Hey – Do You Have a Neti Pot?

A few years ago I had a call from my best girlfriend Dar. She was VERY excited and told me all about this thing she saw on Dr. Oz’s show called “Neti”. The conversation went something like this”

“Hey – I was watching Dr Oz-“

“Who?”

“Dr, Oz – you know, from Oprah?”

“No, but never mind – you were watching his show?”

“Yeah, and he talked about this thing called a Neti-pot”

“un-huh?”

“Yeah, you fill it up with water and then, this is kind of gross, you flush out your sinuses with it…”

The conversation went on from there…

Oprah’s show talked about how it can help with allergies, and I was living in Ontario at the time and suffering them horribly. So, while incredibly grossed out at the idea of sticking this thing that looked like a miniature teapot up a nostril and letting water flow through my sinuses - being the “new-agey” person I am, I just had to get out there and give it a try.

Yes, just so you know, it is incredibly gross. Just as gross as you would imagine. No, stuff doesn’t come out (that you would notice anyhow) and yes, you need to hang over a sink to do it. Oh – and yes, you need to hang your head down and blow your nose in a big way after you are done, but yes, it really does help with allergies.

I’m guessing the part that really helps is the fact that, by using the Neti-pot, one essentially flushes all of those nasty allergens OUT of the sinuses and into the sink.

Some things to know in advance:

• Yes, the temperature of the water is VERY important (too cold and you have an ice cream headache without the benefits of ice cream)
• Yes, the salinity levels are important (if you use the saline version – to much salt BURNS)
• Yes, it can help with allergies. It can also help with sinus infection healing – but should not be done in lieu of taking those pills the doctor prescribed.

With love across the waters,