This weekend was my big Spring Cleaning weekend, which meant burrowing into the deepest crevices of my flat for things to give away, throw away or sell at our tag sale.
It also meant encountering fur-laden dust bunnies the size of a kitten and dust clouds reminiscent of those aerial shots of Iceland. This was some serious cleaning.
By Saturday night my apartment was starting to look great. I, on the other hand, was falling apart. All that cat hair and dust, combined with the pollen outside, created an allergy attack the likes of which I haven’t seen in years. My eyes and nose were weeping and I sounded like little Peggy Ann McKay.
Of course, I was out of my prescription allergy medication. Desperate measures were in order.
At the urging of my boyfriend I used our neti pot. I slightly was dubious; I felt too far gone for a little bit of salt water to offer any relief.
Whaddaya know! It helped. A lot. The neti pot works by flushing your nasal passages of irritants, in my case half a cat. A solution of warm water and a pinch of sea salt goes in one nostril, through your septum and out the other nostril. It isn’t nearly as gross as it sounds, and doesn’t feel any different than getting a little bit of water up your nose while swimming.
My nose stayed clear for the rest of the evening, which allowed me to sleep peacefully. Always happy to get my hands on a chemical-free, eco-friendly solution that works, I’ll use my neti pot in the future before I reach for my medication.
For a demonstration on how to use a neti pot, check out this YouTube video. (I’d like to tell you that I looked this polished and serene when I used mine but that would be a bold-faced lie. I recommend a bib of some sort, or you can do it in the shower or bath.)
You can purchase neti pots at any natural food store. I purchased mine at Rainbow Grocery.
Tags: allergies, dust cloud, eco, Eco to the People, eco-friendly, green, Heather O'Neill, Iceland, little Peggy Ann McKay, natural allergy relief, neti pot, organic, Rainbow Grocery, seasonal allergies, Shel Silverstein, volcano, YouTube
I LOVE my nettie pot.
Hi,
I too was very skeptical at first when my husband told me about the neti pot. I have always had hay fever and it has always required medication, so I didn’t expect much. Oh boy, was I ever wrong!
One afternoon I got a a bit of a green thumb and decided to weed the garden beds in my yard. In some places the grass was probably a meter tall and it had bloomed with those seed-spreading shoots (I know… I should maintain my yard more). I had such a bad allergy attack, I couldn’t stop sneezing. Then I tried the neti pot and I stopped sneezing. It just washed away all the dust and pollen and allergens and I was a happy camper again.
It took some practice, but I find it really easy to use the neti pot and I don’t need to use the shower stall or a bib. The trick is to do it slowly and bend forward enough. Hope that helps!