Pollen allergies, dust mite allergies, pet dander allergies usually show up in the form of runny nose and nasal congestion. These symptoms might make every day living difficult for the allergic individual. Often anti-histamines, decongestants are used to get rid of the congestion and sinusitis. However, a sinus irrigator is a device which is effective in clearing up your nasal cavities, giving you relief from hay fever symptoms and other allergies.
How Does Sinus Irrigator Work?
A sinus irrigator is an instrument which is used to force the saline fluid into the nasal passage. This liquid comes out from the other nasal passage. This act of flushing is beneficial in two ways:
- It restores the proper function of cilia —the microscopic hairs lining the mucus membrane of the nasal passages. These cilia move back and forth to remove the pollutants, allergens, and germs
- The nasal passage flushes out the allergens, germs and pollutants from the nasal passage
Why do the cilia lose their movement ? When you have cold or runny nose, the mucus present in the nasal passage, thickens —making the cilia movement difficult. However, when sinus irrigator is used, the cilia function is restored. Thus, you would be able to ward off allergens, pollutants in a more effective way.
To use a sinus irrigator, you should fill the instrument with a saline solution (which can be made at home or can be bought from medical stores). Using the irrigator, force the solution into one nostril. This solution would flow out from the other nostril.
Types of Sinus Irrigators:
- A neti pot — is a ceramic container which can be used to irrigate the nasal passages – sinus wash
- A pulsating nasal irrigator — this device has a facility to push the liquid into the nasal passage with a force
Sinus irrigator can be a useful device to overcome hay fever and other allergy symptoms. Using this can help you to prevent and treat allergies in a better way.
