Comment by AlbertCory | Hacker News Reader

Comment by AlbertCory | Hacker News Reader

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I had a horrendous sinus infection in 2006, and got Prednisone for it, and various other drugs, and finally it went away. Fortunately, my allergy test didn't indicate much in the way of allergies. Before that, I had regular bouts of cold-like symptoms, was on Claritin, etc. etc.

Then I heard something which (cliché alert!) changed my life: it's sinus-rinsing. I discovered that it's not some woo-woo alternative therapy; lots of people do it, and your doctor will probably give it his or her blessing. You can get the kits in any drugstore (I use NeilMed). Everyone hears "sinus rinsing" and says "Neti Pot" and that's fine, although I think its major advantage is its Eastern-sounding name. I just use the squeeze bottle. Be sure to use distilled water. The powder is just saline and baking soda, which makes it not burn the inside of your nose.

Since I started this, I get maybe one cold a year, and it goes away in a week and a half or so.

What's the technical, scientific explanation for this? "It clears the crap out of your nose" pretty well covers it.

After my daughter was born four years ago, I went through a two year stretch of awful chronic sinus/ear infections, probably triggered by her bringing stuff home from day care. Two rounds of prednisone, probably six or seven rounds of antibiotics, even an MRI to check my auditory nerve for issues after my ears got plugged up badly after one of them. I'm deaf enough as it is and it's immensely frustrating when my ears clog up and temporarily remove what little remaining hearing I have.

Regular sinus rinsing made a huge difference in getting that under control. I'm also a big fan of the NeilMed squeeze bottles and that's what I've been using for a couple of years now. That said, this year I switched to the Xlear salt/xylitol packets and I like them better. I don't know if there's actual science to the claims that the xylitol inhibits bacterial adhesion or any of that, but I do find them gentler on my sinuses and less unpleasant if some of the solution works its way into my throat.

I don't rinse daily, but the instant I start to feel even a bit crap, I'll pull out my rinse bottle, distilled water, and packets, and have at it.

I'll be honest, the other thing that's helped is that "world events" normalized wearing masks in indoor public places, and I will continue to for a good while (the 3M Aura foldable N95 masks are _fantastic_) for things like grocery shopping. Wearing them doesn't bother me personally and definitely beats spending two weeks with my head full of crud I can't quite get rid of, or with my ears full of fluid.

I don't think you need distilled water. (Though I guess it depends on how bad your tap water is?)

Tap water can contain (no joke) brain eating parasites. You should at the very least boil the dickens out of it.

Which countries / regions have this dangerous tap water?

I'm fairly sure we don't have them in Singapore's tap water.

The naegleriasis infection has been documented in Australia in 1965, Czechoslovakia in 1962 to 1965, USA in 2003, 2011, 2013, 2020, and 2021, and Pakistan in 2008.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naegleria_fowleri

Every country / region. The danger here is not present when drinking the water, it's only when inserting it directly into your sinus cavity.

I went to Mayo last year (immune system issues) and told the internist I had chronic gurgling in my ear. He said it was probably related to the immune deficiency and the best thing to keep the ears cleaned out are regular nasal rinses. He also recommended the NeilMedi squeeze bottle.

Now I do it every day with distilled water. Mix it in the bottle with the packets, nuke for 25 seconds, do the rinse each side, gargle with any leftover water, clean the bottle and nozzle with dish soap. Takes only a couple of minutes.

If I'm going to be out like at a store or someone's house, I wait until I get back home to do the rinse, figuring that if I've picked up any Covid cooties, this is a good way to get them cleared out of my nose before they start multiplying too much.

I have occasional but super painful sinus infections. One thing I don't get is, how does this sinus rinsing apparatus manage to clean out a sinus cavity which is topologically a dead end in the network of nasal air passages? Do you just have to squirt it extra vigorously to get enough turbulence to get fluid in and out? Kind of like the sight glass on a pool filter.

It doesn't work immediately. You push saline from one nostril through the sinus cavity out the other nostril. It creates some turbulence and helps the mucus flow. Often water will end up stuck in your sinus and come out when you lean over later. Really, it just seems to help your sinuses clear themselves (did you know about nasal cycle which alternates congestion?). You still tend to just blow out more infected glop. Also, it's easier to tell when something bad is going on, because you'll actually see the blood in your mucus rather than just having dark boogers. That might encourage you to clean more than once.

Forgot about the "water dripping from your nose when you lean over" part. That's definitely gross!

(Grossness warning)

Good question. I notice the water comes out the other nostril, so it can't be totally a dead end, right?

That's why I prefer the squeeze bottle to the Neti pot, actually -- more force to the water.

My impression is there is that you can get from one nostril to the other, but a sinus is a cavity attached to the side of that path with no other entry or exit point.

This is just a "spherical cow on a frictionless plane" model, but wouldn't Bernoulli's principle mean that the moving water would "pull" on the cavity's fluid somewhat?

Is there a reason for distilled water over, say, an in home RO? I always assumed it was to avoid potential bacteria, amoebas, etc.

Distilled water is much easier to get hold of compared to a reverse osmosis system. I suspect most people can buy distilled water, but can’t access a reverse osmosis machine.

Also it’s easier to be confident that your distilled water is still mostly pure as the manufacturer will be regularly checking their output. Unless you’re running regular testing on your reverse osmosis equipment, and cleaning it and the downstream pipes, then how you be certain about the purity of your home made water?

If you are doing all that work, then home made purified water from a reverse osmosis setup is probably as good as store bought distilled water.

If the nurzle for your RO spigot got contaminated with something that liked noses after being shoved into somebody's drink... it might start growing up there. I prefer to only fill the bottles with boiling liquid when dissolving the salt. I use a water boiler. Then you have to wait for it to cool. 20-30 sec in the microwave will bring it back to head temperature.

What I REALLY would not use is an old Britta that's been accumulating goo for the last year. Fungus is bad, hard to kill, and will eat your brain. Do you have sourdough, kombucha, or any other weird smells in your fridge? Keep it outta there!

If you just boil the water before use (and let it cool, obviously!), there's zero risk of infection. Distilled water is generally just the easiest and simplest way to do it safely.

> I always assumed it was to avoid potential bacteria, amoebas, etc.

You nailed it. Misuse can be fatal due to proximity to the brain.

I'm not particularly paranoid, but I do notice mineral buildup over time from tap water. In fact, my dishwasher may be end-of-life because of it.

(and of course, as others have said, bacteria, amoeba, disinfecting chemicals, minerals from the house's pipes... did I mention that I'm not paranoid? :) :) )

But YMMV -- if you're happy with reverse osmosis, go for it.

Do you ever run a descaling cycle? You can use citric acid or a cleaning pack that's basically just Citric acid.

Plumber told me to put vinegar into it, which sounds like the same principle.

I have a dishwasher that says an upright glass of vinegar is an option if dishwasher cleaning tablets aren't powerful enough but warns that it is harsh on the plastics and seals.

you can use home RO if you boil it but distilled is best. I used to work in industrial water purification and I would never use water that hasn't been boiled first.

edit: and yes... look at the news every now and again where you hear of some kids swimming in a lake and dying from an amoeba or something else that jumped the brain barrier.

Life-changing for me too - highly recommended. It's kind of weird and a little unpleasant at first, but has significantly reduced my allergy symptoms.

> It's kind of weird and a little unpleasant at first ...

One thing that helps is to warm up the water slightly so that it matches your body temperature.

Maybe. Once I neglected to mix in the saline - bicarbonate powder, and did it ever burn. I think that's what makes it less nasty than getting water up your nose when you're swimming.

Likewise - that's a mistake you'll only make once!

Dumb question, but how do you warm distilled water in a sterile fashion without fully boiling it? I wouldn't trust using my kettle for this since I typically use tap water, but maybe it wouldn't matter?

Assuming you are using the squeeze bottle method, as the below linked comment says, put 8 oz distilled into the plastic bottle, then nuke about 25 secs to reach approx 100 degrees F. After you do this a few times you will learn exact amount of time.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29375614

It is advised to boil the water beforehand to kill anything that might enjoy eating its way into your brain. Store-bought distilled water is not guaranteed to be sterile afaik.

Just use tap water?

Tap water is definitely not sterile.

Yep, and has killed people via neti pot, although rare.

Microwaving water to boiling temp is an easy way to sterilize a small amount.

I'd suggest to just use your electric kettle (the same you use for making water for your tea), if you have one.

If you aren't careful, microwaved water can explode as soon as you move it. See eg https://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/explodi...

Do keep in mind that regular sinus rinsing does come with a few negative side-effects, too.

(I use it when I have a runny or blocked nose, and it works really well.)

I do it as well, just before bed, and it certainly helps me to breathe better while I'm sleeping.

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