My First Time - The Neti Pot

I gave in.
I bought a neti pot.
People I know who have these talk about them like it's the most life changing thing that you will ever do for yourself.
I was skeptical and when you add that to the fact that I thought using one of these would feel like drowning myself with salty water, I was hesitant to run out and jump on the neti wagon.

After a day of incredible sinus pressure (which at the time I wrote off as allergies but have recently understood to be a terrible crippling cold - ick) I figured I may as well try it out.
I was at work and feeling pretty cruddy, so I took myself across the street and combed the aisles for medicine and the like when I came across the neti pot kit which comes with the pot and 30 pre-measured packets of saline. The instructions even included a delightful photograph of a lovely woman with the pot unceremoniously shoved up a nostril. Giggles ensued, mostly thanks to my nervousness at wasting $12 on something I'd never be able to successfully use.

When I got home, I figured I may as well give it a go.
I took my time, got the water to a comfortable temperature, carefully measured out my 8 ounces of water, took a deep breath, and stuck the thing in my nose.
Imagine my shock when without any real effort there was saline streaming out of my other nostril!
It was so easy!
I still haven't decided whether or not this is going to change my life, but it was so much more simple then I thought it would be.

My quick tips:

• Breathe through your mouth - this should go without saying as you'll be unable to breath out of your nose with water streaming through it, but just in case you thought you'd try, don't.
• Try not to swallow. You can without drowning or anything, but it does not taste good.
• Have your tissues or a towel ready. You're not going to blow boogers everywhere, but your nose is going to keep dripping the saline for a little while. From my personal experience, your spouse will probably not be too turned on my your drippy saline nose.
• Since I've been sick and super stuffed up, I have not been able to use the neti with much success. I will continue to attempt since it seems like this should be the ideal time to need to flush out my sinuses, but I guess if I can breathe out of my nose, there's no good path for the solution to follow either.
• For goodness sake, keep your face over the sink. You don't want that ick all over the bathroom!