Neti Made Easy

You've probably heard about using the "Neti pot".  Did you know that the practice of Neti (AKA saline sinus rinsing) originated in Ayurvedic Medicine, thousands of years ago?

Here is the lowdown on how to make Neti easy by saving money and making your own saline! 

Simple Saline Recipe

Add 8 teaspoons of sea salt to 1 gallon distilled water.  Shake until salt dissolves. 

Note: Do not use iodized salt.  It will burn. 

Because I care about all of you, I'm going to share some information from the Neti handout that I give to my patients about doing Neti the right way:

Instructions for Practicing Neti

1. Fill your neti pot with your Simple Saline.  

2. Stand over a sink, tuck your chin, and tilt your head to the right. Place the spout of the neti pot in your right nostril and slowly pour the water.  Adjust your head position if needed to allow water to flow out of the left nostril.

4. Repeat on the other side.

5. IMPORTANT:  Remove excess water from the sinuses after irrigation by bending forward and twisting to either side. When in the twist, shake the head a little to encourage and excess water to flow out.  You may also do a forward bend for 60 seconds, leaning over so that you feel slight pressure in the sinuses of the forehead.  This will allow any excess saline to drain. 

6. Gently blow your nose.

7. Follow with Nasya to prevent over-drying.

8. Neti can be done up to three times every day and can be useful in healing sinus infections.