How to Nuke Your Seasonal Allergies

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Comments

[B. Riley]

Well, a friend of mine tried to convince me of this for over a year. I was just resistant to even try it once. I thought it would be painful and just so. . horrible!

The first time I did it, I was amazed at how natural it felt. And aside from that, it completely cured my allergies for the day.

Allergies get me way down in the energy department and make me want to just snooze all day. This is how I feel when I don't neti for a couple days.

Next day, I neti, and voila! I'm ready to take on the world. Strange, I know, but just try it.

Also, for clarification, since Brad didn't want to take a photo of himself doing it (LOL!), when he says "tip your head", he means tip it forward, and to the opposite side the neti is on. Don't try and tip it BACK or anything.

Happy neti'ing.

[Sean Meade]

we got turned on to this type of treatment from our children's pediatrician:

+ standard medicine dropper
+ 1 cup of water: i just run the tap to about somewhere between room and body temperature and skip the microwave
+ 1/8 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp baking powder
+ lay down flat on back, tilt head back a little
+ at least two droppers full saline in each nostril, as desired
+ you should feel immediate decongestion and subsequent overall relief

at first it felt weird, but it's all very natural. it's just a mild saline solution, right? you can buy the same thing, iirc, over the counter for children called Stuffy Noses (or something like that). and, as far as i understand, you can use as often as you want. highly recommended.

i must not have allergies as bad as you two. i don't use regularly, just for flareups or at the beginning of a sinus unfection. speeds recovery greatly.

[Brad Isaac]

I mainly use it only for bad times now too. But the springtime is definately my worst season.

[Erika]

My grandmother's been doing this for years and swears by it :-) Her solution, however, is much cheaper than a neti pot. She uses a plastic bottle ketchup/mustard bottle (like the kind you see in restaurants, not a heinz bottle!)

[aglee]

For some reason, when I started reading this post, I immediately thought of the Neti pot, which I'd seen at Salon:

[aglee]

D'oh, I should have previewed that:

For some reason, when I started reading this post, I immediately thought of the Neti pot, which I'd seen at Salon: http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2005/07/06/object_lust_readers1/index1.html.

I haven't tried it myself, but I've found Ayr, a nasal saline spray, to be helpful in some situations like airplane flights or overheated rooms. A clear nose is like comfortable shoes -- it's one of those bodily comforts we don't talk much about, but that make a real difference in the quality of your day.

[Brad Isaac]

hmmm...ketchup squeeze bottles and Ayr. I guess you could save a few bucks with the bottles but I am having a difficult time visualizing how the water would pour out without squeezing - which may be too much pressure. But if it works..cheers to Grandma!

Ayr is good to have around too. It's obviously more expensive than homemade stuff...but it's a pain to make saline, sanitize and reuse those bottles. I normally just buy a new bottle of it if I need some.

[Jean-Louis]

Sounds as if it could work.

I have a much more primitive method, but it works quite well to limit the effects of pollen. I put large quantities of vaseline in my nostrils, especially when I go out. You have to do this several times a day, but it does mean you have less pollen on the mucus membranes, and therefore fewer symptoms.

This way I can get through most of the seaon without antihistamines

[Mihai]

Pretty good article, I've been doing this for a few months now and it feels great. A couple of things to remember: your saline solution has to be close in temperature and concentration to your blood. Too much of a difference and you will feel a discomfort. I've found that 1 teaspoon of non iodized salt to about 300 ml of water works for me. I heat it for about 45-50 seconds in my microwave. To test it, you can put a few drops on your tongue. it should feel soothing. Also, after you're done, GENTLY blow your nose. You want your nose to be as dry as possible, but at the same time you don't want water forced in your sinus canals.

Enjoy

[Matthew]

My ENT recommended a similar thing. I tried two methods, both of which work better than this. The one I use now uses those bulb syringe that are used to clean babies noses out. I have a big one that I got when my older son was born - works great.

The previous technique used a water pick with a special tip called a "Grossan Sinus Irrigator" (google for it). It's basically a tip that reduces the pressure of the water coming out of the water pick. You then fill the water pick with sailine solution as described above and use this thing to clean out the sinuses. However, I don't recommend this technique unless you want to buy a new water pick every 6 months. Even if you rinse it out thoroughly, the salt starts to corrode the parts and the tubing will start to break down.

[John]

Hey guys, I'm still not getting a clear picture on how to use the neti pot. Anyone have diagrams? Thanks

[dd]

this is sooooo much easier: http://www.saltairesinusrelief.com/

[Ivan Minic]

Good text, most stuff I saw already on other sites, but good sublimation :)

[Kaal]

I've used Neti for years, yet kept running into trouble with sinus infections. I think the neti pot wasn't always sterile, or the filtered water not filtered enough. I finally found this:

http://www.brucemedical.com/simsalspray.html

It's a pressurized saline spray, so it's guaranteed to stay sterile, all you have to do is wash the nib with soap. It also takes far less volume to achieve the same results. It seems to work better than the non-pressurized saline sprays, which can get contaminated.

[ES]

After just snorting saline from a cup for a while, my husband transfered his sinus-infection-prevention allegiance to a bottle from Neilmed - it's like a condiment bottle, but made from clear material and with a round top. Plus, it has all of these packets of saline powder (salt plus baking soda) which make it a lot easier to keep the mix at the right proportion, avoiding the unpleasant too-saline saline effect.

[C K]

NeilMed product is great, and I've tried some of the others. Recommended by my allergist. Website is www.nasalrinse.com

[Brad Isaac]

A lot of new stuff here. Hadn't heard of a lot of them.

I'll probably just stick with the Neti, until the day comes, if it comes where it doesn't work anymore.

[Rick Roberts]

Man, thank you for posting this! I had never heard of it. Your recipe is just a little too salty for me, though. I'd recommend to people out there who are getting that "swimming pool" sensation to experiment with the salt. Add or remove. We're all a little different.