How To Use A Neti Pot

I have a deviated septum. That means I can only breathe through one nostril.

The other nostril is just for show. It’s like a toilet at Home Depot — it’s not connected to anything and you can’t use it.

I bless the day that some brilliant genius — I’m talking about truly Einstein-level smarts here — invented the Breathe Right strip.

A Breathe Right is a little piece of sticky plastic that goes over the bridge of your nose, grips your nostril flaps, and pulls.

Breathe Rights are worn by highly-trained competitive athletes during play, and by people like me — overweight mouth breathers with a defective schnozz.

But when my allergies act up or I have a cold, Breathe Rights aren’t up to the job.

My nostril flaps can only extend so far. That’s when we need to get to the root of the problem and have a nice, self-inflicted waterboarding.

Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. I mean a nice, soothing “sinus wash”.

The History of the Neti Pot

Like so many things in my life, sinus cleansing is connected to yoga. (Hey, I’ve got the pants and I use a neti pot. I don’t know what else you want from me.)

The practice itself has been around for more than 5,000 years:

Ancient hatha masters like Yogi Gorakhnath taught their students a variety of neti practices, from sutra neti (nasal cleansing with a string) to jala neti — techniques that flush water, milk, ghee, and other liquids through the nasal passages to prepare the body and mind for pranayama and meditation. — Shannon Sexton

I’m sure after having a string pulled through their faces these guys were ready for a little quiet meditation. (What other liquids? WHAT OTHER LIQUIDS??)

Pro Tip #1:

Always, always, always, always use the little salt packets that are made for sinus washing. I use the cheapest I can find. Salt is salt.

I know it’s tempting to say, “But wouldn't it be cheaper to just use water? Buying the little salt packets is a hassle. Can’t I just use plain water?”

Of course I tried using my neti pot without salt. That’s just a very me thing to do. I’ve never met a corner I didn’t want to cut.

Huge mistake.

You see, salt is a buffering agent — I don’t even know what that means, ‘cause science.

But after I stopped screaming, I vowed to always, always, always, always use the little salt packets.

The Navage

Full disclosure: my boyfriend interviewed with the Navage people (RhinoSystems, Inc. — get it? Rhino?) when he was looking for a job.

It’s a very pleasant, family-owned company headquartered in Cleveland, and they make a nasal irrigation system that is (a) vaguely terrifying and (b) kind of gross.

The Navage is a supercharged, battery-powered contraption that keeps the water contained in two reservoirs, so no more hanging your head over the sink like a leaky jack o’lantern.

According to a 2018 market research report by Sheer Analytics & Insights Pvt. Ltd., a Kolkata, India, market research firm, the global nasal irrigation market is expected to grow rapidly, at a 24.6% compound annual growth rate from 2018 to 2025, propelled by continuing industrialization and urbanization coupled with changing lifestyles. — Crain’s Cleveland Business

Pro Tips #2 and #3:

Two words: brain-eating amoebas. Okay, technically that’s three words.

My point is, always use distilled water in your neti pot. You have no idea what’s in tap water. None. It could be recycled sewer water — do you want sewer water up your nose?

And warm the water a little first — not a lot!! Please do not boil yourself, that would be bad.

I microwave 1 cup of water for about 30 seconds, which is just enough to take the chill off.

Just Do It

I can’t swim, so most of my childhood interactions with pool water involved either swallowing it or snorting it up my nose.

Using a neti pot is just like that. I’m not even going to try to sugarcoat it — the first time you use a neti pot is going to be deeply, deeply weird. You just need to grit your teeth and do it.

After the initial shock, you’ll get the hang of tilting your head just right to watch water pour out of the other side of your face like a magician’s trick.

It’s really all in the angle — too upright and it just drains down your throat or across your cheek. You’ve really got to cantilever your upper body.

And don’t forget to snort some of the liquid into your sinus cavities where it will do the most good. Just trust me on this.

Using a neti pot has really been a game-changer for me. It gets rid of the pressure behind my eyes that I wake up with every morning and it just makes me feel lighter and cleaner.

You won’t drown, I promise.