I have a deviated septum and have not been able to breathe out of my left nostril since spring. It happens every year from the first hint of spring until the first hard frost. I get sinus headaches and my ears clog up. It’s so bad that I’ve been toying with the idea of having it fixed in what I hear is something of an icky procedure.

A few months ago, I saw Dr. Oz on Oprah talking about using a neti pot to flush the nasal passages with salt water. Of course, thanks to the Oprah effect, my local natural foods store was back ordered on neti pots for months. I finally got one a few weeks ago, and got to give it a try. I usually try to avoid buying plastic when I have other options, but I’m somewhat accident prone. I decided keeping a porcelain neti pot in the bathroom was a recipe for disaster, so I opted for the blue plastic Non-Breakable Travel Neti Pot from The Himalayan Institute. It’s made from the same food grade plastic as milk jugs. It’s microwave and dishwasher safe, and can be recycled when it’s life as a neti pot is over.

I mixed 1/2 a teaspoon of kosher salt with enough warm water to fill the neti pot. Holding my head over the sink, I used the spout of the neti pot to plug my right nostril and tipped my head to get the salt water to flow out of my left nostril. My nose stung a little — it’s the same feeling you get when water gets up your nose when you do a cannonball off the diving board — and salt water dripped directly down my throat. I pulled the neti pot out of my nose, coughed and sputtered for a minute and gave it another try.

By pulling my chin closer to my chest, I was able to get the water to flow out of my opposite nostril instead of down my throat. I emptied the neti pot, reloaded, and flushed the other nostril like a pro.

It took a little while to get all of the salt water drained from my nose, but one hanky and several minutes later, I was breathing out of my left nostril again.

I’ve been using the neti pot every other day for a couple of weeks, and my left nostril has stayed open, even during out backpacking trip. It’s a little gross, but incredibly satisfying. And I love that it’s a non-medicinal (and even better, a non-surgical) way to control my allergies and deal with my deviated septum.
If you use a neti pot, please make sure to only use boiled or distilled water.  Talk to your doctor about what’s best for you. And make sure all of the salt dissolves before you start. If some of the salt is still in solid form, it stings like crazy.

Click here for an instructional video on using a neti pot.

Have you come across a natural remedy, treatment, or cleaning technique you’re unsure about trying? E-mail me at alliesanswers at gmail dot com and I’ll give it a try it for you!