When I started to cough again this year, I became deeply distraught. There is no way to convey exactly how sick I am of coughing every year. How it just lingers and won't go away. How everyone comments on it. How it interferes with my talking, laughing, eating, etc. So having ruled out in the past things like asthma or a treatable infection or allergy, I just didn't know what else to do.
This is when I started researching 'post nasal drip' on the internet. On the one hand, just to find out really, what it was so I had a better understanding of it- and also to see what sort of information I could get off the web about potential treatments. The one that instantly was obvious and also unheard of to me was 'sinus irrigation'. A simple holistic procedure which basically involves flushing out your upper sinuses with a body-temperature saline solution.
I toyed with the thought of it for a week while I continued to cough frustratingly. I saw my GP who gave me codeine which did nothing. I decided I would just try it. Probably it sounded just disgusting enough for me to be fully intrigued. A few days after placing my order, my kit arrived. The very next day I prepared to flush my sinuses out.
It's really quite simple. Empty pre-prepared packet into pot. Add warm water. Stir. Look down into sink. Insert end of pot in nostril. Tip head to side and let the magic begin.
The first time was the most impressive. First there was this terrible sinus pressure, like how it feels when you have a terrible cold and your sinuses are so completely blocked you can feel it behind your eyes. In fact my eyes started to water a little. I waited, slowly breathing through my mouth, when some small drops came out of my lower nostril and quickly built into a small stream of water. I was doing it! I was rinsing my sinuses! I did half the pot, tilted my head back, blew out solution gently, and then repeated on the other side. Where my sinuses had been partially blocked for well over a week, for the first time in a long time, they were completely clear. It lasted a good halfway through the day, and even though it started to get a bit stuffed again, it wasn't as bad as it had been in the morning.
Every morning I have now been rinsing my nose in this fashion. It's a bit of a hassle as I'm still not entirely used to it, but I don't care. My cough is immensely diminished, and I hope if I keep it up, it will disappear all together. Though even if it doesn't, this level of improvement alone makes it completely worthwhile.
So yes, if you ever suffer from chronic sinus trouble, I would recommend trying this out. It only costs a tenner for a starter kit with packets, so if it doesn't work, it's really no big deal. You're not making a major investment in something. And no, I won't be running off to join a cult just yet... if I really wanted to gross you all out, I would have posted one of the more graphic images I found, but I'll keep you happy by only leaving you with this.
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