by Jason Samanski

Think about it, additional parts of the body are treated with much more reverence and respect. Hands and feet are ceremoniously detailed by manicures and pedicures. Teeth are brushed and polished to precision by agents comparable to the buffing and polishing agents applied to luxury sport cars. Do I dear mention the irrigation techniques developed by the elite to cleanse their bottoms? Yes, our hair is richly conditioned and our lips are well balmed with hydrating moisturizers and your skin is soft and supple. However, beyond an occasional blow into a handkerchief or an exploratory excavation to improve aesthetic appearances and nasal passage comfort; what are you doing to assist this wonderful design to help you?

Fall has arrived; Ragweed allergy symptoms are flying and wreaking havoc among millions of allergy and sinusitis sufferers. To the detriment of the nose, oral medications are ingested with nominal effects of improving nasal congestion. The time has come for a paradigm shift to proclaim demands for a pampered snout. Nasal hygiene is the solution and Pulsatile Irrigation helps you achieve it! Respiraid is a company introducing a system that delivers a gentle pulsating stream of buffered saline solution to wash out unwanted pollens and foreign matter aggravating the gateway to your respiratory pathways. Your nose is the structure that houses the mucociliary system; a transportation system dependent on lubricants and motile hair-like structures called cilia that capture and move unwanted allergens and materials to the back of the nose to be swallowed, spat, sneezed, or coughed out. Avoiding proper maintenance of this important system can result in sinusitis, nasal polyps and asthma exacerbations.

Is your spouse keeping you up at night because of glass-breaking, earth-rumbling symphonies attributed to snoring? Teach your spouse the principles of sinus irrigation and you may be treated to a restful night sleep characteristic of the slumber realized on an expensive space-age foam mattress at a fraction of the cost. Moreover, more harmonious marital relationships are reported to be attributed to a single use of this practical, technological improvement of an early technique mastered by ancient Yogis. Ancient Yogis used to sniff a handful of a salt-water solution and pulsate it in harmony with the beating cilia in their noses to expedite the clearance of gunk aggravating their beloved noses. The good news is, you do not have to spend years in a classroom in meditative contortions working towards a higher level of consciousness to master this technique…Pulsatile Irrigation has arrived!

Yes, if we will only open our minds (And Noses) to recognize that modern medicine can work synergistically with ancient eastern forms of medicine and therapeutic interventions; we all may be surprised at how well we can adapt to pollen, dander, mold and mildew. Below is a list of resources to help you take the giant leap to nasal equality and begin to learn how to care for your humble nose.

All patients are encouraged to direct their specific questions to their personal physicians. The information is written to help patients better understand and participate in their own medical care.

Posted via web from respiraid’s posterous

by Jason Samansky

Are you keeping your nose clean?  Here is a rhetorical question that many of us have heard repeatedly from authority figures throughout our lifetimes!  Nostalgic memories inspired by patriarchal and matriarchal nurturers of the past illuminate memories of wisdom passed onto this tail end of the Baby Boom legacy.  

How many of us really focus on proper maintenance of our noses?  I wish I could report that many people have a level of consciousness about their personal appearance and get a high mark in that area.  Unfortunately, observing the number of people over the years that have nasal hair resembling a briar bush hanging out the portal of their snout; leaves me to wonder how familiar they are with the concept of nasal hygiene. 

It has been reported by the Centers of Disease Control that 30.7 million Americans were diagnosed with Sinusitis in 2006.  Allergic Rhinitis, often a precursor to Sinusitis development, was reported in a study titled,” The Economic Burden of Allergic Rhinitis; A Critical Evaluation of the Literature”, to cost an estimated 2-5 billion dollars each year.  That is a lot of money!!  Fresh on many of our minds is the unfolding events immediately following the Federal Governments approval of the 700 Billion Dollar Bailout Plan on Wall Street.  Giving government blank checks to correct a problem they created undermines the ingenuity of individuals removed from this bureaucracy.  So does continuing to blindly follow sound bites to treat your sinus symptoms from television and print ads! 

Ask yourself a couple of honest questions, are you intimately involved with the care of yourself and your family or blindly following traditional, convenient, quick fix solutions?  Are current treatment strategies for Allergic Rhinitis and Sinusitis effectively leveraging your hard earned dollars to achieve relief and control?

There are effective solutions that can compliment or reduce your dependence on responsible pharmacologic treatment strategies directed by medical professionals.  Pulsatile Irrigation gently delivers a stream of a salt water solution to cleanse the nose of allergens that lead to over-reactive immune responses resulting in an overproduction of mucous that inhibits the cilia in your nose from clearing it out.  Often, the stagnant thick, sticky bio-film hindering your cilia becomes breeding grounds for viruses and bacteria that take up residence and promote sinusitis and allergies symptoms and complications.  The pulsating stream of salt water solution generated by pulsatile irrigation gently erodes away the bio-film and helps reduce viral and bacterial loads; complimenting the efforts of your body’s infection fighting cells. 

Immunotherapy allergies treatment offered by qualified Allergists and ENTs are reported to be a viable option by the medical professionals that are highly trained to administer “allergy shots” to help correct an individual’s over-reactive immune system to the pollens produced by trees, grasses and weeds, molds, insects and animals. 

In closing, another old proverbial statement has been  routed to the forefront of my mind by my an aging network of neurons and synapses, “If you like the way things are going, then keep on doing what you are doing; if not consider changing your direction or approach.”

All patients are encouraged to direct their specific questions to their personal physicians. The information is written to help patients better understand and participate in their own medical care. 

Posted via web from respiraid’s posterous

by Jason Samanski

Reducing Exposure to Environmental Triggers for Sinusitis, Allergies and Asthma is one of the most important steps you can take to personally manage your sinus-related condition.

1.) Pulsatile Sinus Irrigation:  It is virtually impossible to avoid all exposure to the multitude of substances in your daily life that exacerbate your allergy, asthma and sinusitis.  The first and most important step is taking personal responsibility to manage your own symptoms.  Pulsatile Irrigation delivers a gentle pulsating stream of a buffered saline solution that helps not only to remove unwanted substances triggering allergic reactions; it also gently restores the functioning of your cilia by cleaning out the thick mucous biofilm that prevents your cilia from fighting infection.  If your physician has already prescribed a nasal steroid or you are using an Over-The-Counter mast cell stabilizer such as NasalCrom; more medicine will come into contact with nasal mucosa by irrigating first.  This amazing device takes less than a minute to help you experience immediate natural relief and manage your aggravating, sometimes painful symptoms by helping to reduce or prevent future attacks.

2.) Indoor Environmental Management:  Although you are unable to control the transitional elements of spring, summer, fall and winter; you have the ability to manage your exposure to allergenic substances inside your household.  Allergenic Air Filters that screen out microscopic particles (stirred up by normal walking patterns inside your household) may be professionally installed by a trained HVAC Technician as an additional component to your heating and cooling system. 

For many, a more practical approach is to purchase disposable air filters designed to filter out pollens, animal dander, insect waste, mold and fungus allergens.  Your local home improvement store often carries a variety of disposable air filters that target the removal of allergenic particles. 

Keeping windows closed during peak allergy seasons and vacuuming your household regularly will help reduce your exposure to many of the triggers that aggravate your sinuses.  However, there is one uninvited visitor that thrives in parts of the country where the indoor relative humidity is often greater than 50%.  Dust mites are microscopic, crab-like creatures that invisibly dwell in your carpet, upholstered furniture, drapery, pillows, mattresses and bedding by the billions. 

Many individuals are highly allergic to the molted skin and waste products of these uninvited guests feeding off your dead skin cells and their own waste products.  Replacing carpet with hardwood or tile floors, draperies with wood, metal or plastic blinds, upholstered furniture with wood or leather furniture and utilizing mattress and pillow case coverings, creates a less favorable condition for these creatures to cohabitate with you. 

3.) Outdoor Environmental Management:  Enjoying outdoor recreational activities and maintenance responsibilities around the yard can be an aggravating experience for many allergy sufferers and dangerous for those managing allergic asthma.  The reproduction cycle of trees, grasses and weeds produce pollens disbursed locally and often widely distributed into your locality by the jet stream. 

Rainy seasons often support the growth of mold and fungus.  Grass cutting and shrub trimming release allergens into the air.  An allergy filtration mask may help reduce your exposure and help prevent attacks.  For many, these masks are unattractive, hot and cumbersome to wear.  I learned about a company distributing a nasal filter that I personally tested when cutting my lawn.  This particular brand of nasal filters is very effective and let you breathe without obstruction.  The filters fit into your nose similar to putting an ear noise reduction filter into your ear.  You can learn about this less obtrusive disposable nasal filter: http://www.breathepurenaf.com.  Also, do not forget to irrigate your nose after being outdoors when pollen is widespread! 

4.) Seek Qualified Expertise:  If you are unable to manage your symptoms after receiving treatment from a Primary Care Physician; seek out a Board Certified Allergist or Ear Nose and Throat physician to help you.  Most Allergists and ENT physicians will help you evaluate your need for pharmacotherapy and/or surgical options.  Moreover, you may discern you are a candidate for immunotherapy injections; a process that often requires a two- to four-year commitment to help your body become desensitized to many of the substances you body is allergic too.