Take a quick glance around you while in any drug store and you will notice the number of sinus irrigation products on the shelves have increased significantly in the past 10 years. There's Ocean Nasal Spray, Neilmed, Simply Saline, and the list goes on. All this points to the fact that saline irrigation is an effective means for treating our noses. We wash our hands to get rid of germs. We take showers to get rid of germs. We brush our teeth to get rid of germs. Yet we let the insides of our nose fester, as it gets dirtier and dirtier.

Ancient people seemed to understand the value in treating the nose with salt and water. Now we modern people seem to be catching on as well. Oprah Winfrey helped popularize nasal irrigation in 2007 when she had Dr. Mehmet Oz introduce the neti pot. A family friend of ours, a nurse who works in a city school district, teaches her students how to use the neti pot ? and with great results. The students rinse out their noses and learn that not only does this strategy clean their nose, but also that much needs to ?exit? so they can stay infection-free. And that is precisely what happens to them after doing irrigation.

Now I must give credit where credit is due: the doctor who pioneered the concept of nasal irrigation in the United States is Dr. Murray Grossan, of Los Angeles, California, an innovative ENT specialist who created the Grossan Hydro Pulse Nasal-Sinus Irrigation System, which has reportedly sold 400,000 to date.

I use the Hydro Pulse twice a day, in the morning and evening. The Hydro Pulse has distinct advantages over other irrigation products, such as a neti pot or a bulb syringe (the latter of which can house bacteria):

1) The Hydro Pulse pulsates at a rate to stimulate your nasal cilia to their natural rhythm, restoring the functioning of the cilia.

2) The Hydro Pulse allows you to irrigate both your nose and throat. It is important to irrigate both, particularly since what is in the nose travels down to the throat. Irrigating the throat can bring circulation to the throat, thereby thinning mucus and reducing postnasal drip.

Pulsatile irrigation is a simple, inexpensive, and effective way to clean out your nose. Everyone should know about it ? and do it, whether they have a clean or a dirty nose. We take a shower whether clean or dirty. And the results are we are that much cleaner and healthier after each shower. We should do the same for our nose.

Pulsatile irrigation is far and away one of the best actions to ensure a good bill of sinus health.

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