First post - Hi from California!

[BookNut]

Evidently the baking soda is a buffer as Anne says. Here is a good article about the benefits of nasal rinses compared to standard nasal sprays. Stuffy Nose or Sinus Problems? Here's a Fix - US News

This article talks about the 8 oz bottle...but I feel the 16 oz bottle is much more effective for really bad sinus issues.

[Melly]

Thank you both for the info, You guys rock!

Ahh, I can't wait to try it! Seems a bit weird to get all excited about nasal irrigation, eh? Strange times we live in, my friends. Straaange times.... :P

[pberggren1]

Mike G and I and a few others on here are kinda resident experts when it comes to nasal irrigation. Mike and I use Waterpiks with a nasal attachment to rinse the nose out. The Neil-Med squeeze bottle is awesome. I recommend the larger 16 oz. one. It usually comes with premixed packets as well that work very good. Whatever water you use don't use tapwater. Try and use distilled or RO (reverse osmosis). Tap water has too many bacteria and fungi in it that can cause major infections for us.

I mix my own solution up with Coarse salt that is pure. It has no additives at all. That is the best salt to use. And baking soda does act as a buffer so it does not sting like Anne says. For a 1 liter mix of water I use about 2 one quarter heaping spoons of salt and about 6 to 8 heaping of the same sized spoon of baking soda.

[annekat]

I think the mix my ENT's nurse suggests is closer to yours, Phil, with a lot more baking soda than salt. That's what I've been using, although I sort of eyeball it when mixing the dry ingredients in the jar I use. Other recipes commonly call for more salt than baking soda, or for half and half. I guess I figure they must all work OK. But I'm curious to know why my ENT nurse and you go so much heavier on the baking soda. Unless it is still for the buffering reason. After all, I guess baking soda is a form of salt.

[annekat]

Thank you both for the info, You guys rock!

Ahh, I can't wait to try it! Seems a bit weird to get all excited about nasal irrigation, eh? Strange times we live in, my friends. Straaange times.... :P

You WILL get excited, Melly, when you see the stuff that comes out of there! Although, since you are apparently in remission, I guess, or is that right?.... anyway, if you have little or no current Wegs activity, perhaps you won't get the spectacular monsters some of us have gotten. But you will find the process to be soothing and therapeutic and will probably miss it if you don't do it regularly.

[pberggren1]

The reason we go in favor or more baking soda is to make sure it does not sting and hurt the nose inside. If there is too much salt then it can really sting bad, trust me. It is better to have an isotonic solution, more baking soda, than a hypertonic solution, less baking soda. You can always adjust your own mix of it. Just make small adjustments to suit your need for getting the crusties out. The more hypertonic it is the more it will get out the crusties but it will also sting too, so be careful.

[annekat]

Thanks for that info, Phil. I didn't know it involved more mildness vs. getting the crusties out. If I think I have some really bad crusties, I'll use a little more salt.

[BookNut]

I ask you....where else could one go to discuss the crusties that come out of our noses...AND find the discussion uplifting, no less?!

[Melly]

Haha Jacquie, that's hilarious. And true!

And Anne, by all accounts I am in remission, but I have never been able to completely get a handle on my sinuses. No one can quite figure out if it is allergies or my WG. I don't have crusting like I did before I was diagnosed, but I do range between stuffy and drippy most of the time. Maybe this is just my new "normal?" I'm anxious to hear what the ENT says. We shall see!

Eh, I'll try it with the baking soda, I guess. If it burns the crud out of my nose, at least I'll know it's working? :P

[pberggren1]

I would try a mild isotonic solution in the mornings and evenings to see if that helps throughout the day. I am curious too as to what your ENT will say.