Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Neti What?






Just when I thought it was safe to go  outside. 

The sun has been showering down some serious spring weather.  Buds are blooming and my dogs are eyeballing each other more than usual.  But with that we pay a price.  Even here in the desert we are not immune to springtime’s cruel joke. With all the spring loveliness comes the high pollen count.  Now, I am not sure what a pollen count is but I know it affects my nostrils.  So on a scale that only a real nerd would know, the pollen count here in Sin City is like a bazillion times higher than normal. Really? My puffy eyes and snot dripping on the keyboard gave me no indication!

My kids who have normally not suffered are suffering too. 

“Mom, my eyes itch.”
“Mom, my throat hurts.”

Yea, join the crowd.  So today as I was on my 37th Kleenex , I remembered something under my sink.  No, not the 5 year old left over nursing pads.  I had stored under there a neti pot.  It sounds like some kind of mid-evil toilet, when in fact it is a torture device for the sinus cavities.  I saw Dr Wizard of Oz talk it about it on Oprah a few years ago and being the Oprah lemming I was back then, I bought one (I have since broken Oprah’s evil spell on me.  That is a whole other post).  And there it sat under my sink.

So today I thought, why the dripping snot not?  It looks like a small teapot with a long spout.  I filled it with warm water and the small saline packet provided.   I hung my head over my sink and shoved the spout into a nostril and slowly poured.  There was that lovely sensation you get when you jump in a swimming pool and get water up your nose.  Yep, self-induced drowning.  And like some weird circus freak, the water I poured in one nostril, came out the other!!!  And I thought the reproductive system was awesome!  There pouring into the sink was some serious snot.   Then I got to do the other nostril.  Same weird freak show again.  Then after blowing water and what I think was brain tissue out of my nose for a few more minutes, my drip was gone!!! All those years ago Dr Wizard of Oz was right!  Almost tempts me to watch Oprah again. Almost.

Instructions say to do it every two hours as needed.  Seriously?  I think if I do that more than once a week I will have no sense of smell and go blind. So in my busy house where even toilets rarely get flushed, at least today my sinuses were.

Linda

21 comments:

Evelyn said...

Oh I am soooooo glad to hear that someone realizes Oprah is not deity!

But...maybe Dr. Oz is...

Vee said...

Stopping by from SITS...

That is a crazy picture! I tried a neti pot a few months ago, and must have used too much salt or didn't do it right, but it felt like my brain was burning! It left me a headache that travelled all the way to middle of my spine, and took 15 minutes to go away! Crazy little pot!

Lisa said...

Hey, there is this other thing that is a squeeze bottle and way better than the neti pot. I need to do it again, but I haven't pulled my balls out for courage yet. I know. That was totally gross. I'm sorry.

About Oprah, yeah, not a fan either. She's a "partial truther," very helpful to Satan. Unlike me, with my testicle comments. Once again, I'm sorry. But apparently not sorry enough to erase it.

Love the post!

Kristina P. said...

So, I am technically on a blog break, and just got back from being angry about them letting children in at Disneyland, but I saw your post pop up, and read it.

We really are long lost twins, as evidenced by this post:

http://adamandkristinapulsipher.blogspot.com/2010/01/tantalizing-tuesday.html

Serene is my name, not my life! said...

Having never had allergies, I must confess, I find this fascinatingly disturbing! LOL!
I suppose it would work great for regular colds though too!

Amy said...

Sooo.... are you saying I SHOULD try it or that I should NOT try it. Just wanting to clarify. I don't have Oprah here to guide me. ;)

Saimi said...

Where do you come up with these pictures?? HA! Personally, I've never even heard of a neti pot. Claritin does the trick for me, Spring/Summer is the only time of the year I'm allergic to our cats.

AB said...

I wonder if I could my sneezing son to try that?

In the meantime, I CANNOT wait for your Oprah post.

McVal said...

LOL! I don't think I could get my kids anywhere near that! And I'm not that brave either. Waterboarding is not for me... unless of course I'm not giving you any info that you want...

Lisa said...

I'm glad this worked for you...Self induced torture if you ask me...

AdriansCrazyLife said...

The evil Neti Pot. I have a hate-hate relationship with mine. Maybe it just works better for runny noses. For stuffy noses, not so much. I forgot you weren't supposed to blow when using the Neti pot and gunked up my ears for days. Gah, gives me chills just thinking about it. It is such a weird feeling to have water running through your head. I only use it on days when I'm truly desperate to breathe!

TheKeilShpeel said...

I saw someone about saying that it burned. I would only use it like once a month because I hated the feeling too of the Neti pot.. but I'm a nursing mom. I can't take a single drug out there and what is left for me to do. There is one day I was weeding and I seriously couldn't breathe. I tried the Neti pot and I was amazed at how 5 minutes later there was no itching, sneezing.. Since then I've been using it every morning. The feeling has gotten much better. I just use a pinch of salt. I can't say I don't sneeze at all, all day after that but everything is much better. Only a few sneezes and only a few tissues (and that's usually by late afternoon).

AmandaWK said...

I have an award for you at my blog: http://bloggertowne.blogspot.com/2010/03/our-second-blog-award.html

jen@ricochet said...

I love me a Neti! I am IN love with my Neti! Check out this post.

http://jen-ricochet.blogspot.com/2010/01/thoughts-of-you.html

w said...

i'm just scared. i think i'd like to see your scratchy eyes and red throat next time... instead of the water nose.

Momza said...

My Dh likes his neti pot. I have yet to use it tho.
But it does work!

Lourie said...

I have never dared try the neti pot. It kind of freaks me out. Haha. But hey, it worked. And you lived to tell the tale.

AiringMyLaundry said...

I don't think I could use a neti pot...

Unknown said...

I know you wrote this post a while ago (yesterday maybe?) but I am just now gathering up the courage to look past that nasty picture and read.

Gross.

Glad it worked!

val m said...

My daughter walked in while I was reading this post and ran our screaming!!! The picture freaked her out!!! You can catch OZ on TV without Oprah now! I am glad you can breath again!!

Krista said...

Yeah, nothing like a nose enima. I have used mine a few times. I do get a bit of anxiety before self-induced drowning, too. I found when your sinuses are so swollen the water has nowhere to go except the back of your throat. These bodies can sure be high maintenance!

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