Last year I became intrigued by a neti-pot and was surprised that many of you used them for sinus allergies and symptoms. A study presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology meeting found that neti-pot use may actually increase your risk of infection.
Stopping neti-pot use was associated with a 62% decrease in sinus infections. The authors pointed out that neti-pots do provide relief of bothersome sinus symptoms, but that chronic use may wash away some of your bodies natural defenses and increase your risk of infection. What do you think?
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I agree! Over time, constant use of the salt water in neti pots dries out the membrane of the sinuses. Moist sinuses are essential for our immune system to work and overly dry membranes prevent our immune systems from working optimally.
We know for example that excessive mucous secretion such as a runny nose is often a protective response to prevent dust and allergens entering the lungs and sinuses. Our body’s mucous flow acts like a cleaner this way washing away pollen, dirt and irritants. So in a certain sense, just like drugs, the neti pot is suppressing the symptoms rather than removing the cause of the problem.
Antibiotics are not effective either against sinus infections since antibiotics are not secreted in the nasal cavities and so cannot to help eliminate bacteria colonized in the nostrils.
Many types of nasal sprays such as Afrin cause a vicious cycle of addiction. Thus medication can actually make chronic sinus pain and pressure worse and not better.
One major key to treating long term bacterial sinus infections lies in treating biofilms. A discussion of the importance of biofilms in sinus infections can be found here: Are biofilms why your chronic allergy and sinus pain won’t go away? http://wp.me/pmQ8F-2q
I agree! Over time, constant use of the salt water in neti pots dries out the membrane of the sinuses. Moist sinuses are essential for our immune system to work and overly dry membranes prevent our immune systems from working optimally.
We know for example that excessive mucous secretion such as a runny nose is often a protective response to prevent dust and allergens entering the lungs and sinuses. Our body’s mucous flow acts like a cleaner this way washing away pollen, dirt and irritants. So in a certain sense, just like drugs, the neti pot is suppressing the symptoms rather than removing the cause of the problem.
Antibiotics are not effective either against sinus infections since antibiotics are not secreted in the nasal cavities and so cannot to help eliminate bacteria colonized in the nostrils.
Many types of nasal sprays such as Afrin cause a vicious cycle of addiction. Thus medication can actually make chronic sinus pain and pressure worse and not better.
One major key to treating long term bacterial sinus infections lies in treating biofilms. A discussion of the importance of biofilms in sinus infections can be found on my website’s blog page.