Colds and Coughs - magic cure

[samdive]

Thought I would share something simple with you...

I have had a persistent gunky throat and cough since January.... have been to my GP 7 times and tried anthistamine, antibiotics, early nights, late nights, large amounts of water before bed, changing all my duvets and pillows, changing my diet, every kind of decongestant on the market... nothing worked....

all last week in Dahab the diving was great but the breathe up was rubbish because I kept having to stop to cough up gunk.... this has been the same all year...

yesterday I finally saw an ENT doc... he stuck a telescope down my nose and into my throat.... then stuck me in some kind of space age tube and did a scan of my sinuses and nose....

finally we know what it is.... sinuses are clear, lungs are clear, nose is a mess - I have something called chronic post viral rhinitis (in English, a drippy nose that you get after a bad case of flu and doesn't go away....)

after all this hi tech investigation.. the cure.. sounds like a recipe for some kind of old wive's tale...

one pint of water
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate

stir it up, pour some into your palm and snort it up each nostril three times a day..... (or if you are so gunked you can't snort you can buy a yoga thing called a neti pot - basically a jug small enough to pour up your nose!)

I have been doing the snorting thing for precisely 24 hours and the gunk is almost gone.... (there is a back up plan of steroid nose spray but I really don't think I'll be needing it)

so - if you are gunky or just don't want to catch all the colds this winter (apparently it also works as a preventative measure) - its simple - snort saline! it ain't exactly fun but it sure works!!

(and don't use hundreds of pounds of health insurance to find that out!!)

S

: )

 

[octopus]

If I understood five-lemon theory right...sodium bicarbonate should improve you apnea times.

 

[laminar]

Hi Sam,

That's an awesome discovery! I have had a gunky nose/ears ever since a six-month stay in China, and coincidentally (I think not), a horrible virus that took over my ears and sinuses for at least a month.

I've tried the normal saline thing, but do you figure the bicabonate adds an extra kick?
Thanks for sharing!

Pete

 

[Bill]

Please don't take this as a smart alec remark.
How many ounces (or millilitres) in a pint, 16, 20, 205 or 246?
Can anyone explain an old English expression "a pint a pound the world around"?

Annabel started me flushing out with sea water last year and Eric recommended a diluted version. I will now try adding NACO2 (did I get that right?).

Thanks Sam

Aloha
Bill

 

[Fondueset]

Same logic as the Yoga salt water snorting thing - changes the PH - salt is also an antibiotic. Bicarb must just really kick it

 

[Aquagenic]

Sounds like this might work for me. I have had a cough on and off for the past couple weeks. I don't really feel that sick, just a nagging cough that is never quite satisfied. I am familiar with the concept of "irrigation", but I did not know that it worked as preventative maintenance.

Thanks for the tip Sam! I'll have to give it a try and let you guy's know how it worked...

~James

 

[ADR]

Hey Bill - 600ml to a pint!

and ....a pint is 16 ounces of volume, while a pound is 16 ounces of weight thus the saying you mentioned

 

[ADR]

....actually it's a little more complex than that as the USA insists on reinventing without improvement, just to be different

1 Pint (UK) - 568ml
1 Pint (US) - 473ml

given Sam is in the UK try 568ml - or 20ounces (UK)/19.2ounces (US cause you had to stuff that one up to!! :duh

enough now from the cheeky boy from downunder, I'll go a pat my kangaroo now!

 

[samdive]

I don't think the recipe has to be too scientific - just so long as their is enough salt to taste without it burning like hell!

not sure what the bicarb does but try it - its working for me (even if it is a bit gross! don't do it in public!)

 

[Donna]

hmmm, maybe I'll try it to - might clear my nose enough to sound like I don't need 'tunes' on Friday!!!

 

[samdive]

do it at least a couple of hours before or you will dribbling down your sari!!

 

[bolts]

I don't think the recipe has to be too scientific - just so long as their is enough salt to taste without it burning like hell!

I do basically the same thing the night before every dive, and trust me, you'll know if you don't have enough water mixed in with the salt... :rcard :hmm

 

[GALADION]

It's been about five months since I've started using a product sold in pharmacies which sounds very similar to what Sam is using.
It is called Physiomer (I think it is a French product). It is actually sterilized sea water. They have also proceesed it to take out some of the NA in order not to have this burning feeling inside your nose.
This thing also thrusts the sea-water into the nose and down the throat so you don't have to make any snorting effort. Really cool.

 

[naiad]

I do the same with salt water. I haven't tried the bicarbonate yet, but it sounds like a good idea.

I have also decided to have the flu vaccine every year. It is available next week where I live. It makes a huge difference to the amount of colds and flu that I catch in the winter.

 

[Jon]

When I first took a yoga class, about 10 years ago, the instructor told us to use kosher salt in our neti pots- not a lot of seawater in the middle of Wisconsin.

When I bought my neti pot it came with a little scoop to measure out exactly how much salt you needed to add.

A couple of years ago I ran across Sinucleanse http://www.sinucleanse.com/ in the grocery store. It seems to have the bicarbonate mixed in along with the salt. It comes in premeasured packets that you just pour into the neti pot and add water to mix it up. It might be a bit more expensive than mixing your own, but the amounts are never off- and you WILL know if you have too much. :waterwork

Jon

 

[Bill]

'I don't think the recipe has to be too scientific - just so long as their is enough salt to taste without it burning like hell!'

I wasn't trying to 'split hairs', just trying to solve an old riddle. The ratio of water to salt (from two different sources) is 100/1 by weight. It may be easier to dilute sea water 1/2, then it 'tastes' right too.

Andy found a way to interpret the old, very old, phrase for me. It is always amazing how much knowledge is available with a few keystrokes.

Aloha
Bill

 

[naiad]

Today guess what I've got.. a bad cold.

I haven't been doing the salt water thing much lately. How often is good?

 

[sjkidd2002]

Hi all - there is a thing called a 'nasal douche' can help with this made by a company called Emcur. Search for Emcur and you will find lots of links. They also sell some calibrated salts to use if you cant get the mixture right.
S

 

[naiad]

Hi all - there is a thing called a 'nasal douche' can help with this made by a company called Emcur.

That's what I've got! I find it very good.

 

[samdive]

I got told to do it three times a day - that seems to be working (but its horrible!)