Replied By Tim (Strawn, Il) on 12/21/2009

Replied By Joyce (Joelton, Tn) on 12/22/2009

The first thing anyone with sinus problems should do is eliminate all things that might be keeping your sinuses constantly irritated, such as perfumes, smoking, after shave lotions, hair spray, cosmetics, paint fumes, etc. Always beware of anything you can see or smell in the air you breathe is my motto.

That said, now I'll tell you about my 73 year old brother with a longstanding history of sinus problems, who relates a long history of frequent visits to doctors (including the specialists called ENT doctors) with no lasting relief. After listening to his complaints I told him about swabbing my own nose out with hydrogen peroxide (H202) when the congestion or clogging would get so bad and suggested that he might try a 1:1 H202/water solution to spray in his nose to see if it would clear it up and explained that the H202 alone did sting. Well, he one-upped me. A couple of nights ago he called to tell me that he had started spraying the straight H202 up his nose a couple of months ago, that yes it did sting but he could put up with the sting for the good it was doing. The first thing he mentioned was that bleeding from one side of the nose that he had been having (for a year or more) had stopped. The second thing he mentioned was the nasty yellow gook was clearing up. He also said that just minutes after spraying it in his nose he could feel it breaking loose and running down his throat. At this point, I happily told him that it must be improving his hearing as I hadn't had to yell over the phone & keep repeating what I said several times as usual tonight. Another thing that helps to keep the nasal passages open is flushing with normal saline, which is rather pricey when purchased from the pharmacy. However you should be able to find how much NaCl (table salt) to add a pint of boiling water to make your own at home. You should also be able to skip the boiling part if you add it to distilled water.

For those curious enough to do the math, to realize how pricey it is from the pharmaceutical company, go price the small bottle of normal saline nasal spray, making a note of the cc or ounces in the bottle. Go home, grab a pencil & paper (or do it the easy way and grab your calculator) and knowing that 30cc=1 ounce, start multiplying 30cc x 16oz (l pint) x 8 (pints per gallon) will quickly tell you how much it would cost you per gallon. It won't make you any happier the next time you fill up your gas tank, but at least you'll know that you are paying less for the gas than you would for the gallon of normal saline (NS). After all the pharmaceutical doesn't have to pay a high price per barrel of oil and then refine. All they have to invest in is a gallon of distilled (or boil their tap water) water and add a few teaspoonfuls of table salt to it & bottle it up to make a big profit.

They make a little Neti pot especially for flushing your nose, but a small ear syringe or a 3 to 5cc hypodermic syringe purchased from the medicine section of your local farmer's co-op should work just as well, if not better. If it comes with a needle attached, please remove the needle before using it to flush your nose.

Replied By Juju (Atlanta, Ga) on 12/27/2011