I have always dealt with allergies. As a kid, my parents called it hay fever and I have tried a variety of medications over the years (most of them make me sleepy—including/especially the non-drowsy stuff—don’t bother offering suggestions, I’m not interested in attempting driving and work in a drug-induced haze. I buy Kleenex instead.). And, having produced two miniature germ factories over the past 5.5 years, I’m now getting more colds than ever before. And the occasional ear infection and strep. I love my children.
My husband started using a netti pot a couple of months ago to aid with persistent sinus issues of his own. I’ve been intrigued but skeptical and have watched his experience with interest. Over Christmas, I decided to give it a try. Pour warm saltwater through your brain. Can’t hurt, right? Well, maybe wrong.
First of all, it seems to take quite a long time to get the water actually flowing back out of my head. I gather this is normal. But in the mean time, I feel like I’m jumping into deep end of the pool without plugging my nose. And my head feels like it’s going to explode. Think intense sinus headache, self-induced. On my very first attempt, one of my ears began popping, so I quickly switched sides. The second attempt wasn’t so much painful as it was uneventful. I spent a long time feeding water into my head. And very little came back out.
Last night I tried again. There was no instant ear-popping, but I definitely put pressure on my inner ear again. And I don’t think that much of the water I poured in came out my nose (I can’t be doing it completely wrong, because water did come out correctly). I think (Gross-Out Alert) that I swallowed most of it in my sleep later. Except for some which just hung out around my ears all night. That is not fun, by the way. Not only am I jumping into the deep end of the pool, but I’m doing it with swimmer’s ear.
I have some interesting options at this point. One, give up. Two, keep at it and hope that eventually, all that warm saline will chip away at 32.8 years worth of collected gunk. Three, go see a doctor and/or ENT and make sure there’s nothing else wrong. Besides the allergies, colds, strep (did I mention that my daughter sucks her finger? And has huge tonsils?), and sinuses so enlarged that my dentist comments on them every time I get an X-ray, that is.
2 comments:
I don't have that experience with a Netti pot. Long, long ago I was told I should probably have sinus surgery, but shortly after I saw Sally, Kelly M's sister in recovery from hers and vowed never to do it. Maybe you could call Kelly and see if Sally ever decided it was worth it, after all a 14 year old's scare with a 20 foot cotton ball isn't really reason enough to avoid sinus surgery if it's necessary. When I use the Netti I do get that drowning feeling for a second or two, but then it pours out again. I never feel pain. But then I rarely use it, saving the whole thing for serious
undertheweatherness.
Last week I was almost there, but fortunately I felt better before my last resort. Since then I've been hydrating my sinuses with Little Noses Saline Mist. It was so dry outside my sinuses hurt behind my eyes if you know what I mean and I could tell a sinus infection could be on its way. Sorry, you didn't want recommendations but I do think that aerosol saline is like Netti Pots lite.
I've heard a lot of good things about the netti pot, too - I bought one for AD when he was having a particularly hard week with allergies, but I haven't yet worked up the courage to use one of my own. I'm sorry to hear of the water on your brain. May it drain successfully without any ill effects. Funny how the cure is better than the disease, huh? I hope you feel better soon.
Post a Comment