Hello! I have been a doctor for 21 years. My name is Georgy Olegovich Sapego. In this article I will tell you how to properly rinse your nose, and why you shouldn't buy sea water.
Doctors often prescribe a salt water rinse or nasal irrigation. This sometimes helps with colds, allergic rhinitis, sinusitis, or when thick snot runs down the back of the throat and interferes with life.
Many people think it would be especially beneficial to pour sea water up their noses. In fact, no serious scientific research has been done even for ordinary salt water. Experts in this field analyzed many articles and published a serious review in 2018, in which they decided that there was little harm from rinsing the nose with salt water, so you can try. If you really want to. Below is a link to the review.
How useful this is - no one knows. Maybe not useful. But not too harmful. So let the people indulge. There was no question of sea water there. That is, giving money for salt water from the sea is already stupidity. Don't get fooled by aggressive ads! There is no serious research or recommendation on this.
If you really want to rinse your nose, then make yourself a solution yourself.
And yet - rinsing the nose with salt water does not protect against virus infection.
What I will now tell you is not a treatment, but a hygienic procedure.
How to make a solution for rinsing your nose at home
Take a one liter container. Pour in one liter of boiled and cooled tap water. The water needs to be boiled, because there were cases when an infection got into the nose from the water supply system and ate their brains. Literally.
Add one flat teaspoon of baking soda and one to one and a half teaspoons of canning salt to the water. Don't be intimidated by the word "canning". This is ordinary pure salt.
If you take the first salt you come across, then there may be iodine and additives from caking. They are not good for the nose. Canning salt is usually called "no additives".
This solution can be stored at room temperature for one week. After a week, pour the solution down the drain.
How to rinse
Take any nasal rinsing tool. They are sold in many different ways. You can use a rubber syringe, which some people call an "enema," or just a large syringe.
Pour the solution into a separate cup. Do not put an enema or syringe directly into a liter jar of solution. Otherwise, the solution will quickly go out.
You can microwave the cup with the solution. It is more pleasant to pour a warm solution into the nose. Don't scald yourself!
Draw the solution into a convenient nasal rinser, bend over a sink or bathtub, turn your head slightly to the side, and pour the solution into your upper nostril. When you turn the tilted head to the side, one nostril will be higher. Therefore, it is called the top. Pour in there.
Aim the tip of the device not up, but towards the back of the head. It is there that the nasal passages are directed. Keep your mouth open.
The solution should be poured into one nostril and poured through the other. If you swallow the solution, then it's not scary.
Usually the first time from this case itching in the nose. Then you will get used to it. It's like in a joke: "... At first it hurt, but then I liked it ...".
After pouring a cup of the solution into your nose, gently blow your nose. Fluid can still drain from the nose. If you feel that the solution has lingered somewhere in the sinuses, then try tilting your head to the right and left as if looking under a cabinet.
After the procedure, rinse the syringe or device, and then dry.
How often and for how long to rinse the nose
Someone washes it once a day, someone only when symptoms appear. In fact, you can rinse your nose several times a day without harm to your health.
If you need to drip or spray medicine into your nose, rinse your nose first, and only then spray with medicine.
If you have problems with your nose, always ask your doctor first, and only then do something.
And this is a link to Cool Cochrane Review 2018 which says that there seems to be no harm from rinsing the nose, but the benefits have not been proven either. So don't waste your money on expensive seawater. This is all bullshit!
