So having puffy eyes, and a red runny nose, doesn’t exactly make for looking one’s best.  Throw a craptastic night’s sleep due to barely being able to breathe, and a pair of watery eyes, and you can kiss all loveliness goodbye.  Therefore, allergies is something that I strive to keep at bay, not only because of how I look, but also because they make me feel awful.  And since antihistamines and anti-puff butt cream cost money and contain chemicals I’d rather not injest, I took the plunge and bought myself a neti pot. 

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If you’re not familiar with this little device, it’s a little plastic pot in which you pour distilled water and a pre-mixed packet of baking soda and saline.  Then you tilt your head, place the end of the neti pot against one nostril, and let the solution flow up your nose and out the other side. 

I’ve read and heard personal accounts of  varying degrees of success with the neti pot, ranging from “lots of nasty stuff” washing out of the nose, to “I haven’t tried it yet.”  So I thought I’d give it a shot and share with you (aren’t you lucky?!) my results. 

Day one:
I bought the little blue plastic pot yesterday, which came with 50 premixed pouches of baking soda/salt, and mixed up an eight ounce batch of solution.  I went into the bathroom, tilted my head, and stuck the end of the pot against my nose.  And….OUCH!  It feels like water going up my nose!  Imagine that.  I then blew my nose, and repeated with the other side.  Then went about my day.

I was a bit stuffy throughout the day, but I’m not sure if this was because of the nasal rinse, or because we were outdoors apple-picking all day and the allergens were just having a hay-day.  I also sneezed a lot. 

Last night, my sleep was no different than any other night, but I did wake up with my sinuses slightly less blocked.

Day two:
I repeated the process this morning, and so far, I feel like crud.  My ears hurt, my throat is scratchy, and my nose kind of hurts a little.  I should mention that I spent the day Saturday with a girlfriend who’s been diagnosed with a sinus infection, double ear infection and bronchitis, so there were germs in the air.  Lots of them. So I could be coming down with a cold.  Ugh.

We’ll see how the week progresses.

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