Gadling

Forget vitamins. I am about to give you the best travel tip ever. If you want to avoid contracting a virus or bacteria on germ-infested airplanes, use nasal irrigation before and after flying.

Yes, I agree that squirting saline solution into your nose is not the most pleasant thing, but it works so well! Nasal irrigation clears out excess mucus and particulates and moisturize the nasal cavity. It also cleans allergens, irritants, bacteria and viruses from the nose reducing the frequency of infection.

If you think about it, it makes sense. People contract most germs through their nose. Rinsing the nasal cavity with salt water is a great way to keep it clean. It's not at all a new technique. Nasal irrigation is an ancient Ayurvedic technique known as "jala neti," which literally means "nasal cleansing with water" in Sanskrit, where the practitioner uses a neti pot to perform the irrigation.

I have tried several different nasal irrigation squirt bottles and I like the NeilMed bottle the best. It makes it really easy and relatively quick to squirt 8 oz of saline into your nose. I do it after every single flight I take and I try to do it before I fly, as well. I also using after using extremely packed public transportation.

It is magic.

Filed under: Travel Health