Sinus irrigation

It's weird-sounding, but it helps! People have been sniffing salted water or using neti pots for centuries, and my doctor recommended I try it for my chronic sinus problems.

I don't have sinus infections, just a lot of junk left from when I did have them. I had a CT-scan done in 2000 and it showed a lot of thickening in the walls of my sinuses. The cilia (tiny hairs that move stuff along in them) just don't move or do their job anymore.

http://www.sinucleanse.com The first I tried was her recommendation, SinuCleanse. I didn't find it helped that much. It didn't seem to flush things out like it was said to.

I even tried a modified approach, using a turkey baster to administer the water (yes, picture it, go ahead - and laugh, because it is funny, I know!).

Now, neither of those seem to help much. I've been doing a lot of reading about irrigation methods and am really interested in the Hydra Pulse product developed by Dr. Grossan. Are any of you familiar with it?

http://www.alerg.com/page/A/PROD/SST/SST2000

He first came up with a special tip to use in conjunction with a Teledyne Water Pik oral irrigation system, but then developed his own irrigation unit. He claims the gentle pulsing of the water helps free the cilia again to do their job. It makes sense.

I guess there's a chance my insurance might at least defray the cost if she prescribes it. I need to find out from them about that sort of thing, though. The last week has been terrible, especially at night, and I'm on the hunt for some relief.


I faxed my doctor about it, attaching a couple of PDF files about it, and asked if she knew anything about it and thought it might help. What are your experiences?

A little more about the practice in general: http://www.google.com/search?as_q=nasal+irrigation&num=30&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&lr=&as_ft=i&as_filetype=&as_qdr=all&as_occt=any&as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=.edu&safe=off (search at Google limited to sites ending in .edu, for university content)

This message was edited Nov 11, 2003 12:34 AM