By Mary Brophy Marcus, Special for USA TODAY
It's a sloppy endeavor, says Todd Templin, but he and others who perform nasal rinsing swear by its sinus-soothing powers.
"I figure with all of that water shooting up my nostrils, there has to be something good going on," says Templin, an executive vice president for a Fort Lauderdale public relations firm, who suffers from chronic allergy and sinus problems.
Also called nasal washing or nasal irrigation, the practice is believed to have roots in ancient yoga traditions. But now, an increasing number of people with sinus woes are expressing interest in the age-old treatment, say doctors and makers of saline rinse products.
Dave Gallo, CEO of Med-Systems, Inc., the makers of SinuCleanse nasal washing systems, says: "Sales and the number of stores we're in have been doubling every two years for the last decade."
Annie Lent, an allergy and immunology specialist at National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, says patients are interested in saline rinsing because it's homeopathic. "It appeals because it doesn't involve drugs, it's all natural," Lent says.
Sinus rinsing is not painful, just uncomfortable, Lent says. "The object is not to blast your brains, but to cleanse. You don't want to do it too hard and hurt your ears," says Lent, who notes that the pressure should be no stronger than the flow of a water fountain.
Most of the research on nasal rinsing shows that if it is practiced regularly, there are positive benefits, Lent says. A recent study by University of Wisconsin researchers that followed patients for six months showed that participants who "rinsed" daily experienced decreased symptoms and medication use and overall improved health.
Another study by Wake Forest University scientists, in Winston-Salem, N.C., found that use of nasal wash saline solutions decreased inflammation of the nose better than other treatments, and the benefit lasted several hours.
It's not a miracle cure for allergies or colds, says Jordan Josephson, a sinus and nasal specialist at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital in New York and author of the book Sinus Relief Now (Penguin, 2006). "You need to see a board-certified allergist or otolaryngologist if you have ongoing sinus problems," he notes. But most physicians agree that clinically, they see patients who suffer from congestion, sinus pressure, hoarseness, sneezing, itching and other upper-respiratory symptoms experience significant relief when they rinse their noses routinely.
"I see marked improvements in breathing and congestion in the children here who do regular rinsing with me," says registered nurse Michelle Freas, coordinator of medical and health services at The Kunsberg School in Denver, a special school where most of the students have asthma and allergies.
But some could do without the side effects. The treatments can come back to haunt you, says Daisy Okas, 34, an executive at the American Kennel Club in New York who used to use the bottle but now uses the neti pot because it delivers the water into the nose with a bit less force. "I'd be sitting in a meeting and I'd put my head down and a puddle of water would come pouring out onto the table in front of me," Okas says.
Freas says once she can get her Kunsberg students to comply, the 6-and-under set she treats adores the gunk-and-goo aspect of nasal rinsing.
And though the mess isn't that appealing to Templin, the results are worth it, he says. "Last June, before I tried nasal rinsing, my symptoms were so bad at times I couldn't function. In my line of work, I can't be dragged down by allergy symptoms. Now, when I do the rinsing, it really helps," he says.
Do you use a nasal flush? Would you be willing to give it a try, or do you find the idea disgusting? How do you treat your allergies?
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