To Neti or Not?

I got D a neti pot for Christmas. My sister and sister-in-law swear by them, and have in turn indoctrinated their spouses. Nothing about draining salt water with a little teapot into my nasal cavity is enticing, but D wanted one and so Santa delivered. I'm sure these things have been used in some cultures for hundreds of years, but to hop on the trailing bandwagon Western culture seems to embody in regards to alternative medicine felt a little, well, cliché. I mean these things are everywhere now, I recently saw a hanging poster in the window of a Walgreens seeming to shout out to the passing cars "Yes, we have what you're looking for! We have a whole shelf of nasal pots!" I felt like I was buying a Chia Pet, back in the 80's.

Well, last week I could feel a cold coming on: scratchy throat that quickly turned soar, aches, had the runny/sneezey nose, felt as if my ears were packed with cotton etc. I really held it a bay with Emergen-C (cranberry), and kept up my new exercise regimen, but I could feel the stuffy nose settling in next. To me, a stuffy nose is the worse symptom of a cold. I am a nose breather while sleeping, I find it absolutely baffling that people can sleep with their mouth open.

Enter the neti pot.

So I thought I'd give it a whirl, since all the big bad men in my family (now including my dad, who'da thought) use these things. I schooled myself on what ratio of water/sea salt to use, and just went for it. It's a little weird feeling your face fill with warm water. But at the end of the cycle, I could breathe, breathe deeply.

So cheers (everyone clinking their neti pots together)!
Here's to breathing through your nose!