Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Sinus Pain: The Night Stalker

     Last night was the second night in a row that sinus pain woke me up.  I'm no Carl Kolchak* but it seemed like that merited taking some action.  Took care of the worst of it with a serious sinus rinse, followed by a cup of mint tea and a few peanut butter crackers before and after a couple of ibuprofens and an acetaminophen.  I got another couple of hours sleep before deciding to get up and make breakfast.

     Regular nasal rinses make a big difference in my comfort.  Despite that, it's hard to make myself take time for them.  I try not to do them when Tam is likely to notice, since she find the idea of deliberately putting water† up one's nose revolting, which make me snicker, which makes her giggle because it's all too silly for words, and then we're both laughing.  It had been some time since the previous rinse and winter -- even as mild as this one has been so far -- is not a good time to fall behind.
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* It's been pointed out before, but between Kolchak, Special Unit Two and Harry Dresden, Chicago is clearly a dangerous vortex of supernatural forces.  Which explains a lot.

† Distilled water, there are plenty of horror stories about using tap water for this.  Besides, Indiana tap water is so hard that I'd be at risk of developing lime scale.

8 comments:

  1. Reminds me.... I need a new Neil Med rinse bottle.

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  2. After my sinus surgery my ENT turned me on to sinus rinses, this was 15 years ago or so, and recommended adding https://www.alkalolcompany.com to the mix.
    Start with a small amount but when you get it titrated up a bit you can smell the future after a good rinse.

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  3. "Besides, Indiana tap water is so hard that I'd be at risk of developing lime scale."

    That's for sure.

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  4. Sinus rinse is too reminiscent of waterboarding for me.

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  5. I may have mentioned this, but try grated horseradish. A large spoonful eaten by itself may not equal a full sinus rinse but should at least allow longer intervals between rinses.

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    Replies
    1. So would shooting yourself in the face with pepper spray...
      /Sarc

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  6. For a portable solution (all pun intended), look into the Xlear nasal spray at your local health food store. It's a saline solution with a touch of xylitol to kill the nasties.

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  7. Bought the Neil Med bottle a week or so ago while wading through the sniffles and have been using their mix as the packets were included.
    My wife and I enjoyed Special Unit Two.

    ReplyDelete

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