Confessions of A First Time Neti User

For the past few days, I have been feeling sick. The sinus on my left side is swollen and has plugged up my ear, which has been a big annoyance for me because I’ve only been able to hear out of one ear for about a week. Christina, noticing how much I’ve been struggling, recommended that I try using the Neti Pot to clean out my nasal passages.

Not having heard of the Neti Pot before, I decided to Google it. “What the heck!” was all I could say when I watched the video. Basically – to put it rather crudely – the Neti Pot is nasal douching!

“That just…isn’t right” I muttered in disbelief as I watched the Neti Pot in use. Not being from this esoteric world of yoga and natural healing, my logical “westernized” way of thinking was completely baffled and dumbfounded at how such an act could be helpful.

However, at this point I’ve been feeling so bad that I might as well try and see if it works. So I picked up a Neti pot and read the instructions. I had read Christina’s blog post on her initial use of the Neti pot and she also offered a few tips for me to try.

The experience was…well, I’m still trying to analyze it with my analytical mind.

Having mixed the salt water solution in the recommend dosages as described in the instructions, I gave myself a pep talk. “Okay, it’s now or never.” I tried to relax but it was beyond me at that point, so I picked up the white porcelain vessel like a tea pot and raised it up to my face. “Remember to breathe through your mouth.” I took a couple of breaths and brought the spout to my nose, tilted my head to one side and “poured” out the contents like I would a cup of tea.

Well, as it turned out, that wasn’t the most efficient method to use because the saline solution ended up in my nose, my mouth – and mostly in the sink!

So I decided to take my usual approach and “muscle my way through” the Neti Pot experience. At this point, I was determined to master the technique, so I figured I might as well get the best use out of this nasal cleansing.

The water didn’t flow out the other nostril right away. It took at least three (long) seconds before it flowed out. Being a glutton for punishment, I then went on to my left side, which was the side with the swollen sinuses. Again, it took a while for the liquid to come out the other nostril.

I think because I’m sick, I had to blow my nose a lot after the initial cleansing but, dear reader, I will spare you the sordid details. After my first experiment with the Neti Pot, I decided to relax for a while, so I sat down to read a book and about 20 minutes later I felt what seemed to be the beginnings of a bloody nose. I got up quickly to get more tissue and prepare myself for a bloody nose, but it didn’t happen.

I felt like a leaky faucet that whole night.

Neti Pot Experiences:

• Confessions of A First Time Neti User
• Neti Pot Challenge
  
• The Right Angles with Neti Pot

[tags]neti pot user, nasal cleansing, salt water solution, Neti Pot experience[/tags]