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i also recommend the recipe of 1/8th tsp. to 8 oz tepid to luke warm water. actually, here's a fast way to make a batch. see that regular personal sized water bottle? most of them are around a pint, aka 16 oz of water. see those paper salt packets you find at some restaurants? those are roughly less than 1/8th tsp -- 2 to 3 packets roughly equal 1/4th tsp salt. grab your empty Crystal Geyser or Aquafina bottle, throw in some salt packets and warm tap water and learn how to tilt just right, viola', instant neti jar wherever you are. saved me many a time when i traveled (in countries where the water is safe of course! DO NOT TRY THIS WITH QUESTIONABLE TAP WATER!)
also i am sensitive to certain salts, so things like San Pelligrino and other mineral water contain salts that kick start my migraines. i think i've isolated it to sodium phosphate as one of the triggers. i found that the salt packets that came with the neti jar carry a mix of sodium chloride and sodium phosphate. last few times i used them also kick started migraines, so now i avoid them like the plague. i've also seen a few saline nasal sprays carry sodium phosphate, which also were related to a few migraines. probably doesn't do anything to you, but for any migraine sufferers out there, fair warning from a fellow traveller.
i used to have atrocious nosebleeds. like literally laying my head back, nose pinched and blood pooling and pouring down the sides of my mouth from all the bleeding from my rear palette into my throat and mouth. used to get upset stomach from all the blood i used to swallow. we are talking monstrous gushers, well above and beyond the experience of general clinics. had one where it was draining so fast into my mouth that i could not breathe and had to lay down and let it clot in my soft palette. naturally that caused a 'back up' and the blood poured from my nose into congealing pools over my eyes and down my cheeks, mouth open like a gaping fish as blood poured everywhere. my poor mother helping me almost had a heart attack seeing that one. even after operations to cauterize several veins in my nose i still had an atrocious nosebleed problem -- until i regularly neti jar. now it is rare and i dare say manageable.
(a friendly word of advice to serious nosebleed sufferers -- in excess of the 15-30 minute nose pinch, head back treatment: sometimes shocking the system works. i used to dip cotton or facial tissue in vinegar and lodge it up my nose to "cauterize" the wound. if that failed there was "breathing" ice cold water as deep as I can, repeatedly. if that also failed, and oh it often did, i just gave up and stood over the sink bleeding until my body got tired of bleeding. you'll be surprised how often your body will stop in order to prevent self-destruction.)
so go ahead and neti jar. i heartily welcome you to the club. sometimes our body just doesn't work right -- you'll be surprised how stupid or dysfunctional its management systems really are (one day i'll tell you about the joys of histamines and swelling!).
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