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How to avoid getting sick after flying
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
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Rob Brooks-Bilson May 12th 2008 12:37PM
I agree 100%, although I use a neti pot and make my own saline using 8oz of warm water and 1/4 tsp of non-iodized salt. It's much cheaper than the commercial solutions and I think a bit gentler to let the water flow vs. squeezing it through.
I find that the neti also makes night-time breathing much easier for those that suffer from seasonal allergies.
debbie May 12th 2008 1:49PM
We've done this for our kids ever since they were babies. We use a small medicine syringe to drop a few drops of saline in their noses before and after each flight. The saline can also help with swelling, making it easier for them to deal with the pressure in the plane. It also helps loosen stuffy noses when they are sick.
In France and Italy we were able to buy saline in little individual serving-size bottles. Perfect for travel!
Debbie
http://www.deliciousbaby.com
Moody75 May 12th 2008 11:03PM
I agree....use the neti pot starting a week before travel and a week after it..... I have not since gotten the dreaded airplane flu. (knock on wood)