Last Friday it started. Tingling nose, achy body, pounding headache. Typical sinus head cold.
I toughed it out, got the kids to bed and crashed. Saturday, the situation had worsened. Stuffed nose, stuffed head, listless - my body has succumbed to a dreaded cold - you know the kind that has no cure. The prescription usually reads: chicken soup, rest, hot tea and time will take care of it.
But I don't have time. And I don't like being sick. And I'm a control freak. So I took action.
I tweeted out my situation - and social media didn't let me down.
First, my condition of common cold vs a sinus infection was diagnosed by moms who'd been there done that. "If you bend over and you feel like your head is going to explode, then you have a sinus infection."
I bent and was pain free, although all the mucous rushed into my not-so-tiny nose. It wasn't pretty.
I tweeted out the results that it was just a head cold and was inundated with another round of helpful suggestions - although this time they were slightly perplexing. Everyone, and I mean about 30 women, started raving about a...wait for it.... Neti-Pot.
Huh?
Of course I googled said Neti-Pot and this weird YouTube video caught my eye.
At first I thought this was a practical joke - that I was being Twitter punked. I tweeted out "This scares me." Again, I was inundated with enthusiastic well wishers urging me to try it out; that I would not be disappointed and that all my sinus issues will be solved.
I remember the saying "Do something that scares you every day".
So I sent my husband Neti-pot shopping.
What is it and how does it work ? A small plastic teapot is filled with water and a secret saline solution that comes with the pot. Sinus sufferer stands over a sink with head at an angle and pours the salty water up into your nostril. The water finds its way into your mucousy sinus cavities and then comes pouring out the other nostril. Change sides and repeat. Strange, but true.
My verdict. Not as bad as I had imagined. If you follow the instructions, you barely feel the water moving from nostril to nostril. It definitely helps wash away the...you know...SNOT, and you're good for a few hours.
It's been five days since I first succumbed to a head cold and I'm almost out of the woods. Did the Neti-pot cure me? Cure may be too strong a word, but it definitely relieved some of the pressure associated with stuffed sinus cavities. And it may have expedited my recovery. I can't say for sure.
What did make me feel better for sure was the onslaught of friends on Twitter who took the time to turn me on to this freaky little gadget, have a laugh with me, a cheer me on virtually.
Social media as a cure for a common cold? It worked for me!
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