Korean Job Discussion Forums

[charlieDD]

Last year about this time I posted a long post on humidifiers.

This year, it's "The Neti Pot".

Well, . . to start, if you've never heard of the neti pot way of cleaning your nasal passages, take a look at these demonstrations on YouTube. If you're not put off by them, then continue reading ! (The second video is more user friendly; the first is formal and corporate.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8sDIbRAXlg

Here's a more informal demonstration with a cool narrator and music background:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8KOsNtpV8w

In the second one, the narrator ( from Fat Radio.com ) mentions that the neti pot method was demonstrated on an Oprah show earlier this year.

(There are other less professional demonstrations of this on YouTube if you want to see another ! )

I discovered this when I came back to the U.S. last spring and stayed in an apartment whose previous tenants had had a couple dogs. I had an allergic reaction that kept my nose stuffed no matter how much humidity or warmth of the weather. Tried all kinds of things and nothing helped; not even medicines.

Once I started using the neti pot, upon recommendation from a Whole Foods Store clerk, the problem cleared up in just a couple of days. I used it once in the morning and once in the evening, just adding it to my morning and evening hygiene routine.

Oh, and I use a salt and baking soda solution, not the salt alone. Check the web on the topic and you'll see this is a recommended solution that many follow.

I now use it once a day, at night. My nasal passages used to be super dry in the winter and I had to have a humidifier going all night, raising the humidity to around 55 - 65% in the room, . . . which is not good because it creates an atmosphere in which fungi and molds can take hold and thrive.

I now can keep humidity in my bedroom at night around 35% and my nasal passages remain completely clear and not the least bit dry or irritated.

Do some research of your own on the web and see if you think it could be the thing for you.

Some advice:

It feels odd at first, but after a short while, you get used to it and don't even notice the sensation of it passing through your nasal plumbing !

I use filtered water ( tap water filtered first by a Pur on-the-faucet filter and then through a Brita pitcher ), to help remove any yucky stuff that might be in the tap water. You may want to use bottled water for this. I know how "yucky" the tap water can be in some parts of Korea.

I will tell you that you don't have to buy the special "neti salt" - - any non-iodized salt will do.

I mix about 1.5 of the small spoon that comes with the neti pot when you buy it. I add to this one heaping spoonful of Arm & Hammar Baking Soda.

The water should be body temperature warm. If it's too warm or too cool, it can cause your nasal passages to constrict.

I have added a step to the process in that I draw a bit of water in through my the back of my nasal passages, . .. you know, where you would pull in a . . uh, . . "loogie"? "hocker" ? . . . from your nose and into your mouth for covert ejection (spitting) or covert swallowing when spitting can be accomplished. I find this washes this passages a bit too. Of course, you get a bit of salt water in your mouth; just open your mouth and let it drain out. ( "ooh, yucky!" . . Oh, come on, you're already doing something even more yucky ! Let it all hang out!)

Oh, and those exercises on the YouTube demonstration: They're intended to help make sure you get all the water out. I don't do them and I'm fine. I do find that occasionally after doing the neti pot, if I bend over, some residual water that has found a pocket to pool in will start to drain out. A tissue at hand is all I need to deal with that.

And, finally: You don't need to buy a fancy neti pot. There are many makers out there. Some make them out of ceramic, some plastic, and even some out of stainless or chromed steel, hammered copper, etc. I use a basic plastic one that I got for $5.99 online. And, as I said above, you don't need to buy the special neti pot salt; it's expensive usually. Just get any non-iodized salt.

P.S. There are a number of products on the market now that mimic the neti pot method. For example, there's one called "Simply Saline" ( http://www.drugstore.com/qxp148008_334918_sespider/simply_saline/sterile_saline_nasal_mist_super_size.htm ) . . . They are expensive and they contain the same ingredients: water, salt and baking soda. They are simply riding on the wave of popularity the neti pot.

Happy neti-ing.

[charlieDD]

And, . . . . there are even mechanized versions of the same thing, like this one called the "Grossan Hydro Pulse Sinus Irrigation System"

http://www.amazon.com/Grossan-Hydro-Pulse-Irrigation-System/dp/B000K5YM5O/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1197783644&sr=8-19

[charlieDD]

Wanna bump this up for folks who may only have net access at work and may not have seen it over the weekend.

[Mr. Pink]

lol...or you could take some vasiline and rub a little inside your nose...problem solved.

[charlieDD]