Neti Pot

My freshman year at AU I remember seeing one of my friends on the floor filling a plastic thing that looked kind of like Aladdin's lamp with water, emptying some white powder in it, and stirring it with a spoon. He then proceeded to stick the spout part up one nostril, tilt his head to the side and I watched the water drain out the other side of his nose. I thought this was really weird and I asked him what it was. He told me it was a neti pot and what it was used for, which turns out it rinses mucus and all that stuff out of your nose and sinuses. At the time I thought it sounded like some kind of gimmicky product and dismissed it. Flash forward to my senior year of college. My nose is stopped up. I tried decongestants, and even breath-right strips at night but nothing seemed to get everything out. I was starting to get annoyed at this point but I had forgotten about the neti pot my friend had used. I was doing some grocery shopping when I happened to see one. All at once i remembered. I debated for a while as to whether or not I really wanted to try this since I still thought it was really weird. Finally out of desperation I decided to get one. After trying it, I must say it is a very unique experience and yes, it does feel weird but not like getting water up your nose while swimming. It's a kind of feeling you can only experience if you have used a neti pot. However, it worked. All the stuff that had been clogging my nose was gone. I couldn't remember being able to breath that well. Even though I never saw any advertisement for the neti pot done by a company who produced them, seeing one triggered my memory of seeing that friend use one three years before. I had a problem and I had tried several alternatives and despite my reservations I gave the neti pot a chance. I'm glad I don't have to use it very often but when I need it, I know it will work.