Nasal irrigation is something you might want to look into if you suffer from allergies. This is a natural way of combating allergies and has, in fact, been in use for centuries in India and Southeast Asia. It is fast becoming a popular practice in Western nations as well among health conscious people.
Nasal irrigation […]

Nasal irrigation is something you might want to look into if you suffer from allergies. This is a natural way of combating allergies and has, in fact, been in use for centuries in India and Southeast Asia. It is fast becoming a popular practice in Western nations as well among health conscious people.

Nasal irrigation may also be called sinus irrigation or lavage. It is a home procedure that involves using a salt water solution to rinse the nasal passages, getting rid of stagnant mucous and moisturizing the nasal cavity. Even Western medicine practitioners are now recommending the practice to those who have post nasal drip. It is preventive medicine for sinus infection or hay fever, especially the seasonal kind. The edge that sinus irrigation has compared with ordinary nasal sprays is that it rinses the causes of congestion out of your nose.

The traditional practice of nasal irrigation involves the use of a neti pot, a ceramic teapot-like contraption usually sold at health food stores, which carries the solution. You use this container to pour the salt water up one nostril. You then wait for the water to flow out of the other nostril. What comes out usually contains mucous in it and you repeatedly do the rinse until you feel that your nasal passages are clean.

There are those who find the use of neti pots in nasal irrigation to be messy, so other possible apparata that can be used to hold the solution and then deposit into your nostril are bulb syringes or nasal aspirators, such as the ones babies use, and travel spout bottles with a soft body that enables squirting.

Nasal irrigation solutions do not have to be limited to water and salt. There are others who add extra ingredients such as essential oils, baking soda, or even corn syrup. Check with your doctor if these elements can help you.

Nasal irrigation or sinus irrigation is relatively easy to do, but it is better done upon the guidance of a healthcare provider. Some things you may have to look out for are gagging or ear pain, which indicates that you are doing the nasal irrigation too forcefully, and coughing, when the water drains down your throat instead of the other nostril. This is a common fear among people who have yet to try it. They think that putting water up their noses will feel too much like drowning. However, if done properly, nasal irrigation is not painful and the user will not be able to inhale water at all. The practice is supposed to be preventive of sinus infections, so people who already have a sinus infection should refrain from doing sinus irrigation as the process could spread the bacteria.