Friday, December 5, 2008

How to Use a Neti Pot


A neti pot, a.k.a. schnozz-washer, looks like a little teapot. You fill it with warm salt water, stick the spout up one nostril and tilt your head. The water will either run out your other nostril or not, depending on how congested you are. Either result is fine.

Why would any self-respecting human pour water through their nose? To clean it out, of course! Claims regarding the usefulness of the neti pot vary widely. Proponents say, "It cured my allergies! I never get sick any more! It makes my colds go away." The Medical Establishment (i.e. my nursing textbooks) say it soothes the nasal membranes, but they claim no further benefits. My husband says, "Umm...no thanks, sweetie, that's a little extreme for me." (In his head, he's probably saying "Ew, ew, ew! Woman, NO! That is not natural! Get me the brain bleach, STAT!")

My own results and those of my neti-using friend, Angela, can be classified as Pretty Dang Good. We've found neti-potting to be a good preventative measure -- like washing your hands. It doesn't make an established cold go away, but if used daily, it lessens the number of colds we get per year. Also, we've both been able to quit our daily allergy meds --- an especially useful result for me, since antihistamines makes me restless. Nothing like having to choose whether to sleep or breathe! I still use nose spray on really bad days and I still get that One Killer Cold in the fall, but the others --- the ones that would keep me snotty all winter --- either hit me last and least in my family or pass me by altogether.

Details on use: I use tap water and table salt (iodized, since we live in the Goiter Belt and need our dietary iodine). The neti pot packages sometimes say things about special salt or distilled water, but the regular stuff works fine in my experience. Please comment if you know good reasons not to do this. My thinking is: its not like your nose is sterile, for pete's sake.

I've heard a pinch of goldenseal powder can act as a disinfectant, but generally you're not disinfecting your nose, you're just washing it --- reducing the critical mass of germs and old mucus. The salt makes for an isotonic solution, keeping the water from irritating your nose. I use between 1/2 and 1/4 teaspoon. The water feels pleasantly warm, but not hot. It just has to be warm enough to fully dissolve the salt. If the salt doesn't dissolve all the way, you'll get that nasty pool-water-up-the-nose feeling. (Solution: pause, stir.)

Tilt your head so that your ear is facing the floor and your nose is facing the mirror. (What you do mean, "What mirror?" You do want to see all the goop that comes out of your nose, don't you? C'mon, you know you do!) I do one pot per nostril and blow my nose in between. If you decide to try it, or if you already use a neti pot, let me know how it goes!

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