The Neil Med Sinus Rinse Experience

I have been off the radar lately because our house has been infected with germs. First Darcy was diagnosed with a sinus infection and put on an antibiotic. Five weeks later she was back in the pediatrician's office with the same thing and a fever. She missed two days of school and was in bed for four with what he said was a virus. He recommended she get a Neil Med bottle and gave me a pamphlet on it.

In one of the blogs I read the author had recommended that everyone get a Neti pot so I had done research on that and had found one on Amazon that I thought I might purchase. I never did, but when the pediatrician told me how he used this Neil Med bottle every night I knew what he was talking about. I took my sick kid directly to Walgreens and purchased one.

She would not allow me to photograph her using the Neil Med bottle so I shall have to describe in great detail how it works. First you must use distilled water in the bottle. You may warm it up which I did in the microwave for about 20 - 25 seconds. Then you open one of the many, and I mean MANY, packets into the water.

Shake it up. Darcy and I did this in the bathroom. I recommend the bathroom as this can get gross and messy. I read the instructions carefully out loud to Darcy who just followed me like a trooper. This kid, while she may not want to do things, always just stands up and takes it. She definitely has the Mason Warrior in her.

Leaning over the sink, she stuck the upright bottle into one nostril and gently squeezed. The rinse mixture traveled through her sinus cavity and exited through her other nostril. She had to keep her mouth open as sometimes it will come out of there too. Hers didn't. She coughed some, which was in the directions, and had to spit because swallowing is a no-no. The stuff that came out of the nostril wasn't all that gross. We were expecting gross, but since it wasn't bacterial it wasn't all that exciting. She did half the bottle in one nostril and then changed sides, blowing gently between. Blowing her nose brought out all sorts of good stuff and opened her up. After doing this twice that day, her fever broke that night. She is better now, but still has a nasty cough.

Madison fell next. Madison rarely gets sick. She is like I was back in the day. She can't swallow pills so she doesn't get sick. Well, that's at least the way I looked at things back in the day, but nowadays, especially in Florida, there is liquid medicine for everything so I guess it isn't that big of a deal. Madison started blowing her nose and hacking for a day. She came home from school saying her ears hurt, her head hurt, and she felt like she was in a tunnel. She asked to go to the doctor.

She had an infection so she is on antibiotics. Her recommended the same procedure with her and so the next morning I sent her into the bathroom with Darcy as her mentor. That was mistake #1. Mistake #2 was not giving her the instructions the day before so she could study them. She is the opposite of Darcy when it comes to doing things like this. She is my whiner and so she whined. Since we needed to get to school that morning I was not in the mood for whining and yelled. She stuck the bottle into one nostril and pushed. Holy Mother of Liquid! Up through the sinus cavity this stuff went and suddenly watery substances were coming out of every facial orifice she had. She had stuff coming out of her nose, her eyes, and her mouth. And it didn't come out in a nice stream, but spewed out all over the sink, the counter, and the mirror. She was hacking and spitting and whining and blowing. Darcy was intrigued with how gross it all was, not that the stuff coming out was gross looking, but how it was so different from her experience. Of course, she made fun of her sister and her sister whined some more.

I was the next to fall. On Thursday of last week I suddenly had a sore throat. By Sunday I was miserable, weak, and stuffy. I went to our hospital walk in clinic where the tiniest woman ever, a doctor, told me it was viral. She recommended rest, chicken soup, and Sudafed. I liked the first two, but decided to also use the Neil Med bottle instead of the Sudafed. I had already taken two different over the counter medications and didn't like them and refused to fork over any more money for something else.

I have to say that my experience was probably the best and the nastiest in terms of goop. The pressure as the water mixture goes through the sinuses is amazing, almost relieving as it breaks up the stuff causing the issues. It isn't pleasant so much, but it isn't horrifying or miserable. The snot that came out of my nose was definitely snot. It came out in a nice stream and I didn't think it would stop. When I removed the bottle from my other nostril snot came pouring of it too. Snot was hanging out of both my nostrils and Darcy had to keep handing me Kleenex after Kleenex so that I could "gently" blow to get rid of it all. The same thing happened with the other side. Snot just didn't want to stop coming out of both my nostrils. I was clear after I used this thing and could breathe, but the smell of the mixture wasn't my favorite and it lingered. I was much better, like Darcy, the next day after using the bottle twice that Sunday.

Tom is now the hold out, but he is sneezing and blowing and we constantly offer up the bottle. He is a big believer of the saline spray and thus far has rejected our offer. Since he spends the least amount of time around the rest of us and the house he might just escape the germs. Of course, he will attribute that to his nasal spray.

Madison discussed the Neil Med bottle with her chemistry teacher who relayed her story of using the Neti Pot. She and her husband bought one to take with them to China. They used it every night before bed and she told Madison that the stream that came out of them was black from the poor pollution in the country. I'm thinking I might just have to take my bottle to Europe with me just in case. I might start taking it with me every time I travel.

All in all, we found the Neil Med bottle to be a plus in a house full of sickos. I recommend it. Plus, it can be a great source of entertainment at a party if you feel your guests are getting bored.