CPAPtalk.com

I think if you post this a third time, we can consider it spam.
Once here, once on it's own thread - no need for more.
O.

I have BAD sinusitis becauseI missed the deadline for allergy shots by 8-10 years and licensed electricians are somehow the Whipping Boys of Cost Cutting.

I use both factory made Water Pik attachments from Ethicare and a homemade attachment that works like the suction bayonets that ENT doctors use to suction out noses. From the Fall of 1983 to early Fall 1996 I just poured salt water uinto my nose. Finally, the "rubber cement" from Pseudomonas Stutzeri ( a type of nitreogen fixing bacteria ) because so intense that I had to find a better way. The adhesive the P. Stutzeri produces keeps soils from eroding and provides nutrition for other microorganisms and eventually green plants.

Neilmed squirters and so forth DO NOT WORK on P. Stutzeri!

Here is what I did:

1. Drilled out the end of a standard Water Pik attachment using a black steel 3/32 inch drill bit and a variable speed drill on extremely low speed. Some drill bits ( such as cobalt steel ) are a bit too pointy and will drill too fast.

2. Get a NEVER USED spray can schnorchel ( that is the correct spelling the US spelling snorkel is incorrct ) of sufficient lenghth and internal diameter. These are commonly supplied with cans of WD-40, brake cleaning spray, electronics cleaning spray, or spray grease. Some of these are too short or have too small internal diameter so you have to look around.

3. High strength expoxy resin glue. The low strength is too runny. Quick setting ( about 15 minutes ) also helps.

4. Some plastic spoons to elevater the homemade attachment whilst it dries and to mix the epoxy.

5. Wax paper.

6. Wax plate for mixing epoxy.

7. Mix the epoxy, roll the end of the schnorchel inthe epoxy WITHOUT getting any over the opening on the end.

8. Insert into the end of the drilled out Water Pik attachment. Then, twist a little.

9. Cover the junction and the bend of the attachment with a layer of epoxy cement, let it set up a little.

10. Mix up some more epoxy and put it over the junction and bend. You will have to do this several times to make a strong joint.

11. Let set up for 24 hours.

12. Connect to Water Pik, adjust flow for just a little buffered saline water, then use it to dig betwee turbinates and so forth. You may have to adjust the wate flow a little higher to get good loosening action. Blow the loosened snot out of your nose and repeat.

13. Adding Xylitol to the buffered saline solution both helps loosen the crud in your nose and lubricates the Water Pik pump and valvbe so that it lasts longer.

14. If the Water Pik suddenly stops pumping with water in the resevoir it could be that the pause valve on the attachment socket is stuck closed and you accidentally pushed it. Pushing and releasing the pause valve several times whilst the WWater Pik is running should unstick it.

The first few times that you make these the device may fail. Drilling out the tip before glueing on the schnorchel weakens the tip and this must be made up by adding layers of epoxy. Also, the epoxy needs a lot of sueface area to get adequate adhesion to the schnorchel.

One time on The Doctors on NBC a few years ago I saw a factory made device like this used on a model of a human skull to wash peanut butter out of a model of a spenoid sinus. If anybody figures out who makes it and what the model number is I would like to know.

Mike Cole mc5w at earthlink dot net

I've had chronic to severe sinusitis since I got my nose broke with a baseball bat in 5th grade. I've been using a Waterpik for cleaning my sinuses since the 80s -- about 35 years. I didn't know what an ENT specialist was until college (latte 70s-mid 80s), and I had a particularly bad sinus infection. I was sent to an ENT, who sold me a tip that he had custom made by a local machine shop. It consisted of a stainless steel tube withe a taper and a groove near one end, and a tapered cone shaped plastic piece fastened to the other end. The SS tube was hollow, and thick walled. The plastic piece was attached atm right angle to the SS tube and had about a 1/8" hole that connected with the hole in the SS tube. The larger hole was what slowed down the speed and decreased the pressure of the Waterpik water stream. He taught me to practice adding salt to the water until it tastes like the water in my tears, and have the water temperature at body temperature or a couple degrees higher. A pinch of baking Soda and using sea salt makes the PH balance more like your body's natural salinity. He also told me to alternate between breathing hot humid salt air to breathing hot, humid air with alcohol content to kill bacteria in the sinuses. To accomplish this, I would take long, hot showers for the warm humid air. To alternate between hot salt water vapor and hot alcohol water vapor. I have two pots of water I use on the stove. One has salt water (sea salt); the other has enough Everclear alcohol or other high grade of alcohol (for human consumption). It only requires a tablespoon or so of the alcohol in a quart or less of boiling water to make it anti-microbial.
Put a towel over your head and the pot off water and inhale from each pot for several minutes or as long as you feel comfortable. Don't do it too much.
----
If the water didn't come out the other nostril, just repeat it a few hours later. Eventually the mucous that is plugging up your nostril will soften and you will get a glob of mucous out of the nostril. Do NOT continue to apply Waterpik pressure until it hurts. Once it clears, clean both nostrils once a day until the infection clears up. If you use it for more than a few weeks every day, the sinus cavities can become inflamed.
When the old Waterpik broke down, the old special adapter didn't fit the new models of Waterpik. I bought a packet of Watertip replacement tips and cut the end of the tip off far enough that the velocity of the water was where I wanted it. Then I wrapped 3M Super 88 electrical tape around the tip in a tapered fashion to fit inside my nostril. I've gone through 3 machines and made several tips. I had to clean my home made tips with hot water and flush with rubbing alcohol and replace the tape pretty regular to avoid breeding bacteria.
I'm sure you could describe this to a machinist and they could build one for you.
---
It's interesting that as soon as I moved out of the high mountain desert farming country to the shores of the Bering Sea, my sinus issues decreased dramatically. No more of the blowing desert sands, the pollen from flowering farm plants and different trees.....

One more thing--
actually two more--
1: I put saline thru one side, then the other. While the stream is going in each side, I experiment with tilting my head different directions, and alternately inhaling and exhaling through the open nostril. This takes some practice, but is very effective at clearing blockages. Experiment. You will figure it out.
2: I usually don't flush unless I have at least an hour to lay down on each side to let as much of the water and mucous drain as possible, before I have to work or teach. You may need to bend over while standing and tilt your head different ways until the extra saline drains. Have a towel ready to catch the water. Your sinuses can hold a surprising amount of saline and/or mucous, and it can be embarrassing to bend over to pick up a piece of paper and drench it with water (and/or thick, yellow or green mucous draining from your nose...

it's almost like nobody's ever heard of nasal irrigation.

Very dangerous to do any nasal irrigation with tap water. Always use distilled water.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 091050.htm
https://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/Consum ... 316375.htm

I would definitely recommend Ethicare for use with waterpik. Much easier and no need to try to alter the device yourself. It been around for over 40 years apparently -wish I had known about it years ago.