Shooting salt water up my nose everyday & feeling good! Anybody else doing this?

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I've used a neti pot for 2+ years and have yet to have a sinus infection requiring antibiotics, when before I had them 2-3 times a year. When I do feel the sinuses starting to back up, the symptoms seem to pass very quickly. Some things to consider though- more is not better. Use it regularly, but typically once a day is fine. Also make sure you drain and dry the sinuses as directed. I've used several different salts (made for this, not table salt) and they all seem to work OK. Some have baking soda as a buffer, but I prefer the 100% salt. Sea salt also works for me.

For those of you who do not dive salt water, this is a great thing to do for a couple weeks prior to your salt water dive trips. If nothing else, it gets the sinuses used to the salt air and reduces the sniffling, dripping and congestion you can get, and also lessens that initial burn the first time you get seawater up your nose.

I also like the neti pot versus the forced irrigators. The natural gravity flow seems gentler than forcing the fluid in with the syringe based systems for me anyway.
 
I a;so use NeilMed...Last winter I was coming down with a cold and completely stuffed up but I had to make this dive...it was work...well my son intro'd me to NeilMed....cleared me right up...been using it regularly ever since
 
This has not been a stellar dive season for me. It seems I have had one sinus infection after another and it has kept me out of the water. Well one dive buddy told me to get on the bed with my head hanging back off the side and drip warm water mixed with sea salt in my nose until my sinus passages were full. Let that soak a minute and then flip over and let the crud come out on a towel.

Well the first time I did that, my buddy told me to make the stuff to strong and it burned the back of my eyes. And it took me a while to recover from the horror.

Then I was talking with someone else that does the same thing and they told me I had originally done it much too strong and that it is easier if you purchase a Nasaline giant nose syringe that holds the salt water to shoot it up your nose or to drip it in while you are on the bed with your head tipped back.

I have been doing this for a couple of weeks not and feel better than I have in months! I was scheduled to have sinus surgery and decided to put it off and give this a try. So far so good! I am only into this a couple of weeks.

It also seems that I can equalize a little easier.

So is anyone else doing this and has it improved your health? Your ability to equalize? Anything else? I was pretty skeptical, but it seems to be working.


I used to do that when I had sinus trouble. Now I just use saline solution I get OTC from the pharmacy or pharmacy area in the grocery store. I can't say that it helped my ears but I can't see that it hurts anything.
 
You are correct that more is not better as my first time I burned my nose! I was using a cloth dipped in the water to drip it in. When I use the Nasaline, I really don't shoot it up in there but just push slowly. Anyway, I mixed that first solution way too strong per incorrect instructions. I find that the much milder solution per the Nasaline instructions works really well for me.
 
2 years ago had repeated sinus and ear infections, started using a alcohol and vinegar solution for my ears and began flushing sinus's with saline solution and this past dive season so far have not had one episode of sinus or ear infections so I would say "Yes" it works, do not make the saline solution to strong as this is caustic to the nasal membranes and if making your own use non iondized salt.
 
Well, my hubby started using the NeilMed Sinus Rinse and LOVES it! It was recommended on the scubadiving mag website for ear clearing issues. He bought it at Walgreens in the nasal/sinus section. It comes with some powder that you mix in the water and then you lean forward and squirt it up one nostril and it drains out the other. Be careful about making the water too hot...that could really hurt. I just used it today for the first time and I am amazed at how easy it is to breathe.

You can also google reviews on the NeilMed Sinus Rinse and non-scuba people love it, as well.
 
I was on the tail end of a cold a month ago and wanted to dive. My ears weren't happy so the dive wasn't going to be happening. I use one of those bottles of nasal saline spray and took a few shots while doing yard work every time I went into the garage for something. After 90 minutes I was as clear as a bell and went out for a 90 minute dive with no trouble whatsoever.

At the right time it can do good.
 
Never tried salt water, but i did use a 10% hydrogen peroxide/water mix in a nasal spray bottle. If you can handle the sting it's quite effective.
 
Snorting salt water daily sounds a great way to get sinus inflammation and infection.

Salt water pulls water out of tissues so it reduces inflammation. I think if salt water caused infection they wouldn't make you rinse your mouth with it daily after oral surgery.
 

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