Head Colds Blow

I swear to god I must be turning into a big fat wimp.  I just came down with a cold 2 days ago and you'd think I was a man or something by the way I'm moping around complaining about how bad I feel. 

As a result of this mega-snot producing virus I am playing host to, I have become great friends with the neti pot.  What?  You've never heard of the neti pot, you say?  Well, my fine bloggy friends, you are missing out.  The neti pot is a wonderous invention that cleans out your sinuses. 

So now you are wondering how that cute little tea pot thing cleans out your sinuses, right?  You take warm water and mix it with the salt packets that come with the pot.  They even give you a cute little spoon to mix it all up.

The moldy salt packet is my own special addition to the package.  Apparently, one should dry the neti pot and utensils before storing them in a plastic bag for a year.  Who knew?

Anyway, it's just salt.  I mean sodium chloride is sodium chloride, right?  So once the salt and warm water are all mixed together you take the spout of the pot, put in into a nostril, and lean sideways over the sink (very important!), and pour the saline mixture into your sinuses. 

This is a picture I did not take.  Use your imagination.

The saline mixture goes in one nostril and out the other.  Really.  Once it makes it's way through your congested sinuses, it comes dripping out the other side.  Which is what you want.  Because it takes all that crap stuck in your nose with it.  A douche for your nose, so to speak.

And magically, you can breathe again.  For about an hour. 

I don't suffer from seasonal allergies that often but I hear it can be a real help that way when used to rinse the allergens from your sinuses. 

Unfortunately, it does nothing for the balloon that is blown up in my ears.  A hole in my eardrum may help that, but I'm not going there.  That is an actual medical procedure offered to me once to relieve the fluid that built up in my eustachian tubes.  But it's not that bad yet so I'll hold off on that for now.

Have you ever tried the neti pot?

Do you feel like a big ol' man-baby when you have a cold?