Posted on 01/21/2008 3:13:51 PM PST by ECM
Chicago - For parents worried about how to treat children's colds now that some medicines have been called into question, the answer may be a dose of salt water.
A nasal spray made from Atlantic Ocean seawater eased wintertime cold symptoms faster and slowed cough and cold symptoms from returning among children ages 6 to 10, researchers in Europe reported on Monday.
It may be that the salt water has a simple mechanical effect of clearing mucus, or it could be that trace elements in the water play some more significant role, though the exact reason why such a solution works is not known, said Dr Ivo Slapak and colleagues at the Teaching Hospital of Brno in the Czech Republic.
The study, published in the January issue of the Archives of Otolaryngology, was paid for by Goemar Laboratoires La Madeleine, Saint-Malo, France, which makes Physiomer, the seawater nasal spray used in the investigation.
(Excerpt) Read more at news24.com ...
My Dad used to say the sure cure to most anything was to dunk your head in a bucket of water twice, and pull it out once. Having been raised during the Great Depression, he wouldn’t have bothered with the expense of salt.
Well do you expect any other result when the product used in the study was made by the company who paid for the study?
Well, yes. I’ve been using saline nasal spray for my allergies, colds, and even to help treat sore throats for a while now. I wasn’t aware this was news to anyone.
Interesting. My mom always had us gargle with salt water whenever we came down with a sore throat. I guess we should have been spraying it up our nose instead. I wonder if it really helped our throats get better faster. Living in Florida, I’ve always noticed how spending just a little time in the ocean always cleared up cuts and blemishes.
Neti Pot Treatment Uses Warm Saline Rinse
Sinus congestion sufferers will try anything to get relief, including pills, sprays and shots, but some North Texans swear by a natural remedy that is thousands of years old. The neti pot treatment is born from yoga, and uses a mix of sea salt and warm, non-chlorinated water. Practitioners simply let the solution run up one nostril and out the other.
http://www.tqmpropmgm.com/rhinohorn/instructions.htm
But you don’t need their “rhino horn” gizmo.
Any regular sports water bottle (like you’d buy at the 7-11), has a nice smoothed plastic cap which will fit in the average nostril, and can be used repeatedly if you rinse and dry after every use.
The only caveat is to use sea salt (like Morton’s from any grocery store) and not iodized salt.
When I have a cold or stuffiness of any kind this technique works better than any medicine. It’ll completely open the sinus passages for 3 to 4 hours if not longer, and there’s no reason you can’t do it several times a day if needed (once is usually enough for me).
You mileage may vary.
I had heard that salt water clears up blemishes but I dismissed it.
“the exact reason why such a solution works is not known”
“The study... was paid for by Goemar Laboratoires La Madeleine, Saint-Malo, France, which makes Physiomer, the seawater nasal spray used in the investigation.”
oh sure of course this works
Ping
Did y’all hear about the common cold mutating into a superbug?
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=7372164
Interesting. Thanks for the heads (noses?) up.
I have found that by using a neti pot daily, colds simply don’t get started. If I feel one coming on; I just do extra irrigations for a few hours, then it’s pretty much over. I LOVE my neti pot.
People who want to try it out can use can use one of the sports drink bottles they sell at 7-11. The little white cap is smooth and fits perfectly in the nostril.
Also the 1 pint bottles are the right size for doing both nostrils (1 cup water each side).
Just add a can of Moron’s sea salt from any grocery store (at about $1.09) and you’re all set.
Add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon sea salt to 1/2 bottle of hot tapwater. Shake until salt is dissolved. Add enough cool tapwater to make a full bottle of lukewarm salt water.
Put head over the sink (to the point you’re looking straight down), turn head to the right about 90 degrees, put the bottlecap end in the right nostril and adjust to make a loose seal, and VERY GENTLY squeeze while keeping mouth fully open. Water will course through the upper and then lower nasal passages, where it will then exit through the lower nostril into the sink (along with the excess mucus, which is the whole point). Singing or making noises will keep the water from entering the throat and mouth.
No need for any of the specialized gear or insanely overpriced “irrigation kits” I’ve seen at the local CVS.
It took me two or three runs to adjust this routine for myself.
It works, I encourage everyone to try it out.
Which reminds me I need to do this tonight.
Ping
These days I just take Source Natural's "Wellness Formula" when I feel a cold starting, and for whatever reason it usually seems to stop it from developing. Maybe something else is stopping the colds, I don't know, but since it seems to work...
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