Those of you who follow me on Twitter know that 1) I’ve had shingles, 2) the meds for shingles made me far sicker than the actual disease ever did, 3) I’m working INSANE hours (18 hours yesterday – SUNDAY), 4) I’m pretty sure I have a sinus infection.
Those of you who DON’T follow me on Twitter are now shrugging your shoulders and saying We don’t have to follow you because you’ll eventually blog about it. Touchè, non-followers.
Anyway, so, after the Valtrex made me so sick, I decided that I would just suffer through the sinus infection rather than start a new round of antibiotics. I just can’t be out-of-commission right now.
So I turned to the new-Google: Twitter. And I said, Any way to clear up a sinus infection WITHOUT a prescription, Twitter? Lo and behold, about half of the universe responded, “Yes, dear, use a Neti Pot.”
For those of you who might be unitiated with the Neti Pot, it is basically this:
OH, you may say, THAT LOOKS SOMEWHAT TERRIFYING. Well no shit, Sherlock. I have often been encouraged to try the Neti Pot, because I hate antibiotics that much. But, call me crazy, the idea of pouring liquid into your head just seems .. counterintuitive, you know, to LIVING.
Also, it should be noted that I have a HORRID fear of drowning, so much so that I rarely get into water where I cannot hold my head above water, and like, cleanly above water, where it will not even be touching my chin. So, again with the counterintuitive nature of pouring water into my brain.
I think I have clearly laid out why I have avoided the Neti Pot like .. a .. plague. And let this also justify just how badly my sinuses were hurting because .. y’all, I did it.
Saturday night, after working a 12 hour day, I met my husband and son for dinner and we ran to Target afterwards to grab toiletries that I needed on a daily basis but had not had time to procure myself. And while I was doing so, I wandered to the pharmacy area and stared at it. The Neti Pot. I just couldn’t imagine doing it. I couldn’t.
But next to the Neti Pot was something similar, but less intimidating. It was a squeeze bottle – a Sinus Rinse, it was called – and it actually utilized something called “positive flow”, which was supposed to be actually more productive in cleansing. Also, there wasn’t this weird tilting of your head required, which was what freaked me out more than anything. I mean, you HAVE to tilt your head to a precise degree or else you would drown. And I’ve always sucked at geometry.
So I bought the squeeze bottle.
Some of the best advice I got on Twitter was in my response to my fear of drowning by Neti Pot: “Do it in the shower. Way less mess, great steam action, and a better obituary.”
So I did.
And I have to say, y’all, that I was pleasantly surprised. I mean, it was 4:15 in the morning, and for me to have done a nasal cleanse for the first time while still groggy and NOT die? Means it was seriously easy. And it felt.. weird, but good. And really and truly, I stayed pretty clear through most of the day. (Ideally, it suggests a twice a day cleanse until your symptoms clear entirely, but when I got home at midnight last night, I did not feel like directing saltwater through my nostrils.)
Be not afraid, gentle readers, to try this process if your sinuses are troublesome. I didn’t do it this morning because .. well, honestly, because I slept as late as humanly possible this morning before having to be at work at 7:30. But I will do it tonight and consistently through the week to clear up my sinus infection.
Someday, who knows? Maybe I’ll graduate to the full-on Neti Pot. (But most likely not.)
Yay! You tried it! I was going to suggest it when you tweeted about the sinus infection but there were so many other responses for the Neti Pot before I got the chance I figured you had gotten the message.
Glad it feels better.
Now, go take a nap under your desk. You’ve earned it!!
I’ve been tempted by the success of the Neti Pot for ages, but I’ve yet to try it myself.
I’m a bigger fan of the SinuCleanse squeeze bottle version. And I tried just the neti pot and didn’t like it as well, I like taking it into the shower and that’s kind of hard with a neti pot.
Just wait until you’re pouring water into your head WHILE HOLDING YOUR OTHER NOSTRIL CLOSED, and then rolling your head around trying to get the rinse into all the sinus crevices. Good times!
I have tried the neti pot and it works really well on one side and terrible on the other. I will have to try the squeeze bottle next time!
Yikes. I am so afraid of the Neti pot but the squeeze bottle looks slightly less terrifying. I may actually try that when the need comes up again.
(I am also TERRIFIED of drowning. Drowning and fire featured prominently in my childhood nightmares. I was a melancholy kid from watching too much RESCUE! 911!)
bessie.viola wants you to read ..call from the governor
I am terrified of the Neti Pot. Have people actually drowned while using it? If not, I bet I’d find a way to be the first. Happy to hear the squeeze bottle is working for you! I think that would be more my style, too. Good luck, try not to kill yourself at work!
If you’re cheap like me, you can also make your own with a bottle, some water, and some baking soda. A dish soap bottle works great, like the kind from the kitchen, and you can google the amount of baking soda to put in the water.
It took me awhile to convert to the neti pot and even longer for me to get my big baby of a significant other to use it (the one with chronic sinus and asthma issues). But after it pretty much cured me of a sinus infection in half the time it normally takes, I left it in the shower and low and behold, we were out of the little packages within a month because SOMEONE who said he would never use it was using them every day. He said it works phenomenally for his breathing. And the shower is the best place for it – it pretty much feels like when you have water running down your face. Just remember not to swallow!
Glad you’re feeling better! Who knew that the equivalent of basically sucking ocean water up your nose can work miracles?
Christie and I are fans of the squeeze bottle, but I’ve had some friends recommend the pot because it’s “gentler.” I like the control of the squeeze bottle, so I’m with you.
But, I think it is better for you to be upright for a little while after doing the rinse because of something called the “post nasal drip.” As far as I can tell, this is one of the results of the rinse. It’s better that this come out of your nose than down the back of your throat (i.e. what it would be doing if you were laying down).
I prefer the squeeze bottle to the actual pot. I never end up shaking the pot enough and then it BURNS like the pits of fiery hell in my nostrils. I also usually get the water too warm in that dang little pot and end up burning myself in another way too. So yeah, I prefer the bottle.
When I first tried it, I made Joel stand next to me in the bathroom in case I died. I wanted him to save me from drowning.
Courtney wants you to read ..Surviving with Grace
OMG! This saved me over the past couple of days. I started feeling terrible Sunday, saw your post on Monday and was using it Monday night. What a huge difference it made in my upper respiratory and sinus infection. Still don’t feel well enough to use my Bon Jovi tickets tonight but feeling so much better. Thanks for the tip!