Sinus Rinse

[LookingforPeace]

How often and when do you do your sinus rinse? I usually do mine at night when I have a shower. Im starting to find that my ears and throat are becoming irritated since I sleep shortly afterward. Do you drain your sinuses after you do your rinse? How is this supposed to work?

 

[emmalou1610]

I'm not sure if this answers your question but I know for neilmed sinus rinse it says to use at least an hour before bed. Hopefully that might improve the irritation you're experiencing

 

[MichaelL]

I do my sinus rinse first thing in the morning as part of my medical routine. I had sinus surgery many years ago and my ENT got me starting doing sinus rinses. I use a home-mixed combination of distilled water, salt and baking soda and rinse using an ear syringe. My ENT told me not to do it within several hours of bedtime because the solution needed time to drain. I'm not sure what solution and method you're using, so this advice may apply. I think neti pot rinses are OK close to bed time, but I've never discussed it with a doctor.

 

[NoelA]

My little girl just started sinus rinses. She uses hers in the AM and complained of ear pain after the first couple of uses. She held her mouth open a little while she was rinsing in order to breathe (and tell me how absolutely "AWFUL" it was). The next time we tried it, she held her mouth closed the entire time. That seems to help and now she says it's "wonderful to be able to breathe again!" If you open your mouth to breathe, the eustachian tube opens a little causing a bit of fluid and to enter the tube. It may cause some pain. Don't know if that will help, but it helped for her.

 

[LittleLab4CF]

Try rinsing over the sink either before or shortly after dinner. After trying a number of additives to my sinus rinse I came back to hot salt water. For some reason I can pump very hot water through my sinuses up around 115 degrees. This is scalding hot for normal skin but it gets the blood and mucus flowing like nothing else. In truth it isn't a hard trick, we drink near boiling water in tea and coffee and the sinus mucosa is little different. It wasn't brilliance that drove the idea of hot salt water, it was easier to do if the water was near 100 degrees. Cold water up the nose sucks. Anyway if you prefer your astringent or whatever you add currently, consider following it with a plain or salt water flush.

LL

p.s. I gave up sinus rinsing myself a long time ago. Like some CFers I have had several sinus surgeries and for some reason my sinuses don't always completely drain. This lead to the obvious problems.

 

[AleksandraKaczynska]

I also started doing it it with hotter salt water and it brings relief more them colder.
We do ours in the morning before nebs, at about 1400 after Asia's school before pulmo nebs and also before nebs before bedtime.

 

[Christina.R]

I forego rinses now in favor of exhaling my HTS (which I'm doing 2x a day anyway) through my sinuses. Seems to have the same effect without all the mess & pain, might help if you're on HTS too.

 

[Emer76]

I do my rinses twice daily. The evening one I do about an hour before I go to bed. Would like to know the ratio of baking soda to salt you use in the distilled water. I would love it if I didn't have to buy the neil med packets.

 

[Bailey Vincent]

Emer76, I completely agree...I'd love to know a homemade solution to use with my daily rinses to save money. What kind of salt does everyone use, for example?

 

[SoyaSauce]

I used a special irrigating machine, called "Gosslan Hydro Pulse,". It's expensive about $80.00-$85.00, but works exceptionally well for keeping everything clean up there the results are EXCELLENT. I used to have the same problem with ear pain and clogged feeling from using the Neli -Med bottle, so much so I hated doing it, I now only use that if I am traveling and its not convenient to bring the machine.

If I do use the bottle, try doing it VERY slow, alot of the times, you are doing it too fast, and as a result you are shooting up the water before it can drain in the throat and instead gets in your ears/tubes. Always try to keep your mouth open at all times, and lean forward. ALSO-try chewing MINT gum after your sinus rinse, really helps open up and move the solution out from your sinuses.

LittleLab4CF, please be careful with adding REALLY HOT water to your nose, even though it feels go for you, just remember the nose is very delicate tissues, and can cause worsening inflammation or cause a bad nosebleed. I use very warm water.

Also, CFers I HIGHLY recommended using only USPS grade sterile water, after talking with my Dr. He said that was a better idea then the distilled water, As we can not know for sure where or how really that distilled water was treated.

Especially since I got /had the mycobacteria and abscesses- Only sterile water will now touch my nose. Ever since then my cultures have been clear (PRAYING)

Oh, and I buy the little packs of salt for the Nelimed or arm and hammer, again, its pharmacy grade, so no worries contamination. I have also tried xylitol USPS grade power solution to add to the rinse, Works REAL nice, soothes and has a natural antibacterial activity in the nose!