Apart from the odd heavy head cold I never suffered too much
from sinus problems until I moved to Florida. The humidity, pollen, fungi and molds were too much for me and I developed
sinus problems and infections. Fellow sufferers will know how debilitating it can be. The ever-present headaches.
The persistent post nasal drip akin to constantly swallowing a piece of string. The constant feeling of stuffiness
in one's head. I tried all the usual remedies from folk remedies to doctor prescribed medicaments. Nothing
worked permanently.
I knew of the salt water nasal irrigation practice using a "Netti pot"
followed by many people in India. However, I was never able to acquire one in the US. Then along came personal
computers followed by the Internet. One day when researching sinusitis I came upon the Grossan Nasal Pulsatile Irrigator.
Basically it is a powered Netti pot. Dr. Murray Grossan has taken a dental WaterPik and designed a nozzle for it that
one can hold against one's nostril. Dr. Grossan is no snake oil selling quack - he is a medical doctor, is otolaryngology
board certified and his product is FDA registered.
If you have serious sinus problems you will know how difficult
they are to treat. Germs and viruses thrive in warm, dark and moist places such as the sinus cavities. Apparently
sinus infections are also hard to cure systemically because bones have a poor blood supply. The irrigator works by suctioning
and flushing out the mucous in the sinus cavities in which the germs live and multiply. Do an Internet search for
the Grossan Pulsatile Irrigator and you will find a number of vendors. You will see that most vendors sell a saline
solution for use with the irrigator. However, I and everyone else I have introduced to the irrigator, use ordinary common
table salt – the kind you buy in a canister at the super market. In the unlikely event you are allergic to the
additives in table salt, you can use kosher or sea salt instead. However, as well as being very much more expensive,
kosher or sea salt take much longer to dissolve. Also, when I first got the irrigator I used to boil fresh water in
a kettle, but now I (and all the other irrigator users I know) just use luke warm water straight from the faucet.
This is how I use it. I fill the container (a pint) with luke-warm tap water and dissolve half a teaspoonful
of ordinary table salt into it. When it has dissolved I blow my nose, put my head over the hand basin and pump it up
one nostril and it drains from the other. When I've used half the solution I switch off the machine, close the nostril
I was pumping the solution through with my finger and "snort" any remaining solution from the other nostril (or
vice-versa). Then I switch the machine back on and repeat the process with the other nostril. When I, (and some
others I've introduced to the Grossan Irrigator) first began using the irrigator, because my nose was blocked, I couldn't
get the solution up one nostril and down the other so I would put it to my nostril and then when it had filled, take it away.
The suction of the solution falling out would draw some mucous out with it. After a few days my nostrils were clear enough
to get the solution flowing up one nostril and out the other. It all sounds rather gross, as indeed many of our
bodily functions are, but if you want to relieve and maybe cure your sinus problems you must put aside any feelings of indelicacy
and persevere. When first doing nasal irrigation most people tend to gag a bit but one soon gets accustomed to it and
it becomes quite easy within a matter of days. After a week or so, it will become second nature.
I think
it works by the venturi principle. High school physics 101. This is the principle where a gas or liquid flowing
past an orifice induces a suction effect at the orifice. I believe that as the solution journeys past the sinus opening
it sucks out the mucous. When sinus sufferers first use it they will be truly astonished by the amount of mucous
that comes out. One man I know who had suffered with sinus problems for many years (now cured) said that when he started
nasal irrigation the mucous coming from his nose looked like bunches of small green grapes (I told you it sounds gross).
I have also found this device to be very helpful in alleviating the symptoms and lessening the duration of the
common cold. When I got my first irrigator (I wore the first one out but it lasted about seven years or so) I would use
it twice a day, on rising and retiring. It took me about six or seven weeks to get relief but most people seem to get
a significant improvement within two to three weeks. Maybe it depends upon how long one has had the affliction?
I'd had my sinus problems for many years. Now my sinusitis is cured I use it as needed only –
basically once daily twice a week or so. More frequently though if I feel I may be getting a cold or during allergy
seasons.
This device really has improved my quality of life dramatically and the lives of ALL the other sinus sufferers
I know who have used this product. If you suffer from sinus or allergy problems then I hope it will help you too.