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NETI - NASAL IRRIGATION IN ALBUQUERQUE & SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO
The nose plays an important role in your overall well-being and health. The most obvious function of the nose is breathing. Air enters your body through your nose and it is warmed, humidified and filtered. That same heat and humidity are recaptured each time you exhale.
 When your nasal passage is ill, it is often blocked and you are forced to breathe through your mouth. Most consider this to be a very disconcerting annoying inconvenience. Diseases can enter your body through your nose. A common cold is the best known example and when this happens, your nose and sinuses become blocked and filled with secretion and even the toughest of us are reduced to constantly blowing, sniffing/snorting and not feeling well.
The nose also houses the receptors responsible for your sense of smell. Without smell, food would lose its entire flavor. The environment, your loved ones and perfumes turn flat. While we all take our ability to smell for granted, the two to four million Americans who have lost their sense of smell will tell you this is a major disruption to their well-being. Many consider it a handicap and a disability.
Nasal and sinus complaints are one of the most common causes for people to consult physicians. Many of these problems can be easily self-diagnosed. Many are best treated with some of the simple remedies. These same treatments also complement traditional medical therapy.
ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY
The nose is a bony tunnel in the middle of one's face. Air passes in and out of this tunnel. The back of the tunnel connects with the top of the throat. The tunnel is divided in half by the nasal septum bone and cartilage. Protruding down into each nasal passage are three small mucosal covered bones called turbinates. They increase the filtering, warming surface of each nasal cavity.
Residing to the side of the nose, underneath your eyes and up into your forehead are large air pockets in the facial bones called sinuses or more correctly paranasal sinuses. These connect with the nasal cavity. They are named the maxillary, ethmoid, frontal and sphenoid sinuses. The nose and the paranasal sinuses are lined with tissue which is called mucosa. The mucosa has little hairs called cilia and floating over these hairs is a layer of fluid. On top of the fluid layer floats a layer of mucus. The cilia beat back and forth in the fluid layer and they move or propel the mucus blanket along, out of your sinuses into your nose. The mucus blanket is then transported to the back of your throat. Under normal circumstances the mucus is swallowed.
 In a normal functioning nose a quart or more of fluid is generated daily, carried to the back of the nose and swallowed. This whole system is called the mucociliary transport system and it is the key to nasal health. Particulate materials such as dust or bacteria become trapped in the mucus blanket and the cilia carry these to the back of your nose where they are swallowed and killed or digested when they reach your stomach. If the mucociliary system becomes impaired, then nasal and sinus secretions stagnate. They become infected by the bacteria which are always present within your nose and infection develops, be it in your nose or your sinuses.
The smell receptors, or olfactory receptors as they are properly called, reside in the very uppermost portions of your nose. The nose must be reasonably open for odors to be carried to the roof. Here the odors are perceived and if the system is intact and functioning, you are able to smell roses, food and all the other smells of life.
MAINTENANCE
Keeping this sophisticated organ clean and in tip-top working condition with nasal irrigation is imperative in maintaining your youth. To assist in the nasal cavity maintenance it is recommend to use the ancient technique, originating from the Yoga practice of Jala Neti (literally: "water cleansing"), which involves regularly flooding the nasal cavity with warm salty water.
The Jala-Neti personal hygiene practice involves flooding the nasal cavity with warm saline solution. The goal of nasal irrigation is to clear out excess mucus and moisturize the nasal cavity. The practice has been subjected to clinical testing and has been found to be safe and beneficial, with no apparent side effects.
Saline solution irrigation and nasal flush promotes good nasal health, and patients with chronic sinusitis including symptoms of facial pain, headache, halitosis, cough, anterior rhinorrhea (watery discharge), and one study has even reported that nasal irrigation was “just as effective at treating these symptoms as the drug therapies.” In other studies, “daily hypertonic saline nasal irrigation improves sinus-related quality of life, decreases symptoms, and decreases medication use in patients with frequent sinusitis,” and irrigation is recommended as an “effective adjunctive treatment of chronic sinonasal symptoms.”
Nasal irrigation is reputed to help prevent colds and otherwise promote good nasal health by cleaning out the nasal passages and helps alleviate stuffiness, dryness, nosebleeds and the symptoms of allergies.
For those who suffer from chronic sinusitis, nasal irrigation is a quick and inexpensive way to promote ciliary function and mucus turnover, decrease edema, and improve drainage through the sinus ostia.
To summarize, nasal irrigation can purportedly:
- Clear out sticky, persistent mucus and help reduce nasal congestion
- Cleanse and rid the sinus cavities of allergens, irritants, and contaminants
- Treat chronic sinusitis
- Treat allergic rhinitis
- Prevent common colds and flu
- Relieve nasal dryness
- Treat empty nose syndrome (caused by over-aggressive turbinate resection)
- Improve breathing
- Temporarily reduce symptoms of post nasal drainage
- Reduce cough caused by post-nasal drip
- Temporarily reduce symptoms of phantosmia
- Treat acute bacterial rhinosinusitis
If you have a sinus infection, then you need to irrigate several times a day.
SINUS IRRIGATION PRINCIPLEThe procedure accomplishes several things:
- It gets rid of any allergens that might be irritating your nose.
- It gets rid of any “pockets of infection” that might be forming.
- It clears your nose and makes it easier to breath.
- It moisturizes your sinuses.
- It feels really great
To alleviate irritating nasal problems, your doctor may recommend nasal irrigation. This involves flushing out thickened mucus and irritants from your nose. Nasal irrigation is appropriate for children and adults, and can be done in the privacy of your own home.
An allergic reaction results in inflammation, hindering the ability of your nasal lining to flush toxins from your nose. This is just one example of when nasal irrigation is useful.
To perform nasal irrigation, you need a few simple materials:
- Neti pot
- Warm water
- Sea Salt noniodized
- Small basin or sink
VARIETY OF NETI POTS
To purchase a Neti Pot OnLine click here
Our Jala-Neti specialist Miguel Sarria has used this practice technique all of his life with over 33 years experience teaching internationally. The cost of a full session is $65 per person and small groups can be accommodated. Please see the Ongoing Events or contact Miguel for healing therapy, classes and training information.
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