Ever heard of a neti pot before? No? Well then how about nasal irrigation?  If you've never heard of any of these terms before then read on!

 

♠ ♠     Do You Have a Sinus Problem?     ♠ ♠

My cousins have allergic rhinitis. My brother has it too. Me? I don't think I have it but I suspect my dad had it too. What I experience is more of a throat problem. I get sore throat more times than other sicknesses. This should exclude me from any sinus problem right? WRONG! I sometimes get colds because of exposure to I don't even know what. And from my nose it develops into sore throat and becomes flu sometimes. I hate it when it happens. 

You ever experience any dry colds? Like the phlegm or icky green stuff in your nose is just there inside your nasal cavity, refusing to budge. It's like you have colds but you don't. Ugh, it's not a nice feeling at all having a stuffy nose feeling without being able to blow it out. 

(Photo credit: Blausen.com staff via Wikipedia.org)

 

How about post-nasal drip? You know, this happens when you don't have a cold but you feel some liquid running down the back of your throat or something. Yeah it's still caused by sinus problems or allergies.

So what should you do if you experience these things? Drink colds medicine? Sleep it off? Take a bath? Steam it away or what? 

For me I believe prevention is better than cure, that's why whenever I feel the signs of impending colds I clean up my nasal passage thru Jala Neti.

 

 

♠ ♠       What is Jala Neti?      ♠ ♠ 

 I first learned of this word in myLot. Apparently great minds are the ones always in search of money online. Hahaha~ Anyway, Jala Neti is a Hindu way of cleaning the nasal cavity through the use of saline solution using a neti pot.

(Photo Credit: Aikhan via Wikipedia.org)

 

 

♦ ♦      How To Do Nasal Irrigation      ♦ ♦

So how does this work? Well, basically you get a neti pot, put luke warm saline solution in it, tilt your head to the side and forward and put the neti pot tip in one nostril. Run the solution through your nose until it overflows and comes out of your other nostril. Repeat the process through your other nostril. Once done, gently blow your nose to clear out excess liquid, otherwise you might get a cold. :D 

(Photo Credit: Kurt Yoder via Wikipedia.org)

 

I have a plastic neti pot I bought online but you can use or buy a ceramic one too. (Anyone wants to buy some? Maybe I should sell some now. Hahaha~)

So anyway, let's see what happens when you do the above instructions. Let's watch this video!

(Video Credit:  3D Medical Illustration via YouTube.com)

 

Next, let's watch the proper way to do it! You don't need to do any measuring really, I don't. I just mix a tiny amount of neti salt or sea salt [do not use rock or table salt] and mix it with a little hot sterile water then mix it all again with enough sterile water for both nostrils. But of course some people do want to measure everything so you can do what she does in the video.

You also don't need to do jala neti every day unless your allergy or sinusitis is really worse, maybe. I'm not a doctor so, you know, better check with the experts: yoga masters or real doctors. I do this only when I feel like it. But it's better to have a schedule to do it at least you don't need to wait until you feel any bad health symptoms before doing this.

(Video Credit: AshleysGreenLife via YouTube.com)

 

 

♠ ♠      What, Even Celebrities Do This?     ♠ ♠ 

Well hey, I'm not really sure if Hollywood stars do this but Oprah did have a segment with Dr. Oz in her show and probably it's to promote a branded product. Yeah I'm not promoting anything here so it depends on you if you'd like to try this out and buy stuff.

(Photo Credit: ArtGirl screenshot of the video via YouTube.com)

 

Model Molly Sims also uses a neti pot, and it was even featured/shown in a TV show - Six Feet Under! Cool huh?

 

 

♠ ♠      Is Jala Neti Safe?      ♠ ♠

(Photo Credit: D Sharon Pruitt via Wikipedia.org)

 

Well, in the US it looks like there were cases of amoebas killing people because they did jala neti using tap water. Never ever use tap water, folks. Make sure you're using distilled water, mineral water or other kinds of sterile water to make sure you don't get sick or die from anything.

Never use table salt too! Why? Because table salt has additives and is heavily processed. This is why it is considered impure and unsafe to use for nasal irrigation. Use natural sea salt. You can buy them online somewhere. Or look for it in your local stores/supermarkets, who knows, maybe they have it.

Another question you might be thinking is, "Does it damage your sense of smell?" Well it shouldn't. Don't use too much salt in your saline solution to be safe. Don't do it every day or stop doing it if it actually causes extreme pain. It can be uncomfortable the first few times you do it but eventually you should feel a lot better afterwards. 

If you have other questions about this practice you can read this article, or just use your trusty search engine. :D

 

 

 

♠ ♠      Did Aliens Teach Us Nasal Irrigation?     ♠ ♠ 

(Photo Credit: memegenerator.net via knowyourmeme.com)

 

Okay, this may seem far out, but because I watch Ancient Aliens and have seen Giorgio Tsoukalos in the flesh, I can't help but think hey maybe there's some aliens involved centuries ago. Kidding! Haha~ Well since this nasal cleansing method originated with ancient Hindu yogis then maybe someone discovered it or someone taught humans how to do it, right? But see, even if aliens didn't teach us how to do this it's still possible for anyone scientific and smart to come up with this idea.

(Photo credit: SoraZG on Flickr via Wikipedia.org)

 

You and I can think of it too if we know how salt can be a natural disinfectant. I mean, it can be pretty practical. We all do the warm gargle for sore throats right? We use a saline solution as gargle when we have a sore throat. It's probably been passed down from our ancestors to us. Who knows who first thought of that practice too.

 

 

 

♠ ♠      Personal Experience      ♠ ♠ 

I've been doing this since 2009 maybe? I don't even remember when I signed up for that website I mentioned above where I learned about this. I just tried it back then to see if it is really effective. After extensive online research, I tried it and voila! I've been doing this since then; not all the time though. I used to do it several times in a month when I was new to it. Now I just do it when I feel like it.

(Photo credit: HimalayanInstitute via homemadehints.com)

 

What did I feel when I did it the first time? Well, my nose stung like hell! My eyes watered because of it I think. It's probably because I used too much salt and the water was too warm or hotter than it should. At least now the "pain" is minimal and tolerable whenever I do it because of course I make sure it's not even luke warm anymore and I use a tiny amount of salt.

So if you'd like to try this too, do your research first and check the links and videos I put here to learn more. When you're ready give it a try! Enjoy!

 

 

(Blog inspired by Health & Wellness Querlo chat box. :D)

 

 

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