Acute sinus and allergy sufferers of the nexus,

what are your remedy's?

Getting tired and worried about taking claratin so much..

Neti pot is really good! I try to use it at least once a day but often forget, adding a lil bit of salt solution can help aswell, i'm not sure why but i seem to get more mucus out when i add salt

Hayfever hasn't kicked in for me yet but my collegues were suffering really bad yesterday so im on high alert

I also find excercising can help unblock the sinus', aswell as cool air in shaded areas, also a good ol orgasm seems to do the trick

I don't have the neti pot, but I have this squeeze bottle that you fill with distilled warm water, and a packet of sodium carbonate, shake it, then use half the bottle per each nostril. I do this once a week. The way your nose feels and how everything smells after, awesome stuff.

Doing a Neti pot or a sinus cleanse squeeze bottle like Tattvamasi has daily, when your sinuses are NOT stuffed up to where you can't breathe out of them, is a good practice. Keep in mind that if you do this kind of practice when your sinuses are clogged, it can aggravate the situation moreso!

Also, dissolving salt into the warm, purified water is a must. It takes a little practice, but you can find that "sweet spot" with the amount of salt in your nasal wash. Too little & it'll sting like you inhaled fresh water. Too much & it'll sting differently, like you inhaled sea water. Just the right amount & it feels just like your own bodily fluids that are supposed to be in your body, i.e. no sting.

The strategy here is to do nasal washes long enough (3 months, 6 months, a year, two years, etc.) to where you've loosened & expectorated all the mucoidal plaque that has fastened itself in your sinuses. Believe me, you've got lots of plaque up there! Anyone who uses mucus-suppressing drugs does. It's the norm in our symptom-suppressing culture. Rather than excrete & expectorate the stuff that needs to come out, we prefer the convenience of suppressing all of it only to have that bite us in the ass later on in life (but that is an entirely different thread altogether!)

Keep in mind also that when employing sinus rinsing practices that you MUST bend over forwards or to the side while you're doing it so that the saline solution can get up into your upper sinuses. This is best acheived in the shower or bath or over a big sink. It is not a pretty sight. It is not a practice that "proper", Western civilization would ever condone, but it's crucial to healthy respiratory health just like any other hygenic practice, i.e. brushing your teeth, wiping your ass & washing your hands.

All that having been said, there are more herbal options out there also. There are a few good quality anti-histamine/anti-inflammatory combinations on the market that can really help a lot. These will usually have a combo of Quercetin (a flavanoid found in leaves, barks &/or seeds of certain food plants), Bromelain (a proteolytic enzyme from pineappple stem), Turmeric (a yellow/orange fragrant spice from Asia), Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B-5), & Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C).

There are also some very effective Chinese medicines for acute symptoms like runny nose, watery eyes, etc. The most popular one is called "Bi Yan Pian" (pronounced Bee Yawn Pee-yawn) which basically translates as "stuck nose energy tablet" to put it in layman's terms. Keep in mind that any of the Chinese nasal formulas for acute symptoms that contain the herb "Cang Er Zi" (pronounced "Song Er Tsih" ) or Xanthium sibiricum should be taken daily for not more than 3 months. This herb is highly effective at opening up the sinuses & dissolving phlegm, but has a mild liver toxicity that renders it's long-term use unsuggestable. There are sinus formulas without this herb that are more appropriate for long-term use if needed.

Finally, keep in mind that all allergies ultimately stem from emotional reactions, typically the feelings of "this is not right" or "that is not good" (directed at any phenomenon). Theses blockages/reactions begin when we are very small children, even though often times the physical symptoms do not manifest until many decades later. Practices such as tai chi, yoga & meditation can help reduce the over-all affects of latent, emotional reactions & thus our physical allergic reactions over time. A good acupuncturist is a god-send in these cases also as acupuncture is, at it's most fundamental, anti-allergy engendering.

Hope this helps in some way. Peace.

for neti pot one should/could put some melted ghee or coconut oil in with the salty water to sooth the tissues in the nasal cavity also you can put a drop of high grade eucalyptus/ lavender/rosemary essential oil into the jar of oil then use a small amount of that mixture (DO NOT OVER DO THE ESSENTIAL OILS) im sharing to let you know what i have found, this in no way means that putting essential oils up your nose is entirely safe, you can injure yourself.

sinus squeeze bottle really helped me avoid major sinus issues this winter, did it pretty regularly
every night before bed. Also i have this very potent food grade peroxide that I add to a saline bottle
that seems to help infections from getting started. little dab will do ya on that.
Also I've been using Oreganol P73 , great stuff anytime I started to feel sketchy like a cold coming on
I use that in emergen C powder before bed also.

This is a great suggestion. Adding ghee or coconut oil can greatly facilitate the moisturizing needed to soften & eventually break up the mucoidal plaque allowing it to exit.

Also, shoving raw honey way up your nose while in the shower can act similarly & be very beneficial.

Remember, you want to see lots of boogers coming out eventually. Otherwise that stuff is simply clogging your perception & patiently waiting to create all manner of health problems down the road.

I surely wouldn't want to alarm anyone, but it may be quite wise to avoid tap water, unless you know for sure that your utility uses the required amount of chlorine, and not skimping to save money. Last year quite a few people contracted a brain eating amoeba from having tap water splash into their noses. Schools in my area even went so far as to stop kids from using water fountains.

http://abcnews.go.com/He...supply/story?id=25160247

Brain-eating amoeba or not, it's generally a wise thing to avoid tap water anyway!

Lots of great info in here.

But with that said, a netipot is a reactive treatment. Have you tried removing things from your diet that may promote congestion or an allergic response? Prevention is even better!

Ive found that when I cleaned my diet up tremendously, my seasonal allergies diminished greatly. To the point of being nothing more than the occasional sneeze and very light watery runny nose. Gone are the days of intense sinus pressure, misery and green mucousy clogs!

Everyone responds differently but having a diet high in foods that clear or eliminate mucous, such as garlic, onions, apple cider vinegar, etc is really a wonderful thing! Among many other foods too. Just a thought if you dont want to have to get to the point that youre even in need of a netipot

Neti pots can be great if you have to take intranasal medication. I have a prescription for sumatriptan that I shoot up my nose when a migraine comes on, and the drip is terrible. Using a neti pot helps wash it away, however, with no resulting loss of effectiveness that I've noticed (I imagine most of the dose gets absorbed pretty quickly through the mucous membranes).

Blessings
~ND

I've read that in South America, some shamans basically pour San Pedro tea down their noses. I suppose a neti pot might work well for this as well? Hell, I may have to get me one.

Correction: Using a neti pot is a prophylactic & preventative treatment.

To get the most out of the practice, one should use a neti pot daily, in the proper fashion for many, many months or even years & only curtailing use when one's sinuses are clogged.

In fact, if one uses a neti pot while their sinuses are clogged it can possibly make the situation even worse.

So neti potting is not a "reactive treatment", at least not to the monks & yogis that I learned it from in Sri Lanka & India.

I remember those! It was recommended from my friend.

I had a nasty chronic sinusitis which lasted for years, and refused to go away. Carrying tissues all the time for years was a pain in the a**. Then I heard about neti pot from my friend, he recommended me to rinse my nose with saline solution.

Then, my sinusitis magically vanished away by itself, and I never actually tried that. To this day, I don't have problem with my sinuses anymore.