After this post I’m sure I will be the blogger who talks about mucous more than any other. It truly isn’t by design. If you don’t want to read a gross post, I’d suggest not reading further.
In the mood for a gross post, are we?
I recently went to an Ear Nose and Throat specialist because it seems that I have a constant sinus infection: not so much the fatigue or sore throat, but an abundance of mucous that is yellow or green - especially in the mornings. So, I went to the ENT, and she stuck a camera on a metal pole up my nose. I didn’t think to ask her to record it so I could show it to all of the curious amongst you, but it was pretty interesting and thankfully painless. Turns out I don’t have any abnormalities such as a deviated septum, which would may cause surgery to repair. Instead, it’s likely allergies, and the futile standard treatment of Claritin (loratadine) and Sudafed (pseudoephedrine) just isn’t cutting it.
So she said she was going to introduce me to “sinus showers,” and I was thinking “yeah, I’ve had those wimpy saline things from the store, they don’t do much,” but instead she gave me this roughly 8-ounce bottle with a tube in it called SinusRinse, and tells me to fill it up with warm water and the SinusRinse mixture twice a day, and shoot pretty much the entire thing into a nostril, thus causing the contents to rush into my sinuses and out the other nostril.
It really is a pretty big bottle, too.
And yes, I’ve done it. Don’t believe me? You wouldn’t want to see it, it’s gross. No, really. Oh, okay, if you insist and you have a strong stomach, then look at this picture. When I’m done shooting the stuff up my nose, I’m supposed to blow my nose to get all of the excess out, but the doctor informed me that the most common side-affect is that throughout the day I may randomly have water shoot out of a nostril. Sure enough, this did happen while I was leaning over my guitar one evening.
Now that I’ve got the hang of it, I look forward to my “sinus showers.” I think I got a little too overzealous with it the first couple of times, because I was sneezing like crazy – there was no mucous to intercept allergens. The SinusRinse only came with a few packets, but thankfully the doctor informed me that I could just use 1/4 tsp. each of salt and baking soda, and that has worked fine. The doctor told me to try it for a month, and sometimes a patient’s body will just learn to make thinner mucous, but some people just have to keep this 3 minute ritual a part of their daily lives. Anyway, SinusRinse, or something like it, seems to be a pretty good sinus treatment that I was totally unaware of until last week.
[UPDATE: 07/11/2005 11:12PM]
I have been using SinusRinse for over a month now, and I can’t believe what a difference it makes. Sometimes I wake up feeling totally debilitated because I have so much drainage and congestion, and I am so glad that I have some sort of heavy duty nasal irrigation.
On tip I have found though: I was having quite a bit of abdominal pain when I first started using the SinusRinse, but it turns out it helps if you use fresh baking soda. I never thought such a thing could make one sick.
[UPDATE: 03/26/2008 11:02AM]
If you’ve been keeping up, you know now that I have discovered that dietary changes can help with sinus problems. So, you may want to consider experimenting.
ryan said,
June 7, 2005 @ 2:07 pm
this has gone too far. shut this blog down.
JoAnn Ford said,
June 7, 2005 @ 2:10 pm
It’s the secret of the acient people a doctor once told me (has been practiced for ~ 3000 yrs. or something like that). My mother swears by it, it’s completely turned her nose around.
kadavy said,
June 7, 2005 @ 3:48 pm
That’s interesting JoAnn. I specifically asked the doctor what the hell we did thousands of years ago, and she didn’t have such insight. Just said “we just had to deal with it.”
The whole thing seems unnatural to me, but it does work. I wonder if allergies are at all connected to ethnicity. Shouldn’t we have evolved to tolerate some of this stuff? Maybe I should go back to Czechslovokia.
asmosis said,
June 7, 2005 @ 4:38 pm
Oh what a wonderful story and picture. I’ll sleep well tonight. Please keep a running tally of how many times water just shoots out of your nose and also where this happens for a future blog. I wish we could hang out so I could see this phenomena…
Tom said,
June 7, 2005 @ 8:16 pm
I agree. Keep a log of when and where water shoots out of your nose unexpectedly. You could even make stuff up, as long as its funny. I’ll be watching for it to happen next time I see you, chief.
-t
kadavy said,
June 8, 2005 @ 12:07 am
Asmosis and Tom, I think I’ve learned to SinusRinse gently enough to prevent leaving too much water behind in my nostril. No unexpected shootings since that first one.
Renee said,
June 12, 2005 @ 8:17 am
And this is exactly why most western medicine docs suck - they are ignorant schleps who think they invented everything that heals. Please!
My acupuncturist recommended using a neti pot for sinus issues. They help prevent colds, too.
kadavy said,
June 12, 2005 @ 8:02 pm
Renee, that’s funny you mention the neti pot, because the first day this post was up, there was a HUGE ad on this page in the form of a picture of a woman using a neti pot, complete with stream of water shooting out of her nose. I couldn’t believe they used that image to advertise their product.
Meghan said,
June 17, 2005 @ 11:07 am
Dave, you’re just an open book! Great story!
anonymous said,
December 9, 2005 @ 8:05 pm
My allergist suggested sinusrinse. I had been feeling so crappy and was misdiagnosed by my primary. I also purchased a kit for my twelve year old who was literally breathing with his mouth open because he couldn’t breathe through his nose. When he used the sinusrinse, the stuff that came out of his nose scared me! The interesting thing is that he had not been able to blow the mucous out of his nose. It also opened our ears, which had been hurting a lot. We immediately felt better. I have been telling EVERYBODY about this product. We feel so much better and have been having good nights sleep all week (in addition to using a humidifier and sleeping on wedge pillows). Sinusrinse works!
kadavy said,
December 9, 2005 @ 9:59 pm
I have been telling everybody about Sinusrinse, too. It’s kind of a running joke with the people who know me well, but I can’t help raving about it. It has absolutely changed my quality of life. I would still be miserable if it weren’t for it.
franny said,
September 29, 2006 @ 4:28 am
People who have never had sinus problems can go ahead and make jokes about this information…but for those of us who do not think sinus problems are funny it is very hlepful information. One can also use an ordinary” Water Pic” and add 1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt to the machine and rinse on low pulse. As one gets older (like so many other things ) the sinuses can begin to droop…so some of you funsters may think back to this information when you get into your 40’s!
Cathryn said,
October 11, 2007 @ 11:41 pm
I bought a netipot but it really stung when I used it. Im a bit worried about the stinging. Am I doing something wrong?
I use warmish water, a little salt and a little bicarb soda.
Is it okay to use this while having a sinus infection or will it aggrivate it?
Any help much appreciated.
kadavy said,
October 11, 2007 @ 11:50 pm
Cathryn: “bicarb soda?” Is that like baking soda? I use 1 part salt to 1 part baking soda and don’t have any problems. Maybe you should experiement with the amount? I have personally irrigated while having a sinus infection, so I think it’s okay, but I’m no doctor.
Bruce said,
October 17, 2007 @ 3:35 pm
Don’t use tap water because of the chorine in it. Use DI water. I get it in the gallon jugs from Food Lion for about $0.90 per gallon. No stinging for me. I use the per mixed Neilrinse and it works great.
Bruce
Bette said,
March 16, 2008 @ 5:10 am
Hi
I think sinus problems are common because we are not swimmming in th e salt ocaeans enough (or at all). Anyway I irrigated my sinus with a solution of 1 cup boiled sterile water, 3tspn. sea salt and 1 tspn. 3% peroxide. Laid down on be , hung head off end so it was upside down and filled sinus with an dropper. Stood it as long as I could and let it drain out. Burned and eyes watered … but it is working….
Bette said,
March 16, 2008 @ 5:10 am
Hi
I think sinus problems are common because we are not swimmming in th e salt ocaeans enough (or at all). Anyway I irrigated my sinus with a solution of 1 cup boiled sterile water, 3tspn. sea salt and 1 tspn. 3% peroxide. Laid down on be , hung head off end so it was upside down and filled sinus with an dropper. Stood it as long as I could and let it drain out. Burned and eyes watered … but it is working….
Mary said,
April 12, 2008 @ 12:33 pm
I like JoAnn’s comment” It completely turned my mother’s nose around.” David, please post a photo of JoAnn’s mother’s nose. When I’m done posting this, I’ll look at the gross picture. Why not? The entire western world saw your gum disease back in the day….
kadavy said,
April 13, 2008 @ 10:46 am
I’ll get that photo of Joann’s mother’s nose ASAP. For the record, I never had gum disease - it was a mucocele!