Nasal and Sinus Rinsing Using Saline and Herbs

This will help clear any viral or bacterial accumulation when you have been out and about doing your shopping for your supplies.

A neti pot or a soft plastic squeeze bottle will be sufficient to achieve cleansing of the nasal passages and sinuses.

The instructions are based on using the squeeze soft plastic bottles that come with sachets of bicarbonate of soda, salt and sugar and I recommend that you do not use these sachets as sugar feeds bacteria and if you do have a bacterial infection it can be problematic.

The basic ratio is approximately one cup of tepid/warm water that's been boiled and filtered with half a teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of Xylitol and 1 to 2 drops of grapefruit seed extract, oregano oil is also a very effective antiviral -  antibacterial substitute for this rinse. The salt may be increased if you find you’re experiencing burning and tingling while you do the rinse. Generally the more that it burns when you rinse, the more inflammation you have in your sinus cavities.

The xylitol helps with osmosis, this causes moisture to pull through the membranes within the sinus lifting off any virus or bacteria, pollen, mold or something that's irritating the sinus.

Place the squeeze bottle or neti pot into one nostril, slowly introduce the water into the nostril until you have a stream coming out of the other nostril. Once that is starting to flow pinch both nostrils removing the neti pot / squeeze bottle, keeping the rinse inside your sinuses, bend down and put the your head between your knees and move the head back and forth and you can feel the liquid flowing around all the cavities in your sinuses. Keep this position for a few seconds and once you've done that, stand up and tilt your head back and let water run around in the back part of your sinuses and you do that for a few seconds. Do this repeatedly until you finish the neti pot / squeeze bottle.

Make sure that you are emptying both of your nostrils simultaneously by blowing air out of your nose over the sink. Do not pinch or close off one nostril, and then blow, as this may result in pressure causing the water to go into your ear canal and possibly causing further issues.

That covers rinsing the sinuses out which is obviously a very important first step, the next is gargling with the grapefruit seed extract/oregano, which doesn't need xylitol at all so you can just put a few drops of grapefruit seed extract/oregano into a cup of warm water and make a relatively strong gargle.

It is recommended not to do this before bed or before lying down.