Neti pot

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A neti pot is a small gravy bowl-like pot designed to rinse the nasal cavity. Basically, you pour water (usually a saline solution) down one nostril, and it comes out the other together with the mucus (that is snot for you regular folks) and whatever else happens to be in your nose (such as a tape recorder).

The practice does appear to have benefits, but it also has some amount of woo attached to it.

Using a neti pot is safe, but always make sure water is boiled or adequately filtered before using—at least 2 deaths from the Naegleria fowleri amoeba have been reported.[1][2][3]

The exact mechanism isn't well understood, but it's probably due to the removal of mucus. It's important to realize that mucus does play an important role in our body's immune system, so excess usage may be harmful (you should use a neti pot once a day at the most, probably less).


[edit] Benefits

There is decent evidence that it helps reduce the symptoms of allergies, sinusitis, rhinitis, and other nasal unpleasantries (such as the common cold).[4][5][6] However it may be difficult or impossible to use when your nose is badly stuffed up, so even for its medically sound applications it cannot be a cure-all.

[edit] Unsubstantiated claims and outright woo

  • Benefits from “cooling the brain”.[7] Your brain is not a combustion engine, and does not need to be water-cooled.
  • It will not balance your 'solar and lunar energy'.[8]
  • The common New Age woo of clearing of unspecified toxins (aka 'detoxification') seems fairly prevalent (although the neti pot will clear out dust and/or bacteria, which is useful).
  • Some people are using cranberry juice, coffee, and other fluids. Don't.
  • It's not clear if the neti pot can also prevent diseases. It is often claimed that using a neti pot regularly can prevent the common cold, but this has never been substantiated (other than anecdotal evidence).
  • “A person who regularly drinks water through the nose in the early morning at the end of the night becomes intelligent, develops eyesight as acute as an eagle, is spared the graying of hair and the wrinkling of skin, and is freed from all diseases.”[9] Obviously, no.
  • Pretty much any other health claim, such as (but not limited to) weight loss, better circulation, epilepsy, depression, unspecified 'improvement of the immune system', etc.

[edit] Footnotes

  1. http://www.nbcnews.com/_news/2011/12/16/9503070-neti-pots-linked-to-brain-eating-amoeba-deaths
  2. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/common-cold/expert-answers/neti-pot/FAQ-20058305
  3. http://www.uspharmacist.com/continuing_education/ceviewtest/lessonid/105757/
  4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10892694
  5. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18025315
  6. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0194599805002330
  7. http://www.yoga-age.com/asanas/neti.html
  8. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWK37fTq09o
  9. http://dailydownwarddog.com/neti-pot-confessions/
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