Niobide

As a person with a history of nasal congestion and sinus infections, I’ve tried every drug on the market – Sudafed, Dayquil, Tylenol Sinus, Benedryl, really anything with the words “allergy” or “sinus” on them.  In fact, when I moved last week, I discovered that I could fill an entire shelf of my medicine cabinet with my myriad of decongestants.

But lately I’ve been realizing that while the drugs may mask the symptoms, they leave a lot to be desired.  Sure, they dry out my sinuses, but that often leads to post-nasal drip (and a subsequent stomachache) and a variety of other side effects, most notably that distinctive feeling that my head is disconnected from my body.  Time to try something new.

Enter: the neti pot.  It looks fairly harmless, almost like a mini-version of a teapot.  But what it lacks in bulk, it makes up for in potency.  The plan is to run a lukewarm saline solution through the nasal passage in order to clear it out.  Simple enough in theory, right?

Well theory doesn’t always translate into practice.  Especially since the first time I tried out this instrument, I missed the part about “lukewarm” water and used whatever water first came out of my sink, which might even have been considered “cold.”  I mixed in the saline solution, stuck the end up my nose, tilted my head, and my first thought was:

OMG NOW I KNOW WHY WATERBOARDING IS CONSIDERED A FORM OF TORTURE.

But as I blew my nose, I realized: “Hey, there’s something to this “clearing out the sinus cavity” thing, isn’t there?”

That night, I once again filled the neti pot – this time with warmer water from my bathtub – and it was a much more pleasant experience.  I still felt a bit like I was voluntarily drowning, but I was starting to determine my own pace and ability to not flood my nose. The next morning was the real test, as I woke up significantly less stuffed up than I’m accustomed to during cold season.

This neti pot experiment might be similar to the way that I originally felt about contact lenses, in that at first I thought, “you want me to put that WHERE? and touch WHAT?” and eventually it just turned into such a part of routine that I couldn’t imagine not starting my day by putting in contacts.  I don’t know if putting saline up my nose will be a daily activity (especially since it makes my nose sort of feel salty), but it’s definitely going to be a part of my new-fangled cold remedy solution while simultaneously decreasing my accidental dependence on diphenhydramine.