Solution to Seasonal Stuffiness

“What if you hate the way he picks his nose?
…..And eats it. All men do it.” – Kristoff from Frozen

I don’t know about you, but I was anxious for the winter of 2016/2017 to end. Full disclosure: I don’t ski or snowboard, so the over abundance of snow in the Sierras was lost on me. But I am glad that we don’t have to worry about the drought for the next year, but with that comes the constant fear of said snow melting too fast and flooding us….again.

Now that winter is <knock on wood> over, I’m already enjoying the nicer weather. You know what I’m not enjoying? These damned allergies! I haven’t had them this bad in years. And though I’m no doctor nor environmentalist, I fully blame Mother Nature for my sniffling, sneezing, aching, coughing, stuffy-head, fever so I can’t rest allergies.

As much as I’d like to write an entire blog bitching about my allergies, I think it’d be more beneficial if I share two things I’ve learned in struggle. #struggleisreal

First – I learned from my Primary Care Physician that you can do a lot of damage to your body’s ability to create mucus. Last year, I took some form of “D” allergy medicine every day (think Claritin D, Zyrtec D, Allegra D, etc…) Maybe it’s the y chromosome, but I failed to read the back of any of these boxes. I just took one until I thought it wasn’t working anymore and would switch brands. Come to find out, if you’re as dumb as I was, this can disrupt how your body makes its normal day-to-day mucus. Your body is tricked into thinking there is not enough made, so it makes more…and more….and more until now matter what you take, you can’t breathe. Lesson learned. So this year, I’m trying the allergy steroid shot that’s supposed to last 3-4 months and so far it seems to be working well.

As a funny aside, the side effect that stuck out to me before getting this shot is that it could cause a dimple. Apparently, something in this shot has been known to damage fat cells at the site of injection causing a dimple. Oh, and I should mention the injection site is your butt cheek. You might be able to talk your doctor into injecting small amounts all around the abdomen area to help show off the awesome six pack you’re hiding.

Second – Go buy yourself a Neti Pot! Or stop reading this for a moment, log into your Amazon account and buy one. Your doctor may have samples as well that they can give you.

Now I was born and raised in Colorado and went to a very hippy college where I had a friend introduce me to this strange practice. Basically, you fill a Neti Pot with distilled water mixed with medical grade salt, tilt your head over a sink and simply pour it into one nostril and let it flow out the other. Most people still reading this are parents, so if you were able to get past sucking the snot out of your kid’s nose, you’ll be able to get past watching your own mucus fall into the sink. Call me Tim Allen, but I wanted “more power” so I purchased the squeeze bottle type of Neti Pot. You’ll also want to heat the water mixture up in the microwave for the same reason a steamy shower helps clear your sinuses.

I rinse my sinuses at least once a week to maintain my health. It’ll flush allergens, viruses and bacteria out regularly. If one of your kids brings a nice cold home from school, use the Neti Pot over blowing your nose. It works SO much better. Without getting too graphic….who are we kidding, if you’ve read my past blog posts, I don’t sugar coat the gross parts. You know when you’re blowing your nose and no matter how hard you blow, there’s always that one stubborn booger that is anchored beyond where your finger, I mean Q tip, reaches? That if it would come out, you could finally breathe? Well, the warm salt water can reach it, dislodge it and let you breathe at least for a moment.