If anyone tells you that snorting a saline solution is good for you...

[PavlovtheCat]

...to clear a sinus infection, they are lying.

It comes out of your eyes. And that is Not Good.

pip eeew! That's gross! Poor man.

My ears are pressured and starting to hurt and face hurts now, teeth hurt when I walk gonna have to think about ABs. D'ya reckon I can get some over phone with OOH? Dh is at work til midnight, then back tomorrow early til late and I got the kids with me. Would prefer not to haul them to OOH surgery tomorrow (def not tonight, only just got them to sleep fingers crossed ).

This saline thingumy is helping it feel better, and I think I have mastered the 'not drowning' technique but it ain't clearing it, just receiving some symptoms.

Yep, as fengirl* said, get this - it's a squeezy bottle not a snorty watering can.

And (per other thread), all you need to do pretend to be a crow, and just say Kaaaaaahhhh, Kaaaaaahhhh, Kaaaaaahhh sort of under your breath as you squeeze in the saline.

The kaaaahhhhing helps to close off your throatle area, and so the gunk comes out the other nostril.

have you a hot water bottle (well-wrapped), for your face, Pavlov?

see - I DID post crow tip here

I'm gonna go try that now! And will get thing tomorrow...

Thanks!

Can I buy that at boots? Not tried hot water bottle, teeth bern hurting a little for few days, but only got really bad this afternoon/evening and face/ear pain only just started this afternoon. I have a tiny little hot water bottle that is dd's! Or, how about a microwave wheat heat wrap thing, would that work? Got one of those,used to wrap about my sober, can be used around necks. It's soft and fluffy...

I've never looked for it in Boots - but they have it on the website, so might be worth a look?

Yup, wheaty thing would be fine, just obvs ensure that it's well-wrapped enough so it doesn't scald your face. It's not a painkiller, but it does bring a bit of relief.

Pavlov, I've seen the bottle in big branches of boots, you can also get it from amazon. Persist with it, and try clearing your ears as if you're on a plane ( I do this weird thing where I pull my earlobes out and yawn and it works for me!) Nothing more miserable than ear pressure.

I shall pop into Boots if I am able to get time with the children, one of whom is misbehaving. I would get it from amazon, but it will take ages to arrive.

and, I am trying not to take pain meds, as I have spent a long long time coming of meds for back pain, I am enjoying being mostly medication free (for now!)

succumbed to ABs. Spoke to OOH as in a lot of discomfort and he said probably bacterial infection as gone from being unwell to ok to unwell and facial pain/ear pain and horrendous green gunk. So, he was happy to prescribe over the phone and fax it to pharmacy now so I can go get it without having to go to docs first! YEY!

But, shall continue the nasal irigation and will get that stuff as soon as I can get into Boots without children.

I've always done saline rinses to help my sinuses. Used to do it before I went to bed to clear my nose as I always seemed to be bunged up. However, you've got to be careful because otherwise you'll end up with fluid trapped behind the ear, like I did, which clears after time but is annoying as hell.

I ran out of the saline stuff and used a bicarb and sea salt combi. I have a horrible infection, I hope it works. I've used it loads but its never came out of my eyes.

Not sure if its been mentioned already, but have you tried the Sudafed nasal spray? extremely effective stuff..

no I haven't, but going to pharmacy in a mo to get my prescription, so will pick some up if I can't get the other stuff mentioned.

Its amazing. Totally clears your nose and sinuses, even if they're completely blocked.

Sudafed nasal spray is really good for short term issues, and it really does bring quick relief... but if you are a longer-term sinuser, it will honestly do more harm than good. So proceed with caution!

Oh really? Good to know, thanks

I think I might have to invest in a netti pot as I seem to get blocked sinuses all too bloody often. Ephedrine on prescription seemed to be the only thing that shifted it, but as I'm pregnant atm, that's out the window. Was off work with it on Friday, and had a bath, feeling exhausted, nodded off and slipped under the water. Inhaling a nose full of slighty minty water hurt like fuck, but it sure cleared me out! Those pots look like a way to create the same effect without the blind panic.

Why is it "not good"? It is sterile, so what harm do you think will come to your eyes?

Contact lens solutions are also sterile saline solutions, FYI.

Yup, alien - here is a C&P from an nhs page that explains it ebtter than I can:

Nasal decongestants reduce the swelling of the blood vessels inside your nose. However, if decongestant sprays are used for more than five to seven days at a time, they can cause your nasal lining to swell up again, even when the cold or allergy that originally caused the problem has passed. If you use more decongestants in an attempt to reduce the swelling, it is likely to make the problem worse. This is known as 'rebound congestion'.

Some people find they get locked into a cycle of overuse and dependence on nasal decongestants...

cote it's Not Good when it's not expected, when it hurts and feels like you're drowning. I don't get that effect from contacts. Maybe I'm putting them in wrong

Are you sure you didn't waterboard yourself by mistake?

that's what it felt like!

I am mastering it now. I can do it without it coming out of my eyes, and mostly without it going down my throat

Only doing it twice each day though.

Also bought a nasal spray. I won't use it for more than a couple of days. OOH doc also suggested I take a tramadol or codiene and to regularly take napraxen (all of which I have stock of for other reasons). Apparantly, paracetamol and codiene together 'dry you out'.