Rinse the nose with salt

Nasal lavage or rinsing of the nose with salt, or more precisely, with its solution, is a procedure in which the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses are cleansed of excess mucus, settled foreign particles (including xenobiotics), and microbes and viruses that cause runny nose.

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Indications and contraindications

Mucous epithelium of the nasal cavity, having ciliated ciliary cells (ciliary cells), and mucous secret are the protective system of the human respiratory system - mucociliary clearance, through which the inhaled air is purified and moistened. For the nose to perform its protective functions, its mucosa should be clean, and the ciliary (motor) activity of ciliated cells is high. This is facilitated by the periodic washing of the nose with salt.

Especially useful is the washing of the nose with salt in the rhinitis, since acute inflammation of the nasal mucosa during this period leads to a weakening of the ciliary activity of the cilia and substantially reduces its protective properties. As a result, bacteria and viruses linger on the nasal mucosa, provoking an infectious damage to its cells.

In otorhinolaryngology, there are the following indications for the procedure:

• nasopharyngitis (acute respiratory viral infection or acute viral rhinitis);
• acute and chronic sinusitis;
• sinusitis;
• allergic rhinitis (hay fever);
• atrophic rhinitis.

Nasal lavage has contraindications, in particular, it is not recommended to wash the nose if there is a violation of the nasal passages (including atresia of the khoan); if available, adenoma, papilloma or osteoma of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses; with acute and chronic forms of otitis, as well as with a tendency to nosebleeds.

Preparing to wash the nose with salt

Preparation for this procedure is reduced to the preparation of all necessary devices and a solution for washing. Devices for this procedure use a syringe or syringe without a needle, who are familiar with the technique of yoga - a classic teapot of small volume.

You will also need distilled or purified boiled water, heated to + 37 ° C, a glass, a teaspoon and table salt.

Why is salt used to wash the nose? The mucous membrane and the mucous secretion of the nasal cavity normally have a pH of 5.5-6; as soon as the acidity shifts toward OH (pH 6.5-7.8), the ciliated cells stop working, and pathogenic microbes settle in the nasal cavity, provoking the onset of a runny nose. The solution of table salt, first, has a certain antiseptic effect, and, secondly, it helps to lower the pH level, that is, it helps to restore the protective properties of the mucociliary system.

What are the proportions of salt and water for washing the nose?

For daily hygienic washing, 0.9% isotonic sodium chloride solution is prepared: 9 g of sodium chloride are dissolved in one liter of water. If it is necessary to wash the nose with salt in case of genyantritis or in cases of acute bacterial sinusitis, then a 5-10% hypertonic solution is needed: 5 g of salt (half a teaspoon) or 10 g of salt (teaspoon) per 100 ml of water.

With abundant discharge from the nose helps wash the nose with soda and salt: 1/3 of baking soda and 2/3 of table salt or 1: 1. Soda dries the mucous, so more often than once a day (for 4-5 days), such procedures are not recommended. Otolaryngologists are advised to add three drops of iodine to the glass in the lavage solution: this washing of the nose with iodine and salt is suitable for chronic sinusitis, nasopharyngitis and maxillary sinusitis, with the presence of an impurity of pus in the discharge from the nose.

Also used sea salt for washing the nose (you need to take food, but not for baths). The content of iodine enhances its antibacterial effect. In addition, besides NaCl, sodium salt contains sodium sulfate, chlorides and sulfates of potassium, calcium and magnesium in the sea salt. Potassium compounds regulate the level of acidity of the mucous membranes, calcium strengthens the membranes of cells of the mucosal epithelium in the nasal cavity, and magnesium helps restore the ciliary cells of the mucosa.

And the last thing about which salt for washing can be used. The company Jadran Galenski Laboratorij (Croatia) produces a series of nasal products from the Adriatic Sea - Aqua Maris, including Aquamaris salt for washing the nose. Specialists note that the salinity of the Adriatic Sea is lower than in the Mediterranean, as it dilutes freshwater of several incoming rivers.

And the Achilles salt for washing the nose, produced in Solikamsk (Russia) and claimed as the "sea salt of the ancient Permian Sea," is a fossil rock salt (halite) formed in the Permian geological period of the Paleozoic (252-298 million years ago) the ancient ocean. Having sea origin, all the stone (salt) that we used has preserved for hundreds of millions of years only NaCl in its composition.

The technique of washing the nose with salt

Rinsing of the nose with salt in the rhinitis is performed for each nasal passage alternately (it is impossible to draw or pour the solution into both nares at the same time).

The simplest technique of washing the nose with salt is to take a handful of a solution (temperature + 35-37 ° C), pinch one nostril with one finger, bend over the sink, bring the solution to the free nostril and inhale it into the nose. The mouth should be kept ajar so that the water flows freely. Then exhaled through the nostril. Similarly, the second nasal passage is washed.

It is convenient to rinse the nose with a small syringe or syringe, into which the solution is taken and alternately injected into the nasal passages (the water must also pour out through the mouth). It should be borne in mind that the jet of the liquid to be delivered should be not strong - so that the solution does not get into the connecting nasopharynx and the middle ear of the auditory (Eustachian) tubes, the holes of which are located on the side walls of the nasopharynx.

It is recommended to wash the nose with salt in case of genyantritis using a teapot in which the solution is taken. Standing in front of the sink, the head leans forward and turns slightly to the side: when washing the right nasal passage - to the left side, for the left - to the right (that is, the washed nostril should be higher). When breathing in and holding the breath, the solution through the tip of the kettle is poured into the upper nostril, and from the opposite one pours out by gravity. Removal of the remainder of the solution is done by barking: first with the head tilted, and then straightening the neck. The second nasal passage is washed in a similar way.

ENT doctors warn: after this procedure, you can not immediately leave the room. In the cold season, you need to wait at least two or three hours, if the outside is warm - at least 40-45 minutes.

In addition, if the nose is rinsed with salt is not done correctly, there may be complications that are manifested in the development of otitis media inflammation.