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Ancient treatment washes away allergies

02:49 PM CDT on Thursday, September 6, 2007

By JANET ST. JAMES / WFAA-TV

WFAA-TV
The neti pot.

Allergists predict this could be one of the worst years on record for fall allergies.

But there is a treatment to wash away allergies.

The best part about it - it's virtually free.

Imagine breathing through your nose doing this upside down scorpion - first of all at all and secondly with sinus problems.

"I'd feel a lot of pressure in my head, I wouldn't be able to focus," said David Buckner.

Buckner says he struggled for a long time until his yoga instructor gave him a tip that forever conquered his allergies.

"My instructor told me about the neti pot and suggested I started using it."

Traditional allergy treatments include pills, nose sprays, even shots.

But some people have turned to a natural remedy thousands of years old. It simply involves filling a teapot-looking device, called a neti pot, with warm water, then adding a quarter of a teaspoon of non-iodized sea salt.

This is actually an ancient yoga cleansing technique for the nasal passages.

Just tip the nose to one side - pour the water in and it comes out the other side.

It may sound gross but Presbyterian Dallas allergist Dr. Gary Gross says it's not.

"These devices actually wash out your sinuses so they clear out the mucous and actually clear out the irritants in your nose and sinuses," he said.

Dr. Gross says more modern devices - available at most local drugstores - are made of plastic and work as well. In fact, this inexpensive alternative may be one of the best kept secrets in the fight against allergies and the common cold.

"People who use it will often have fewer sinus infections, not need antibiotics, not need some of the other treatment that you think about when you have drainage from sinuses."

After years of taking prescription medications for his bad allergies, Buckner ditched them all for a neti pot.

"Allergy season comes up and I just get the neti pot out and I use it for a few days and everything's fine. It's great."

And so, by the way, is his breathing in yoga class.

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