cold remedy -> salt water up your nose
I wish I had heard this on NPR or looked online for this solution 3 or 4 weeks ago. I had a bad cold that turned into a sinus infection that lasted for three weeks and all I needed to do was snort saltwater. I’ll have to remember this for next time.
More info…
“Rinse with saline sprays. Saltwater rinses — or saline sprays — thin your mucus and get rid of irritants. Use an over-the-counter nasal saline spray, or flush your nostrils with warm salt water. The ratio of salt to water is approximately 1/8 teaspoon salt to 1 cup of water. Use a suction bulb or put some of the warm salt water in the cup of your hand to sniff it up one nostril at a time.”
I love this remedy. I use it all the time for sinus infections. I use a bendy straw! Make the salt water mixture, and place the straw in a bout 1 inch. Put your finger on the other end and remove the straw from the water with the inch of salt water. Bend the straw so that the water sits in the “elbow”. Then sniff away. Yup it hurts, but it sure kills bacteria.
Comment by jo schmo — October 23, 2005 @ 10:54 pm
To all of you, my mother in law instructed me in this remedy, but she told me to hold a glass of warm salt water in my hand, bend over and place my nose in the upright glass of water until my nostrils were submerged, close my mouthand inhale. This places the water in the upper nasal cavities, where they need to be. It is hard to do, but believe me it works.
I have since used this method, altho standing upright, to clear out my nose when it starts dripping.
Comment by Jill Cool — November 27, 2005 @ 2:49 pm
I took an old spent Afrin bottle with the mist sprayer and filled it with 1/2 teaspoon of salt with hot water to create a very high concentrate salt solution. I then used this over the course of two days and my sinus, or whatever, infection went away (essentially, it is nearly gone). I’d never tried this before and have always had these stinkers linger for weeks at a time without antibiotics. I figured that if a salt water gargle can solve sore throats most of the time this might help my nasal area as well!
I’m very happy to have found a more natural solution such as this as Affrin always seems to cause bronchial infections for me as drainage goes down into my lungs at night.
Comment by ylon — June 3, 2006 @ 11:10 am
Glad to have found your irrigation solutions. I have the worst cold in my life (the last “worst cold” was 20 tears ago, I quit smoking then). I’ve been fighting a terrible head cold when doing research on the net I came across snorting water with sea salt in it. My sinuses cleared up immediatly. Thanks
Comment by Michael Hays — March 30, 2007 @ 9:03 pm
This remedy will absolutely clear you up….but be prepared for it to hurt like H***. My goodness, what a burn!
Comment by tiffany — September 17, 2007 @ 2:01 pm
My mom bought a thing called a nose buddy from a yoga store its a small plastic container with a spout, bit like a teapot…..its for the saltwater and makes the whole process a little easier. you just tilt your head and pour it up your nose
Comment by Ellen — September 21, 2007 @ 12:54 am
this remedy (salty water) is better than any medicine u think of , it burns and yeah it burns , u will immediately shed some tears, eyes show reaction immediatly , but beleive me all the heavyness and infectious irritation will disappear in a matter of 5 min , u ll feel much lighter and healtier ,
just lay down , squirt it gently into yr nose and keep yr nose up so the water gets every where is needed and will wash up every thing is not suppose to be there.
cheers
Comment by rossy — September 29, 2007 @ 7:40 pm
I have been suffering with a dry stuffed nose, blowing did not help, nothing much came out. I just read about sniffing salt water, put 1/4 tsp. in a cup warm water and put it in a shallow bowl. I sniffed the solution several times and after finally being able to blow my nose, I can now breath better than for the last week. I will finally be able to sleep.
Comment by Lisa — October 16, 2007 @ 12:00 am
How often do you do this perday?
I have been suffering with a sinus infection for 3 weeks and I started antibiotics 4 days ago. I still have so much pressure and honestly nothing has come out of my nose in 3 weeks. I am desperate!!!
I tried this once this morning and it burnt and a bit of stuff came out of my nose, but not much…
Comment by Lindsay — December 30, 2007 @ 12:02 pm
According to my doctor, this is a very effective method of treating a sinus infection. Here is the procedure: fill a glass with 2 cups of warm water, and mix in 1/4 tbsp of salt. Submerge a wash cloth, press wash cloth against the nostrils, and snort while bringing the head back. Repeat 2-3 times a day while infected. From my own experience, it helps to do this while taking a shower or right after a shower. Of course, this should not be done in place of seeing a doctor (you’ll probably be prescribed antibiotics).
Comment by Tyler — January 11, 2008 @ 6:55 pm
antibiotics lower your ammune system… this is the safe way to live life without side affects..
thankx for the info everyone this really works
Comment by Natt — May 21, 2008 @ 3:37 pm
i had this method told to me by my pt instructor. he told me to take an old nasal spray bottle and rinse it out real well and the take a cup of warm water ans a teaspoon of salt mix it up . then pour it into the nasal spray bottle. then lay on the couch and snort it up till you feel it burn right under your eye your there . and repeat this step on the other side, and tilt your head back for about a min and a half. then let it sit up there for about 15 min and then blow.
and you’ll be surprised what will come out he said. Boy was he right, i had been fighting this off and on for about a month and when i did this. snot that was like rubber came out on both sides of my nose and it cleared right up. this works better than any meds out there right now and it’s better than nasal sprays because they cause more problems in the long run because most use steroids to fix it
Comment by ryan — June 8, 2008 @ 5:21 pm
I came down with a viral sinus infection several days ago… and have a big college meeting tomorrow. I need to feel well for it, so I went to the doc yesterday and he told me to do this and take guiafin (snot thinner drug). I just did this using a turkey baster… 1tbsp salt to 1 cup water, it was incredibly painful but I’m feeling better and hoping it works for good…
Comment by Rob — August 3, 2008 @ 9:55 am
I did this, but with more salt than necessary I think.
And it back fired. There was lots of burn in the nose along with the tears. It took 30 minutes to come back to normalcy. Now, this happened a month ago. Since then, every day after I get up, I sneeze incessantly and have a running-nose for an hour. May be its time to consult a physician. Did this happen to anyone here.. ?
Comment by Kiran Kumar — August 7, 2008 @ 11:55 pm
i’ve had a 2 month stuffy nose with only a few days of relief. 2 boxes of claritin later i’m about ready to try this method. we’ll see…
but yes, i wake up with sneezing and a stuffy nose just about everyday :(
Comment by dustin — September 1, 2008 @ 6:52 am
Mixing an equal proportion of baking soda with salt will reduce the harsh, raw feeling. An even better solution that I stumbled upon is a mix called Alkalol. It’s saline based, but adds menthol, camphor and some other related herbs…the whole thing is not only antiseptic, but very soothing, which I think helps tamp down your histamines when your allergies or sinuses are acting up. It helped me get over a month-long bacterial infection that the antibiotics couldn’t.
The ultimate solution – which I now own – is to get a WaterPik-type device and an add-on nasal tip (chk out retailer called National Allergy) and use that to gently power-irrigate your sinuses with salt water or Alkalol.
Comment by Eric — September 2, 2008 @ 9:57 am
My aunt used to do this to my sis and I when we were sick growing up… I dont think I have tried it since but now I might!
Comment by Kara — September 2, 2008 @ 7:21 pm
I learned of this method back when I was in college. I had a book of natural remedies and I may have learned it there. Thanks to majic I am reminded of it today, the day my sinuses have gone wild. So, as soon as work allows, its off to the condiments cabinet.
Comment by John McNulty — September 5, 2008 @ 1:28 pm
i just looked at this website and tried this. i prolly went overboard with the salt due to desperate measures. not that i care. it wasn’t that bad. i did like 2 tsp per cup and just shoved my nose in the cup and breathed in as hard as i could.. 2 minutes of pain cured a day long sinus headache.. woohoo!
Comment by tk — October 3, 2008 @ 10:14 pm
Yahoo! I’ve had clogged ears for more than a month. Taking Flonase and Mucinex D and anything else my doctor thinks “might” work. I’ve used more “medicine” in the last five weeks than ever in my life. I am not a doctor person, but… I couldn’t hear! Thank you so much for this suggestion. I used my baster and warm salt/baking soda water, blew my ears and hallelujah!
Comment by Andrea — November 8, 2008 @ 6:57 pm
I just tried this method ive had a sinus infection for about 3-4 days and I am going to aruba tomorrow. this really helped, hopefully with this method and the warm weather my infection will be wiped out. thanks so much
Comment by Mike — December 25, 2008 @ 10:32 pm
HOOOOOOO DOGGY. MY FRIEND AND I ARE BOTH SICK. WE’RE GOING TO DO THIS.
Comment by JOSH — January 6, 2009 @ 5:04 pm
YES IT DOES! My E.N.T. DR. gave me this 10 years ago and I live by it. My wife thought I was crazy. She said it burns too bad but it DOES do the trick, and FAST.
Comment by racefanfoster — January 15, 2009 @ 9:00 pm
This remedy works for me. I am tired to taking medication. Salt water UP YOUR NOSE. No side effects and does the trick. My mother showed me this. I have chronic sinus infection. Antibotics only help temporatily. Try it
Comment by Yolanda — February 6, 2009 @ 3:38 am
this does work, i actually do this in my bath, filling the bath water with much salt and going under many times, lots of fun hey. I also take garlic supplement, one tablet every 2-3 days, helps heaps, perhaps try it out.thanx.
Comment by nick — February 9, 2009 @ 9:42 am
Tryed it today , kinda of gross to do but it worked for me , i can breath again , keep in mind tho it does not cure a cold but takes away that cloghed up stuff head withing minutes , warm water in a cup 1/4 teaspoon of salt , straw in the nose & snort away you will clear out within minutes , Thanks everyone !
Comment by RALPH — February 25, 2009 @ 8:18 am
I tried this with great success, cleared sinuses, probably fended off infection. I have to say I’m not sure what people are saying about the pain, I did not experience any at all. I wonder if they are using iodized salt rather than uniodized sea salt?? Would that cause the pain? sort of like putting iodine on an open wound?
I put this solution into an old Dristan spray bottle and it works great, the one thing I noticed is that if there is any excess that makes it to the back of your throat, it is just salty water, not that horrible taste that you get from over the counter nose sprays. I did find that I had to repeat several times over the day, and it helped considerably doing it before bed.
Comment by ratsquith — May 18, 2009 @ 7:36 pm
does the salt/water nasal wash help with the chronic bad breath also?
Comment by anneth — May 22, 2009 @ 4:49 am
for bad breath try therabreath, both the toothpaste and the rinse
http://www.therabreath.com/
Comment by rebron — May 22, 2009 @ 8:24 am
Had a cold for about a week and just starting to get over it. Problem is now my something in my nose smells like a$$ so i’m thinking I’m getting a sinus infection. Just tried putting some saltwater in my nose with a syringe. Didn’t feel to bad but I blew some nasty stuff out!! Feel like a million bucks… will keep doing it for a couple days and see if the smell disappears! Thanks people!
Comment by Erik — June 15, 2009 @ 10:14 pm
You have to be some kind of baby, if you think this hurts. The pain is the same as when you dive into a pool. Getting water up your nose can be irritating, wether your a child, or an adult. The thing is, that mild rush goes away in seconds. My question to everyone would be, is common household salt a bad thing to use ?
Comment by TheForceQ — June 25, 2009 @ 12:22 pm