h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I find that swimming pool fumes have the same effect of clearing the sinuses as salt water - and swimming is a (marginally) nicer cure.

in these modern ages (oh yes! the marvellous world of medicines!) you can buy specific solutions at the chemist's shop with salts -but not as 'agressive' as plain kitchen salt- in order to rinse your sinuses. I know this very well since I have to do that every day, and it's not in the least as disgusting as everyone seems to think... It helps a lot! If I wouldn't do it (like it was before since I only found out about a year ago) my Eustachian tube would be blocked all the time and you don't need a lot of fantasy to figure out what that means when you're landing with a plane or diving in a pool! (given the short lectures on pressure regulations by other people above)

what also helps but is much more painful (some people might like it! ), is to halve an onion and put it on a plate next to your bed when you're asleep. True!

A good curry works well I find. Tasty too

Serious Yoga fanatics will sometimes sing the praises of Netti Pots, small teapot looking things to fill with saltwater and do what you're talking about once a day.

hum... Serious yoga freaks shouldn't need any of these, since they're supposed to be able to control their body, no?

I've come across this Neti that Mr Cogito talks about - it's done to wash the dust and pollution out of the nose. You just pour the saltwater into one nostril whilst holding the breath, and it flushes out of the other. Apparently.

Another strange practice is Dhauti, which involves swallowing a long roll of gauze (about 15 feet!) soaked in salt water, keeping it in the stomach for a few minutes, and then pulling it out.

A third technique (this sounds horrible) is Basti, the colon cleanse. Apparently you sit in a tub of warm water, create a vacuum in your lower intestine by a process of abdominal churning and - look, do I need to spell this out? Traditionally a small bamboo tube was used to keep the anal sphincter open.

This might sound a bit yucky, but it's all in my yoga book (I just do the stretches, they help with my bad back). I'm sure you'd need pretty good body control to do this kind of stuff, though.

I think it all comes under the category of 'don't try this at home'.

Now, what's all this about snorting curry...

I too do the stretches without some of the more loopy stuff.

On a topical note, I was diagnosed by my doctor with a middle ear infection today. This is caused when the Eustachian tube is clogged and doesn't open to equalize pressure and help drain fluid from the middle ear (behind the eardrum). So fluid builds up and bacteria multiply. The common symptoms are ear pressure and pain. While it's not a sinus, it shows the importance I guess of keeping sinuses clear and othe internal passages clear.

Yours,
Jake

Right annoying an ear infection is. Especially when you're trying to go diving

Back to the original question, I know exactly what the sinuses are for. They're there to make hayfever sufferers *really* suffer.

I'm tempted to try that salt water immersion thing.

But with my current endless supply of mucous (both solid and horribly-horribly liquid) I'd need a bloody bucket rather than a bowl.

Taking it back to the beginning of this conversation, I'd say they're merely there to give one dull, persistent headaches that only wane when you give in to the building nausea and puke. An aside--a friend of mine suffered from intense sinus headaches. Her doctor discovered that she had numerous polyps in her sinuses, causing blockages and pain. She had them removed during surgery with the help of a long instrument outfitted with hook on the end, which was inserted through her nose and up into her sinus cavities. The polyps were scraped out. It gives me the chills just thinking about it.

Usually anything involving the word "polyp" gives me the chills...