Neti Pot

Those of you who know me well know that I ALWAYS have kleenex or tissues with me -- in the pockets of every coat and jacket, in my purse, in the car, in just about every room of the house. I have had a constantly runny nose since childhood. As a matter of fact, my mother used to despair that I would ever learn to blow my nose properly. She'd tease that when I got married, she'd have to walk down the aisle with me to help me blow my nose. This nasal problem even persuaded me to have a deviated septum corrected when I was about 25, a surgical procedure which I remember all too clearly. Still, nothing has ever worked to dry me up.

Earlier this week I saw the pulmonologist about the results of the PET/CT scan of the 4 mm lung lesion. I persuaded him to examine me as well, because I had been complaining of an occasional inspiratory wheeze (which led me to get the scans to begin with). He couldn't find anything wrong (yay!) but recommended I use a nasal saline spray. I said, "Or a neti pot?" And he agreed that would be fine.

So I went over to my favorite natural health store, Rainbow Natural Health on 15th Avenue East, and bought a neti pot. It looks like Aladdin's lamp. You fill it with warm salt water, lean over the sink, tilt your head so one nostril is up and the other down, and insert the tip of the neti pot into the upper nostril. Gently pour some water salted water in and it will run out the other side.

I laughed so hard while I was doing this that I sprayed salt water all over the kitchen sink. It felt a little like swimming underwater and getting water up your nose. But even Oprah's Dr. Oz recommends it and I have decided to give it a try for a couple of weeks to see if my nose clears up. If it does, my lifelong runny nose problem may have ended!

You can watch a video of this mildly disgusting but pretty helpful process.