It’s amazing how you can know something, or do something, that you think is unusual, but suddenly discover that “everyone” is doing it.

Yep, it’s true. I’m astounded by how many of my friends use a neti pot. But perhaps I should back up.

I learned about the neti pot many years ago, even before doctors at the Mayo Clinic told my stepmother to use one. Then, a few years back, a couple we know well started using one too. Now, I’ve suffered from allergies and their related sinus issues for years, but the thought of pouring water up my nose was too disgusting to consider. Then came that week.

I was in bad shape, and the couple had an extra neti pot, which they offered to me; I politely declined their generosity. A relatively new friend “happened” to mention how much the sea salts she used helped her sinuses – yes, she used them with a neti pot. Then my chiropractor said, “You know, there is always the neti pot…” I threw up my hands in defeat, accepted the offered pot, listened to my friends’ instructions, then hit Google for more information.

I learned that using the pot is easy, and not nearly as disgusting as I thought. My impression had been that the water drained into your mouth (GROSS!), but you actually tilt your head way over so that it goes into one nostril, washes through that nostril’s sinus cavity, and then flows out the other nostril.

There’s no having to hold your breath or anything and, though it can be disgusting, it is very satisfying to see the gook flushed out of your sinus cavities. It is also satisfying to know that the salt left in those cavities is still busy killing bacteria, and it is very satisfying to feel the physical relief from pain and congestion. The relief may or may not come instantly, depending on how bad it is, but it does come.

Which brings me back to where I started. It seems like, since I began using it, everyone has been coming out of the neti pot closet. A friend posted on Facebook that he would probably suffer a lot less from allergies if he used it every day like he knows to. Amen; I know the same about myself. Then this friend and that friend and another friend… Time and time again, usually without me bringing it up, people mentioned how they didn’t know what they would do without their neti pots.

I sure don’t know what I’d do without mine!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C