My Neti Pot experience

Well its been so long that I have put anything to print on here but Im just going to jump right in.( as a disclosure I wrote this a few weeks ago I just couldnt post it til now)
I have just used my neti pot for the first time.I have a bad head cold which caused a sore throat and I was coughing alot due to post nasal drip.I had completely forgot that I even bought the neti pot but I was laying there thinking that I have to do something other than drink the tea I mix up when I get sick ( although it was helping, just not as fast as my throat and sinuses liked). So !eureka! I remembered that I had my neti stashed away. I read the instructions which were so straight forward that I began to think I was overlooking something and that I was going to screw it up. But the more I read the more I realized that it really might be that simple. I had no distilled water in the house so I nuked mine.( Hey does anyone know how long opened distilled water is good for? Do you have to refrigerate it to keep it fresh? If you know let me know,ok so anyway...) I let it cool till I thought it wouldn't scorch my nostrils and then I added the pouch of solution, gave it a shake and then I set it down. I don't know why I was nervous but I was.I finally picked it up after a minute or two of talking myself into it.
It says to keep your mouth open and just lean forward,stick the spout in your nostral, tilt your head sideways and let it do its thing. Now my nose was so congested that for about 20 seconds nothing happened, my nose just felt like it was now plugged with water instead of boogies. And then I saw a drip, then another and then eventually a little stream and I knew I wasn't going to drown myself. I was a bit let down to be honest. I knew the color of the ick in my nose from blowing it every 5 mins. I, in my sick mind, wanted to see a river of green, brown, and yellow.I wanted to see it work like a firefighters hose and flush it all out. But I decided to just focus on getting it done and see how I felt after. I stood up straight, sniffed a bit of the solution into my sinus passages and then gently blew my nose. Nothing but the solution came out but at least that side was clear for the time being. I did the same to the other nostril and was sad when I ran out of water. I would have stood there all day if I thought it would help. Now on the second side I did end up with a small amount of the solution in my mouth, not sure why, I didn't gag on it and I just kinda let it roll out of my mouth and then spit out what didnt roll out on its own. Nothing about the flush was uncomfortable, I never felt as if I couldnt breath or anything else I was worried about. It was all very gentle and seems to have helped quite a bit even in the hour since I have done it. My post nasal drip is way down ( but in honesty not gone), I havent coughed but a couple of times and I have blown my nose only once. And it was clear. So I think its a keeper and I will continue to use it. If anyone has any question then just let me know. Even the yucky kind. Believe me when I tell you that I had to curb myself when I wrote this so as to not offend or gross people out.

Sidenote: My mother said it was funny they had this sort of thing on the market because she has been snorting salt water when she has a cold for as long as she can remember, without a pot. I remember being little and seeing her pour some salt into her palm, add some warm water, mix it around and sniff it right up. Which I had done as well in the past. But the neti pot makes it much easier. My nose was stuffed, I had a hard time breathing in or out. If I tried to sniff up the water it wouldn't be much and it wouldn't get far. The pot, besides having more fluid in it to work with, worked from the back to flush out instead of in.It did it gently and for a longer period of time then just a sniff. My mother had the right idea then and has since gotten a neti pot of her own to make it easier for her as well.Now all I have to do is work on my daughter, who has horrid allergies, and have her try it.

*I am not getting anything from any company for posting this.Its just my own personal experience that I wanted to share in case someone out there had any misgivings in trying it or wanted to know a bit more about it.