Using Neti Pot Salt for Sinus Pressure Relief

My mother never buys expensive nasal spray when suffering from sinus pressure. Her local pharmacist provides a saline solution as an alternative. When I was a girl I would see her standing over the bathroom sink, head tilted to the right, dropping the solution into her left nostril. It would drain out of the right nostril and I would wonder where she learned such a neat trick.

Until recently, I was wasting time and money on nasal sprays for sinus pressure relief. My mother's neat trick had slipped into mental storage boxes in my memory. Every day spent suffering from allergies, a cold, or a sinus infection was a day spent suffering from sinus pressure headaches. Finally, I had as much as I could take and asked my doctor for advice. My doctor explained that there are 8 sinus cavities in my face and any inflammation would interrupt the natural flow of air and mucous. When mucous builds up I feel it as sinus pressure around the eyes. My doctor suggested that I use Neti pot salt because the technique would rinse out the mucous in my nasal cavity while creating a vacuum that would bring the mucous from my sinus cavities out as well. It is an old technique from the Himalayans that has been passed down over the centuries.

Neti pots, also called Jala Neti pots, are small containers that resemble teapots with longer spouts that can reach into the nostril. The Neti pot salt is basically the salt that you use to make the saline solution for your Neti pot. According to Jalanetipot.com, the salts that are safe to use are cooking salt, pickling salt, macrobiotic salt, and kosher salt. They are the salts closest to pure sea salt. A 0.9% saline solution contains an equal amount of salt as your blood does. To achieve that percentage, use one teaspoon of salt per half liter of water.

Neti pots tend to come with their own instructions but they all work in the same general fashion. Once you have filled the Neti pot with a 0.9% saline solution, you tilt your head so that one nostril is above the other. You then place the spout of the Neti pot into your top nostril and pour in the saline solution. The solution should run through your nasal cavity and exit through the bottom nostril. As long as you don't interrupt the water flow by breathing through your nose it will work smoothly.

Neti pot salt is the most effective treatment for sinus pressure that I have experienced so far. Since the salinity of the solution matches the salinity in your blood it is safe to use Neti pot salt every day if you need to. After doing one nostril I usually tilt my head to the other side and rinse again so don't be afraid to use Neti pot salt multiple times in one day. The results are immediate! On top of that, it's inexpensive. I used pickling salt that was already in my cupboard and the price of the Neti pot was less than the price of a cd.

My mother is a source of great information that has been passed onto her from generations past. I have memorized family recipes that I learned from her, family stories, and traditions. However, I didn't take her magic trick over the bathroom sink too seriously. Little did I know that she was exercising a great alternative treatment for sinus pressure that I would rediscover twenty years later!