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Sounds like she was using a neti-pot. I thought most of the neti-pot products made it pretty clear that you're supposed to use previously boiled or distilled bo
by capkutay 8y ago
Sounds like she was using a neti-pot. I thought most of the neti-pot products made it pretty clear that you're supposed to use previously boiled or distilled bottled water. Maybe they need to make it more clear that the consequences of using tap water can be pretty dangerous.
- cortesoft 8y agoThey do, but I am never sure how that is supposed to be practical. You need to use warm water, which is easy with tap water, but hard to do quickly with distilled or boiled water. I know it has risks, but I still use normal tap water. From what I have read, all of the cases are from people using well water, never from city provided, chlorinated water. It actually says this in the article, too.
- dom96 8y agoCan you explain why you use a neti-pot? I don't know anyone who uses one and I don't really understand the reasons behind it.
- KSS42 8y agoMy wife uses one to clear out her sinuses when they are stuffed due to a cold. Sinus infections cause her pain. Her doctor recommended it. She uses a squeezable bottle. I made sure she only uses distilled water. She dissolves a saline powder in it.
- dhimes 8y agoIt relieves the symptoms of sinusitis. Painful pressure can build in your sinuses, and rinsing can help open passages and equalize the pressure as well as soothe the pain a bit. I also like to think I'm removing bad stuff and helping with the healing process, and maybe killing bad stuff by flushing it with salt water, but this is my own personal myth.
- Ninjaneered 8y agoI use a version* of a net-pot to flush out my sinuses after surfing. If I don't, especially if I surf in a red tide, I get a nasty sinus infection (surfers sinusitis or acute sinusitis). I even had sinus surgery to reduce my turbinates and increase my sinus ducts which helps, but still doesn't prevent the problem. * I use NeilMed's sinus flush which basically is a sealed bottle with a straw I can use to force flush my sinuses, vs. just using gravity.
- cydonian_monk 8y agoI had to use one after a sinus surgery (to remove a not-so-tiny bone spur and then put things back where they belong) to flush out dried blood and whatnot. I've used it a few times after when I have a severe head cold to open things up a bit. Easier and less invasive than going through the background check needed to buy cold medicine.
- QuantumGood 8y agoReduces incidents of mild sleep apnea in conjunction with nasal strips and sleeping on my side. (I determine occurrence of sleep apnea by checking if waking happens between or during sleep cycles.) Also helps with voice work (I am a voice coach), makes for clearer mask resonance.
- QuantumGood 8y ago(An in-hospital sleep study confirmed my self-diagnosis of mild sleep apnea.)
- repolfx 8y agoWhat do you mean by mild? I did a study and had an AHI of 28, my doctors put me on CPAP. I'm not overweight and the machine is set to give hardly any pressure but it still seems to eliminate the issue, at least according to the machine's own counts. If I could fix it with just some nose strips and a neti pot, that would be amazing.
- QuantumGood 8y ago"Mild" used by doc prescribing me Modafinil after study. There were insurance cost concerns as well so I pursued other options. I have to work at keeping my mouth closed, and some nights don't work out well, but most do. I also use alternating combinations of sedatives, and take them in stages (e.g. sometimes a partial pill embedded in a softgel taken after 3 hours of sleep). I'm overweight, and it did start for me after I gained weight
- cortesoft 8y agoIt REALLY clears out your sinuses if you have a lot of mucus (from allergies or a cold). You know how when you blow your nose, you never get everything out? Some of the mucus comes out, but some is driven up into your sinuses because the air is coming from the middle (imagine a tube full of water,and you blow into a hole in the middle... half the water will be blown in each direction) Neti pot will get all of the mucus out (especially when i do it first thing in the morning, before blowing my nose). It comes back, of course, but having a few minutes of mucus free breathing when you have a bad cold or allergies is amazing.
- jeremyjh 8y agoFor me it basically cured a several-years long bout of hay-fever symptoms (constant congestion, could never get it all the mucus out) over a period of just a couple weeks of usage. I use it now just a few times of year whenever I get a cold that causes congestion, because its such a relief to get that crap out of your nasal and sinus passages.
- Marsymars 8y agoSinus pain can be excruciating. In my mid-20s, pretty much any cold or flu I got started being followed by a sinus infection. Most of them are relatively mild, but a couple of them have been truly debilitating. Pseudoephedrine brings some relief, but has side effects. Neti pot brings additional relief, and is free of side effects. (And is much cheaper than PSE.)
- cowpewter 8y agoWhenever I use a neti pot, I use distilled water and heat it for a brief time in the microwave, adding additional room temp distilled afterward if it comes out too hot.
- sokoloff 8y agoExactly this. Putting it in the bottle and microwaving for 38 seconds (experimentally determined, your <microwave> may vary) makes it a nice, comfortable temperature for use.
- gfodor 8y agoIn practice you don't need to use warm water. I do twice daily saline sinus washes with distilled water and it's pretty low maintenance. Tap would be easier but I've always found the idea of using tap water for this to be gross so it's never been an attractive idea.
- cortesoft 8y agoOh man, if the water is room temperature it really hurts my nose.
- jeremyjh 8y agoDo you use the saline packets? That makes it much easier on your nose. I only have to use mine a few times a year but I have a bottle of distilled water that I just use at room temperature and its fine.
- cortesoft 8y agoYes, I use the saline packets. It REALLY hurts without those. But even with them, it hurts at room temperature.
- athenot 8y agoIt's actually quite practical: boil water then stick a thermometer in it. Go do other stuff and check the temp; as it comes down and matches your body temp, it's perfect.
- shawnz 8y agoYou shouldn't be using water from the hot tap even just for drinking or cooking, let alone putting in a neti pot. Water from a hot water tank can contain high levels of dissolved contaminants since it sits in your plumbing system for extended periods at high temperatures.
- scythe 8y agoNo cooking? Even, say, boiling potatoes? I always use filtered water if I'm planning to consume it, but I thought I could get away with the sink if I was throwing it out. That's news to me, I'll have to boil cold water from now on.
- harshreality 8y agoI wouldn't worry as much about boiled potatoes as I would something like soaking/cooking grains. It's a matter of your level of concern. I rinse dry goods and and vegetables with tap water, and steam with tap water, but I use expensive water for anything else. Mostly because I don't discard the water. Either the food absorbs all the water, or I accept a mushy, stewy, or soupy consistency. Steaming is better if you're going to use tap water and discard it. With the food out of the water there's less contamination as well as less nutrient loss. Filters are not perfect. Reverse osmosis or distillation is better (in theory). Anyone using a filter should pay attention to what it filters. Some filters don't even claim to filter lead. I think Brita and Pur still have multiple filter types that filter different things, and one type isn't a strict subset of the other.
- fnordfnordfnord 8y agoNaegleria Fowleri were found in public water systems in Louisiana last year. I don't know of anyone dying because of it though. https://www.ajc.com/news/national/brain-eating-amoeba-found-two-louisiana-drinking-water-systems/SU2ziRHbgVs8QEfduue03I/ https://www.ajc.com/news/national/brain-eating-amoeba-found-...
- ryanmercer 8y ago>They do, but I am never sure how that is supposed to be practical. You need to use warm water, which is easy with tap water, Uh, 30-45 seconds in the microwave in a microwave-safe container. I have a motorized unit, distilled water goes into a glass in the microwave for 45 seconds. Salt packet goes into the reservoir and a maybe 5 ounces of room temp distilled then the microwaved water.
- girzel 8y agoWe've got a neti-pot-like thing that comes with a built-in filter. I don't worry about it past that.
- jimmyswimmy 8y agoIn the case of Neil-Med, the documentation I have retained says to use previously boiled or properly filtered water (they provide some examples) when mixing. And they say not to use tap water. But they don't inform the user of the potential hazard of using otherwise safe-to-consume tap water. Worse, the bottle (mine is a squeeze bottle) doesn't have any reminder not to use tap water, at all. It would seem this would be worth a large placard on the back of the bottle. The likelihood is low but the danger high; this is the worst kind of risk because it doesn't happen often enough to serve as a reminder.
- chaostheory 8y agoDoesn't this company direct you to use their salt packets as well?
- dplgk 8y agoDoes the salt kill amoebas?
- smiley1437 8y agoUsing a normal saline solution of 0.9% NaCl is much more comfortable, doesn't sting the sinus membranes at all. I wouldn't count on it to kill anything
- jessaustin 8y agoIf the amoebas thrive inside the body, they certainly won't be harmed by a saline solution.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- solatic 8y ago> But they don't inform the user of the potential hazard of using otherwise safe-to-consume tap water. Devil's advocate: if they did, odds are consumers would consider it as if the company is peddling conspiracy theories rather than actual science. Or "maybe it's true for tap water where the pots are made, but I trust my tap water and I know it's safe". If such explanations are more likely to harm a company's perception than to protect consumers, then what value do they have?
- DougN7 8y agoHow is a neti pot worse than steam in the shower? I’m surprised at this.
- tomhoward 8y agoBy definition, steam has been heated to a high temperature and exists as stray molecules before condensing back to water droplets. I guess microbes can't easily survive or be carried along in this process. That said, it seems it's possible that this kind of thing can happen [1], but it's rare (and though that article is confusingly written, it seems that the bacteria in that case came from the air, after the steam had re-formed as water droplets). Anyway, the OP says this amoeba in a neti-pot scenario is rare too, so it seems we're always talking about fringe cases with this kind of stuff. [1] http://www.cleveland19.com/story/33829012/doctors-warn-about-lung-illness-attributed-to-bacteria-in-showers-and-hot-baths/ http://www.cleveland19.com/story/33829012/doctors-warn-about...
- burtonator 8y agoHow's this for a disclaimer: "There's almost no potential upside and a massive potential downside."
- dzhiurgis 8y agoRTFM... When is the last time you’ve actually did it? It’s a problem with user not understanding its own anatomy rather than product itself.
- bonestamp2 8y agoNot to mention, hot water tanks are a prime facility for some of these pests to grow while most people have no idea they should avoid their home hot water for anything other than washing. It should not be consumed in any way... this is why coffee makers specifically tell you to use cold water.
- arvinjoar 8y agoPretty sure that is because of metals. Living things die when boiling anyway
- novia 8y agoThe temperature of a typical hot water tank is 120-140 degrees Fahrenheit, which is significantly less than the boiling point of water, 212 degrees Fahrenheit. If the water tank temperature is just a little lower, at 115 degrees, it's the prime temperature for these buggers. Also, this might be a fun read for you: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermophile https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermophile
- bonestamp2 8y agoHot water tanks aren't hot enough to sterilize. In fact, they're a perfect temperature to grow many things.
- sitkack 8y agoLead dissolving in hot water is the primary reason that one should not consume hot tap water. Nor should one wash their hands with hot water after lead exposure. Some gun ranges go so far as to remove the hot water tap from the bathrooms.
- onetimemanytime 8y agowhat's the difference from washing your face? Doesn't some water go inside the nose /sinuses when you blow it, breathe as you wash? (I guess even 1mm3 would contain plenty of microbes.)
- louwrentius 8y agoSince these types of incidents are so rare I would not suddenly be afraid of using such a device. I also wonder if she applied salt to the water (you should use saline) which also may help keep this stuff away if the concentration is right. But I don't know about that.
- pacificmint 8y agoIf you don’t use saline solution, it becomes very uncomfortable. Even accidentally using the wrong concentration is immediately noticeable. I’d highly doubt many people would do that regularly.
- deepGem 8y agoWhen I used neti pot long long ago, our instructor made it explicit that you should only use boiled and cooled lukewarm water mixed with salt, if you cannot find a readily available saline solution. She even gave the salt:water ratio which I've forgotten. The general consensus in the yoga community is to better be safe than sorry.