actually bought a neti pot in the Himalyas right on the Tibetan border--don't think it works any better that a turkey baster though.
But, I later bought Dr. Grossan's (noted ENT) electric, pulsing super-duper net pot dealy, and I bet this does work better than a turkey baster.
For one, it holds more--about a pint, and best of all, it has a nose friendly wand on the end of a flexible tube that makes the drip-snot-mess a thing of the past. AND it pulses the water solution in--a remarkable sensation that actually seems to work better. I also add a bit of xylitol along with the baking soda and sea salt as xylitol has antibacterial and antiviral properties.
A true adventure in nasal irrigation--remember an innocent time where we never needed to know about things like nasal irrigation?? :tear:
Sushi
If you think Sushi's contraption sounds scary, you'd love my ENT's "vacuum cleaner".![]()
Great article, Jody! My very first symptoms were crippling sinus infections so I am an old hand at lavage. I use a dental bulb syringe. If you have oral surgery, this is what they usually give you to keep your wound clean. They are blue in the states. They work great for sinus irrigation. I imagine they are a bit less messy than a baster.
Oh yea, whenever I bend over I leak all over the place.
Still, this is what works best for me for infections and it sure beats repeated doses of antibiotics.
Sushi! You were in the Himalayas? Since you got CFS? (Or any time for that matter.Going to the Himalayas -- Very big deal!
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Yeah Jody--Himalayas not once but several times!Guess what 14,000 feet did to me! Talk about OI!
Before CFS?? Good question. I'm one of those who have trudged along for decades--crashing, reviving--but never really well. Since there was no doc back then to diagnose me with "anything," I just tried to push through whatever that "nothing" was, that I knew was wrong with me.
So I lived it up :victory: And then suffered for it. And did it again...and again.
Oh, and re: the drippy, leaky aspect of neti potting, I was taught to do a whole bunch strong nasal exhalations (read snorts) to blow all the potential drips out. It works pretty well.
Sushi
Jody
These exhalations ... different from blowing your nose? Better?
Like blowing nose but no "hanky." Well, I hold one a couple of inches away but not against the nose. And repeated, fierce, short blows. I could describe it in yoga breathing terms if you know them--bhastrika. (means bellows, I think) Snort! Snort!
Sushi