An easy way to rinse sinus troubles away...

LAST week I was writing about hayfever nose, and how to best to use the steroid nasal sprays so that they stand the best chance of helping.

Some people have a congested nose all year long, and this is called chronic or nonallergic rhinitis.

Other people get a blocked nose temporarily with a heavy cold or sinusitis, or after doing dusty or vaporous jobs.

You can also find it hard to breathe if you develop nasal polyps (soft floppy skin tags high up inside the nose).

Many of the ENT docs recommend saline rinses or douches for the nose, to help ease congestion, and they can be helpful for hayfever nose as well.

Although you can buy saline rinses from the pharmacy, it’s easy and cheap to make your own at home, and here’s the recipe.

Boil a pint/ half a litre of water and allow to cool. Once it’s at least down to body temperature (37 degrees), you can add one teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda. Stir to dissolve.

It’s easiest to put it in a sterile/ very clean squeezy bottle with a nozzle, perhaps an old nasal rinse bottle or a small plastic ketchup bottle.

You know, the ones that are on a greasyspoon-café table (but much cleaner).

There’s a lot of water involved, so stand over a sink.

For your cheek sinuses, tip your head to one side and slightly down, squirt some in, or sniff up a cupped handful of the

North Sea’ taste. saline – then let it fall out.

Don’t sniff too high or you’ll have the “Swimming in the North Sea” taste. If you do swallow it, don’t worry, it won’t do you any harm.

For your forehead sinus, look down at the floor, chin to chest, and do the same.

If you’re an advanced level rinser, you can apparently squirt the saline right up one nostril while looking down, and let it fall out the other one.

I haven’t tried this myself but it sounds like a stupendous life skill to master, and a good party trick if nothing else.

You can do this twice a day if your symptoms are bad, but once daily is still very beneficial. There. You can rinse your troubles away now.

Don’t sniff too high or

you’ll have the ‘Swimming in the