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Comment by code_duck | Hacker News Reader

I wash my nose in such a way frequently because I have an extreme sensitivity to airborne chemicals and fragrances. It’s so uncomfortable to be doused with air freshener, diesel exhaust, cleaner fumes, laundry fragrance, plastic odor or perfume that I rinse my nose out with whatever water is available, which includes taps and drinking fountains. I’ve worried about such an illness happening to me, evidently with good reason.

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Your symptoms are the same of people with untreated nasal polyps. Ask your doctor about nasal corticosteroid spray treatment.

I see that listed as causing a decreased sense of smell - can it also cause a hypersensitivity to odors? My sense of smell is very precise, to the point that I can do things like smell which friends my girlfriend visiting on the way home from work. It could be in part because I maintain such a pristine, scent free environment where as other people have environments flooded with fragrances. This started it about the same time as my autoimmune disease and has steadily gotten worse at the same rate.

Upon exposure to an odor like Pantene or Gain, my upper lip feels numb and I start salivating. It makes me feel slightly dizzy and gives me a headache. The odor lingers in my nose and mouth until I rinse it out or 10-30 minutes. I was diagnosed with an esophageal hypersensitivity and dozens of allergies, but nasal polyps didn’t come up. I’ll ask.

Yes, it distorts the sense of smell and taste - my mother-in-law would smell an annoying floral aroma everywhere, can’t smell certain foods or she would get immediate heartburn, and couldn’t taste salt or taste it too much in certain hours of the day. It’s weird! But we tend to not take our sense of smell and taste so seriously so I think it should be very important to the brain to have a healthy sense of smell and taste or else you would get these “hallucinations” because it cannot be a real allergy.

My issue seems to be with amplification and lingering of odors more than distortion. I guess another issue is scents interfering with my taste during and after eating.

Yeah, I think a distorted sense implies amplification or narrow signals as well.

Yea, you need to stop that. Start carrying distilled water with you.

How do you warm it?

In my experience using saline nasal flushes, having the water at room temperature hasn't really bothered me, as long as I've added the salt.

Someone else responded to my question saying the same thing. I tried using distilled water at room temperature (with the salt) and it REALLY hurt my nose. Feels great when the water is luke-warm. Maybe I am the only one.

I'm sure you're not. For me it's uncomfortable but bearable at room temperature. Much more comfortable after 12s or so in the microwave.

Could try microwaving it or using a chemical reaction to heat it, like an MRE meal.

I would recommend placing the bottle in a hot/warm water bath. Like how baby bottles are warmed.

If microwaving, make sure to mix well!

The temperature doesn’t make any difference to me.

I generally have RO water in my car, and use the cleanest water available wherever I am, but can’t carry a bottle at all times.

You can safely use bottled water, that would probably be a easy alternative :)

I usually do, but I don’t have a bottle at all times.

Just so you know: "In a new report entitled "Take Back the Tap," Food & Water Watch explains that 64 percent of bottled water comes from municipal tap water sources" https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/sites/default/files/rpt_18...

how is bottle water better? where I live the tap water is usually of higher quality than the bottled water, just a bit harder.

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