Nasal Irrigation

[Guest guest]

I have had lots of trouble with Sinusitus my whole life. someone recently posted something about "flushing with salt water.." well I just started reading about "Nasal Irrigation" and thought I'd share some insight.. after nasal surgery, you use a Saline solution to flush the cavities, maybe using an ear syringe. I think it's a Yoga body cleaning thing..like swallowing sting..anyway... you can buy online any number of gizmos and gadgets for this purpose. they mostly resemble retarded teapots. Walgreens also has a version called "Sinucleans", I think(or something similar) you put the spout end, fitted with a nose plug in one nostril, while holding your head at an angle and breath normally through your mouth, after a while the warm saline solution runs out the other nostril, taking

with it all the yuck. then you repeat on the other side. I've read Raves about it's effectiveness, and it seems to me a more resonable solution than many I have tried. Anyway, I'm going to get my own little teapot and use it prolly nightly during the season. I'm sure to want to carry on about it at a further date if I see results i Theresa

With a free 1 GB, there's more in store with Mail.

[Guest guest]

Theresa, that was me, who mentioned the sinuscleanse thingie..

It really does get a lot of crud out of your sinuses. The advantage of

the sinuscleanse is that it comes with pre-measured packets of salt,

so it's convenient, however you may prefer some kind of sea-salt or

something, then you'd have to measure it. Also, test it on your wrist,

or with a thermometer, like baby's milk bottle; you want the temp to

be the same as your sinuse, or you will get a (hot or cold) shock! I

tried the microwave, but then thought that heating water in a soft

plastic bottle was not a good idea, it might release yucky chemicals,

so I'd warm the water in a pan and pour it into the bottle.

 

You don't need a plug in the other nostril, you can just push the side

of the nostril with your finger, and squeeze the bottle, as you tip

your head back. The water will come through your sinuses and out your

mouth, but it's not as freaky as it sounds, it doesn't take long to

get used to it.

 

II also thought about adding a bit of grapeseed oil or colloidal

silver, but the salt water is very natural and effective, by itself.

 

If you live in a city, you will be happy to see the crud leaving your

sinuses.. it's helpful for allergies, too, in fact mine have been so

much better I haven't used this thing, for a while..

 

happy irrigation!

 

Scott.

 

 

 

herbal remedies , theresa d <isabellauren>

wrote:

>

> I have had lots of trouble with Sinusitus my whole life.

> someone recently posted something about " flushing with salt water.. "

> well I just started reading about " Nasal Irrigation " and thought

I'd share some insight..

>

> after nasal surgery, you use a Saline solution to flush the

cavities, maybe using an ear syringe.

>

> I think it's a Yoga body cleaning thing..like swallowing

sting..anyway...

>

> you can buy online any number of gizmos and gadgets for this purpose.

> they mostly resemble retarded teapots.

> Walgreens also has a version called " Sinucleans " , I think(or

something similar)

>

> you put the spout end, fitted with a nose plug in one nostril,

while holding your head at an angle and breath normally through your

mouth, after a while the warm saline solution runs out the other

nostril, taking with it all the yuck. then you repeat on the other

side.

>

> I've read Raves about it's effectiveness, and it seems to me a

more resonable solution than many I have tried. Anyway, I'm going to

get my own little teapot and use it prolly nightly during the season.

I'm sure to want to carry on about it at a further date if I see

results

> i

> Theresa

>

>

>

>

> With a free 1 GB, there's more in store with Mail.

>

[Guest guest]

please keep us informed thanks, Judith

 

 

>I have had lots of trouble with Sinusitus my whole life.

> someone recently posted something about " flushing with salt water.. "

> well I just started reading about " Nasal Irrigation " and thought I'd

> share some insight..

>

> after nasal surgery, you use a Saline solution to flush the cavities,

> maybe using an ear syringe.

>

> I think it's a Yoga body cleaning thing..like swallowing sting..anyway...

>

> you can buy online any number of gizmos and gadgets for this purpose.

> they mostly resemble retarded teapots.

> Walgreens also has a version called " Sinucleans " , I think(or something

> similar)

>

> you put the spout end, fitted with a nose plug in one nostril, while

> holding your head at an angle and breath normally through your mouth,

> after a while the warm saline solution runs out the other nostril, taking

> with it all the yuck. then you repeat on the other side.

>

> I've read Raves about it's effectiveness, and it seems to me a more

> resonable solution than many I have tried. Anyway, I'm going to get my

> own little teapot and use it prolly nightly during the season. I'm sure

> to want to carry on about it at a further date if I see results

> i

> Theresa

>

>

>

>

> With a free 1 GB, there's more in store with Mail.

[Guest guest]

I found this interesting article on the internet when looking for a

recipe for saline solution. The article states that simple saline

solution can damage the cilia over time in the sinus cavities and has

a recipe for a simpler Ringers solution by adding just a bit of

potassium and calcium chloride. The Ringers solution will not damage

the cilia. For any of you that have attended ill pets you will know

that Lactated Ringers is the solution used for subcutaneous

hydration. You can buy it but it is expensive, can require a

prescription from some suppliers, and some Ringers have simple sugars

in them which you don't want in your nasal passages and sinus

cavities. Link to the actual article is:

http://personal.ecu.edu/wuenschk/Nasal-Irrigation.htm

 

Nasal Irrigation

______

I have been irrigating my nose since my first sinus surgery. I

was instructed to do so post-surgical to remove the blood and other

gunk produced by the surgery. Having found irrigation to be helpful

in removing nasal gunk, and having a problem with an excess of such

gunk most of the time, I have made it a habit to irrigate once or

twice every day

The solution I use follows the recipe given me by my surgeon:

• Put two cups of tap water in the microwave and bring it to

rolling boil (6 to 7 minutes in my microwave)

• Stir in one teaspoon of sodium chloride (I use sea salt, but

the recipe says that picking salt is also acceptable)

• and 1/4 teaspoon of sodium hydrogen carbonate (baking soda,

sodium bicarbonate).

If I am going to irrigate with my Water-Pik (and special

attachment), I use all two cups of the solution, once it has cooled

down. If I am going to use a rubber bulb syringe, I pour half a cup

of the solution into a tea cup for use soon (after it cools) and

store the rest for use later (at which time I warm it up in the

microwave).

The rubber bulb syringe I use was sold for the purpose of

irrigating the ear, but works just fine for the nose. The

instructions given by my surgeon are to lean over the sink and shoot

the fluid up one and then the other nostril with enough force to

loosen the crud, aiming towards the back of the head and the top of

the back of the head. I have found a different procedure more helpful

for removing the gunk from my nose. I lean my head back and then

squeeze as much solution into one nostril as I can. I keep my head

back for a while, allowing the solution to dissolve the crud, and

then I lean forward and expel the cruddy solution.

 

Ear syringe used to irrigate the nose.

 

Water pick tip cut off to reduce the pressure. It you use the tip

that is designed for teeth without modifying it the pressure will be

too great. The modified tip worked OK, but lacked a way to keep the

fluid from draining down out of the same nostril

 

Here is the tip sold by WaterPik for nasal irrigation. It not only

reduces the pressure but also seals the nose. In this way the fluid

is forced up one nostril and then comes out the other nostril.

Find one of these on the Internet.

 

The recipe I gave above produces a buffered isotonic saline solution -

- one with salinity approximately equal to that of body fluids

(0.9%). Picking salt or sea salt is specified to avoid the other

ingredients that are added to table salt. For details on the

composition of sea water, see Relative Composition of Major

Components of Seawater. In addition to sodium and chloride, sea water

contains a fair amount of magnesium, calcium, potassium, and sulfate

ions.

I buy my sea salt at a local grocery store. I use only refined

sea salt (white, like table salt). One can find unrefined sea salt,

but I recommend against it -- it may contain things like clay

particles and who knows what else, things I don't want to be putting

up my nose. Unrefined sea salt might, however, also contain some

minerals that you would want to include in your nasal rinse.

There is some recent evidence that irrigation with a simple

isotonic saline solution (NaCl 0.9%) can slow mucociliary clearance

[boek W. M., Keles N., Graamans K., & Huizing E. H. (1999).

Physiologic and hypertonic saline solutions impair ciliary activity

in vitro. Laryngoscope 109, 396-399]. The cilia, tiny hair-like

structures, normally beat gunk out of the sinuses. Isotonic saline

can reduce this action, and hypertonic saline (saltier than isotonic -

- for example, sea water, which is usually about 3.5%) is reputed to

be able to produce permanent damage to the cilia, but a Ringer's

solution does not have this potentially undesirable effect.

So, what is Ringer's solution? Ringer strived to find an isotonic

solution that would keep the heart beating outside of the body. He

used chlorides of sodium, magnesium, calcium, and potassium. The

basic recipe for the solution is:

• In one liter of water,

o NaCl - 6 g

o KCl - 0.075 g

o CaCl2 - 0.1 g

o NaHCO3 - 0.1g

• See Ringer's Solution.

• There are many variations of the basic recipe for Ringer's

solution. For example, Lactated Ringer's contains 0.6% sodium

chloride, .25% sodium lactate, 0.04% potassium chloride, and 0.027%

calcium chloride in Water.

• Locke-Ringer Solution may contain (in addition to sodium

bicarbonate and chlorides of sodium, potassium, and chloride) sugar

and/or magnesium chloride -- see Locke-Ringer Solution. I doubt that

the sugar is needed in fluids used for nasal irrigation.

Ringer's solution can be bought, but it can be expensive. One

should be able to prepare, at home, a simple Ringer's solution, by

adding to the recipe I gave above (for two cups of buffered isotonic

saline) a pinch (1/30th of a teaspoon) of potassium chloride and of

calcium chloride - see Irrigation.

It is not difficult for patients to mix, at home, a solution that

closely approximates a Ringer's solution, One may get some of the

other salts (KCl and CaCl2 ) found in Ringer's by using sea salt, but

probably not in the same proportions as in Ringer's. I have not been

able to find very good information on the composition of sea salt,

but it does appear that many of the salts in sea water are

precipitated out in the process of preparing the sea salt that you

can buy at the grocer. See " Making sea salt " In the document The

Chemical Composition of Seawater. I also suspect that the mineral

composition of sea salt differs across different brands, depending on

the specifics of the process used to refine the product.

A helpful correspondent pointed me to the page at Oasis Nasal

Spray. This product, manufactured from salts from the Dead Sea, has

proportionately more calcium, magnesium, bromine, and potassium, but

less sodium, sulfate, and carbonate than does ocean water. The

manufacturer cites several sources in reaching the conclusion that

the higher concentration of magnesium ions makes their product

superior to regular sea salt for nasal irrigation. It is suggested

that dead sea salt solutions are less likely to cause damage to cilia

and that it has an anti-inflammatory effect. I am not qualified to

evaluate these claims, so please take them with a grain of salt.

[Guest guest]

Since the lactate ringer solution is difficult to obtain without a vet's

prescription, unflavored pedialyte can be used. This is what I used for

sub-q hydration for many years of doing cat rescue.

 

Judy

 

 

----

 

Rich

12/11/07 21:45:50

 

Nasal Irrigation

 

I found this interesting article on the internet when looking for a

recipe for saline solution. The article states that simple saline

solution can damage the cilia over time in the sinus cavities and has

a recipe for a simpler Ringers solution by adding just a bit of

potassium and calcium chloride. The Ringers solution will not damage

the cilia. For any of you that have attended ill pets you will know

that Lactated Ringers is the solution used for subcutaneous

hydration. You can buy it but it is expensive, can require a

prescription from some suppliers, and some Ringers have simple sugars

in them which you don't want in your nasal passages and sinus

cavities. Link to the actual article is:

http://personal.ecu.edu/wuenschk/Nasal-Irrigation.htm

 

Nasal Irrigation

______

I have been irrigating my nose since my first sinus surgery. I

was instructed to do so post-surgical to remove the blood and other

gunk produced by the surgery. Having found irrigation to be helpful

in removing nasal gunk, and having a problem with an excess of such

gunk most of the time, I have made it a habit to irrigate once or

twice every day

The solution I use follows the recipe given me by my surgeon:

• Put two cups of tap water in the microwave and bring it to

rolling boil (6 to 7 minutes in my microwave)

• Stir in one teaspoon of sodium chloride (I use sea salt, but

the recipe says that picking salt is also acceptable)

• and 1/4 teaspoon of sodium hydrogen carbonate (baking soda,

sodium bicarbonate).

If I am going to irrigate with my Water-Pik (and special

attachment), I use all two cups of the solution, once it has cooled

down. If I am going to use a rubber bulb syringe, I pour half a cup

of the solution into a tea cup for use soon (after it cools) and

store the rest for use later (at which time I warm it up in the

microwave).

The rubber bulb syringe I use was sold for the purpose of

irrigating the ear, but works just fine for the nose. The

instructions given by my surgeon are to lean over the sink and shoot

the fluid up one and then the other nostril with enough force to

loosen the crud, aiming towards the back of the head and the top of

the back of the head. I have found a different procedure more helpful

for removing the gunk from my nose. I lean my head back and then

squeeze as much solution into one nostril as I can. I keep my head

back for a while, allowing the solution to dissolve the crud, and

then I lean forward and expel the cruddy solution.

 

Ear syringe used to irrigate the nose.

 

Water pick tip cut off to reduce the pressure. It you use the tip

that is designed for teeth without modifying it the pressure will be

too great. The modified tip worked OK, but lacked a way to keep the

fluid from draining down out of the same nostril

 

Here is the tip sold by WaterPik for nasal irrigation. It not only

reduces the pressure but also seals the nose. In this way the fluid

is forced up one nostril and then comes out the other nostril.

Find one of these on the Internet.

 

The recipe I gave above produces a buffered isotonic saline solution -

- one with salinity approximately equal to that of body fluids

(0.9%). Picking salt or sea salt is specified to avoid the other

ingredients that are added to table salt. For details on the

composition of sea water, see Relative Composition of Major

Components of Seawater. In addition to sodium and chloride, sea water

contains a fair amount of magnesium, calcium, potassium, and sulfate

ions.

I buy my sea salt at a local grocery store. I use only refined

sea salt (white, like table salt). One can find unrefined sea salt,

but I recommend against it -- it may contain things like clay

particles and who knows what else, things I don't want to be putting

up my nose. Unrefined sea salt might, however, also contain some

minerals that you would want to include in your nasal rinse.

There is some recent evidence that irrigation with a simple

isotonic saline solution (NaCl 0.9%) can slow mucociliary clearance

[boek W. M., Keles N., Graamans K., & Huizing E. H. (1999).

Physiologic and hypertonic saline solutions impair ciliary activity

in vitro. Laryngoscope 109, 396-399]. The cilia, tiny hair-like

structures, normally beat gunk out of the sinuses. Isotonic saline

can reduce this action, and hypertonic saline (saltier than isotonic -

- for example, sea water, which is usually about 3.5%) is reputed to

be able to produce permanent damage to the cilia, but a Ringer's

solution does not have this potentially undesirable effect.

So, what is Ringer's solution? Ringer strived to find an isotonic

solution that would keep the heart beating outside of the body. He

used chlorides of sodium, magnesium, calcium, and potassium. The

basic recipe for the solution is:

• In one liter of water,

o NaCl - 6 g

o KCl - 0.075 g

o CaCl2 - 0.1 g

o NaHCO3 - 0.1g

• See Ringer's Solution.

• There are many variations of the basic recipe for Ringer's

solution. For example, Lactated Ringer's contains 0.6% sodium

chloride, .25% sodium lactate, 0.04% potassium chloride, and 0.027%

calcium chloride in Water.

• Locke-Ringer Solution may contain (in addition to sodium

bicarbonate and chlorides of sodium, potassium, and chloride) sugar

and/or magnesium chloride -- see Locke-Ringer Solution. I doubt that

the sugar is needed in fluids used for nasal irrigation.

Ringer's solution can be bought, but it can be expensive. One

should be able to prepare, at home, a simple Ringer's solution, by

adding to the recipe I gave above (for two cups of buffered isotonic

saline) a pinch (1/30th of a teaspoon) of potassium chloride and of

calcium chloride - see Irrigation.

It is not difficult for patients to mix, at home, a solution that

closely approximates a Ringer's solution, One may get some of the

other salts (KCl and CaCl2 ) found in Ringer's by using sea salt, but

probably not in the same proportions as in Ringer's. I have not been

able to find very good information on the composition of sea salt,

but it does appear that many of the salts in sea water are

precipitated out in the process of preparing the sea salt that you

can buy at the grocer. See " Making sea salt " In the document The

Chemical Composition of Seawater. I also suspect that the mineral

composition of sea salt differs across different brands, depending on

the specifics of the process used to refine the product.

A helpful correspondent pointed me to the page at Oasis Nasal

Spray. This product, manufactured from salts from the Dead Sea, has

proportionately more calcium, magnesium, bromine, and potassium, but

less sodium, sulfate, and carbonate than does ocean water. The

manufacturer cites several sources in reaching the conclusion that

the higher concentration of magnesium ions makes their product

superior to regular sea salt for nasal irrigation. It is suggested

that dead sea salt solutions are less likely to cause damage to cilia

and that it has an anti-inflammatory effect. I am not qualified to

evaluate these claims, so please take them with a grain of salt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Thanks Judy, I have used the Pedialyte myself though I have found a Vet

that is very understanding and knows I care for strays too and cannot

afford to go to a Vet every time. Just keep everything sterile. I

have used a big 60 CC syringe and rig it up to IV tubing. I did find a

site that does sell the Lactated Ringers without a RX and it is

Atlantic Medical supply but shipping is pricey due to weight.

http://www.atlanticmedsupply.com/Default.asp?

 

How wonderful of you to do the cat rescue. I have rescued and cared

for many, some of which end up living in my house and some that prefer

the outside in the sheltered areas I provide. Some have lived long

lives and some not so long due to FIV and Feline Leukemia. As humans

it is wonderful that we can extend our healing to other species and do

so with love.

 

I would be interested in anyone that may have alternative therapies for

other animals especially cats as there does not exist many if any

therapies for FIV or Feline Leukemia.

 

Richard

 

 

, " Judy Nimnicht "

<catsjudy wrote:

>

> Since the lactate ringer solution is difficult to obtain without a

vet's

> prescription, unflavored pedialyte can be used. This is what I used

for

> sub-q hydration for many years of doing cat rescue.

>

> Judy