Since mouth breathers are a bit discriminated against in yoga class, the benefit of nasal cleansing for stuffy yogis is clear. With allergy season just around the corner, if you haven’t ever felt the relief that comes from sticking a neti pot in your nose and feeling the salty water drain out the other nostril, you should seriously consider it to the alternative of popping more pills.
So, if you’re interested, you may be wondering what you need to do to get started. There’s really not much. It’s pretty simple actually. You may want to buy a neti pot, but that’s not even necessary. Many ear, nose and throat doctors suggest using a baby bulb syringe for getting the water into the nose. You can’t get much cheaper. If you decide to go the bulb syringe route, the only other thing you will need is a glass jar to put a homemade saline solution in. While you can buy individual pre-measured packets of saline, here’s a homemade recipe that my sister got from her doctor.
The saline recipe:
- Carefully clean and rinse a 1-quart jar. Fill the clean jar with tap water or bottled water. You do not need to boil the water.
- Add one level teaspoon of non-iodized (“pickling”) salt. DO NOT use table salt. Table salt has unwanted additives. You can ask for pickling salt at the grocery store.
- Add one level teaspoon of baking soda (pure bicarbonate).
- Stir or shake before each use. Store at room temperature. After one week pour out any mixture that is left over and make a new recipe.
Once you have your mixture ready, all you have to do is squirt one to two syringes of solution per nostril and let it drain into the sink or tub. Check out this clip for a demonstration on how to properly perform a nasal cleanse using a neti pot. The same technique can be applied if you use a bulb syringe.
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The Benefits of using this solution:
- Rinsing your nose with the salt water and baking soda solution washes crusts (gross) and other debris from your nose.
- Salty water pulls fluid out of swollen membranes. Washing the inside of the nose decongests it and improves airflow. Not only does it make breathing easier, but it helps open the sinus passages.
- Studies show that this mixture of concentrated salt water and baking soda helps the nose membrane to work better and move mucus out of the nose faster.
While the above recommendations have worked for me, there are a lot of websites with even more information on nasal cleansing that you may find useful. I particularly recommend the Himalayan Institute.
Neti Pot Goes Mainstream (New York Times)
Buy a neti pot at Amazon.com!!
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My allergist recommended the neti pot, after many allergy tests and medications and surgery to remove a polyp / correct a deviated septum (scar tissue from many sinus infections). I’ve used the neti pot (plastic, for travel) almost every morning for over 7 years and eliminated all allergy medications and decongestants. Simple formula: warm, filtered water, 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt, 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda (try without the baking soda, too); stir with finger until dissolved. Tilt forehead downward (back away from the sink to avoid the faucet!) and alternate pouring through each nostril–the solution should flow through the sinuses and out the other nostril. Gently blow each nostril and again a few minutes later. Use whenever allergies/cold/flu/congestion arise. Pay attention to what affects your sinuses–dairy, lack of sleep, stress, maybe even wheat/gluten products (bread, pasta…) and reduce/adjust these. Good health to you!
Glad to hear you’ve found longterm relief to your allergy issues. Thanks for the helpful comment!
Wonderful info, a lot of thanks on the author. It really is incomprehensible to me now, but in basic, the usefulness and significance is overwhelming. Thanks yet again and very good luck!
I’ve never tried the Neti Pot but I have heard great things. As I am a regular sinusitis sufferer, I am always looking for new techniques to relieve the massive sinus pain and pressure I face every winter. I find that nasal saline sprays work very well, but if there is a less expensive option out there, I’ll take it. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for your article! Honestly I have never read anything that interesting specially The saline recipe
I noticed that since I’ve started using the neti pot, I no longer have to take sinus headache pills in the quantities that I used to. I’ve always had major sinus headaches, sinus infections, and severe seasonal allergies, and all of these things have lessened or virtually been eliminated since I started. I don’t take the precaution of using sterilized water, I heat a mug of water in the microwave and then cool it with tap water. I don’t think anyone needs to be alarmed about using a combination of sea salt and baking soda, because you aren’t actually coming in contact with your brain. I’d like that person to look at a diagram online of the inner workings of your head and sinus cavities, because that’s a weird thing to be concerned about. I think if your tap water is safe enough for you to consume, it’s safe enough to rinse your sinuses with. If you don’t have safe water, it certainly would be more dangerous for you to be drinking it.
Tap water should not be used in a neti pot. There are confirmed deaths as a result of using tap water. The tap water had an amoeba in it that infected the users, causing fatal cases of encephalitis. From ABC News, “The brain-eating amoeba, also known as the parasite Naegleria, enters through the nose, travels through the sinuses and infects the brain and cerebrospinal fluid.”
Agreed. Distilled water is the best bet.
Everything is great except for one detail; do NOT nette with tap water. While extremely rare, there have been deaths due to a tap water amoeba. A thorough boil is all you need. Happy nette-ing!