Who Knew?
Friday, February 4, 2011 at 8:51AM It has been almost two weeks since I began this battle. This has been one heck of a cold and I still fighting it, but at least I am on the mend.
When it first started it was just my throat but that progressed into a full on sinus infection that made the left side of my face feel like it had been hit by a baseball bat.
OUCH!
I have been on antibiotics for a few days now and they seem to be working. Hopefully I will be back to my ninja star throwing self soon enough.
When I mentioned that I had a sinus infection on twitter, I had two very good friends of mine, Kelly and Jenny, tell me to try a Neti pot.
A neti pot is a device used for irrigating the nasal passages.
Eww right?
I am not one who does well around mucus or snot or anything gross like that. Eww. I just grossed myself out. Eww.
So when the Neti pot was suggested I said, “No way!”
Guess what? I caved. I was in so much pain that I asked my wife to head to CVS and find me a nasal rinse thing-a-ma-bob like a neti pot to try. I was willing to try anything.
As terrified and grossed out as I was I tried it and friends, I am a believer. It was amazing. IT IS AMAZING. It was so refreshing and cleansing that I will not hesitate to use one in the future. The sensation was not as weird as I thought it would be and the gross factor was minimal. If I could handle it I am sure most of you can. Trust me on that.
The relief while I was doing it was fantastic and I wish I would have been brave enough before to try it. I will say that soon after I was done the pain in my face was just as bad as it was before but it did provide for some relief for a little while and all and all, it seems so cleansing and refreshing.
It almost creeps me out how much I liked it. But I just wanted to tell you all that sometimes, you just have to take a leap of faith and try something new and you may find something great!
Who knows, maybe what you need is a good nasal irrigating.
Eww.
Reader Comments (11)
I absolutely LOVE my sinus rinse (bottle instead of a pot). I swear by it and use it every day. If I'm having a hard time with allergies, then I use it more than once a day. I'm so glad you found relief!
Yes! I loveeeeee it. I don't have the pot though, I have the squeeze bottle kind. I just got over a nasty cold too and I swear it was the only way I made it out alive. I'm still using it once a day, I'll start to feel congested, use it, and Bam! I'm back to feeling healthy.
God bless whoever the heck invented such a weird thing!
This made me laugh! I felt the SAME about Neti pots until I tried one and became a convert! The whole thing sounds gross but it really does make your nose feel awesome and it isn't quite as gross as I had imagined! Glad it brought you some relief!
First off, yeah. "Eww" is right. And glad you're feeling better!
Second, my boss recently had to start doing that as well. He had some kind of sinus issue for months and the doctor told him to do the same, except the Dr. gave him some sort of antibiotic to put into the rinse to help clear him up. Seemed to work pretty well (or else he's a good "I feel better" faker). Maybe next time see if yours will give you something to put in the pot to help?
I had a sinus infection that quit responding to antibiotics for years (total of 10 years) and was always in pain and frequently had fevers and doctors said my last hope was surgery. Until I started nasal irrigation. I haven't had a sinus infection since :) I'm so happy it helped you, too!
G-
I am SO FREAKING PROUD OF YOU - And I'm so glad it helped!
I also thought a neti pot was grosser than gross, until the sinus infection from hell caused me to give it a try. Now, I swear by it - as you very well know! ;)
Kelly K
George, you are so brave!!! I'm convinced it I try it, I'll end up drowning myself. Pete knows me well, and he agrees. :) BUT I've been miserable from allergies all day - and I have to say, between you and Kelly I'm starting to get tempted to give it a try.
Wow dude! Good on you for trying something that you didn't want to do!
I haven't tried one yet, hoping to avoid the situation altogether. Because yeah, ewwwwwww!
Nasal irrigations will cure everything, I'm sure!
Ew. Haven't tried that yet. But, have to admit, you're making it sound quite enticing!
I have been using a neti pot for over a decade - just once a week, once the infection is gone, should do the trick.
Once at urgent care I had an east Indian doctor and when I mentioned it, his eyes lit up and we had quite a lengthy discussion. He looked disappointed when I said I did not practice yoga regularly.
After suffering most of last winter with sinus issues, including a couple of infections, a relative introduced me to "Sinus Buster", a homeopathic nasal spray that has worked wonders for me. I also have used (and love) the Neti pot, but this spray is magical and a good addition to the regimen. It's active ingredient is capsaicin, which is a pepper (there's a pepper on the front of the box). You do get a bit of a crazy pepper zing when you spray it. My eyes water a little, but then the relief is almost instantaneous. I bought it online (pretty cheap and postage was minimal). It's worth a try for anybody with sinus issues. I use it as soon as I feel something coming on and I haven't had a sinus infection since. It was recommended to me by someone who works in the medical field, just as an aside. Google it for more info.