Charlie: There’s a lot to deal with these days, it seems more than ever. And it’s especially important time to take a deep breath, which may be easier for some than others. And Lisa Bracken is joining us today to talk about managing and optimizing your respiratory health. Hi Lisa.
Lisa: Hi Charlie, thanks for having me.
Charlie: Lisa, we pay attention to our temperature, we’re checking that all the time, but just as important I imagine is making sure our respiratory system is getting our system the oxygen it needs. What are ways we can make sure that happens?
Lisa: There are two, well there’s three. Well, actually there’s a lot, but let me just hit on these-
Charlie: Let’s just pick the big ones, okay.
Lisa: Yes, let me pick the big ones. Okay, so the very first recommendation that I want to give to pretty much everyone out there listening is embrace the neti pot, embrace the neti pot. Now that’s that little ceramic teapot looking thing that you see at the health food stores and you fill it with warm water and salt and you dissolve the salt and then you irrigate your nasal passages. You put the little tip of the teapot into one… just kind of set it into the nostril enough to feel it. You bend over, you tilt your head, you lift the teapot and the salt water gently, gently cascades up into the sinus passage and over, down and out the other side. Some people get really weirded out by this and I’m with you. I resisted the neti pot for so long, but I tell you what it is a game changer, big time.
So it promotes overall sinus health. It promotes a healthy mucosal lining of the nasal passages. It removes excess mucus, which there’s so much of that happening in the springtime. And it also rinses away respiratory irritants like dirt, dust, pollen, anything that we’re breathing in. If, you’re in a construction zone all day, then absolutely hit your neti pot at night before you go to bed and clear that out. So yeah, so neti pot, numero uno, embrace it, love it. If you’re frightened of it, swing by the clinic, I’ll give you a demo in the bathroom. We’ll just huddle in there together, and trust me, it’s good.
Second recommendation that I have, following up the nasal cleansing of the neti pot, is putting oil in your nose. Now this might seem completely counterintuitive and strange, especially if people are dealing with mucus, why put more moisture in your nose? Well, what putting oil in your nose, it’s called nasya, N-A-S-Y-A. And what it does for us is it actually lubricates and protects the nasal passages and it begins to balance mucus production. It relieves sinus congestion. It helps facilitate the cleansing process by, like I said, balancing our mucus production. Did you know Charlie, that on an average, good day, we produce about a quarter of the mucus in our head? That’s a good day.
Charlie: Wow.
Lisa: Isn’t that crazy? So of course, here in Northeastern Oklahoma, allergy season, we have a very long allergy season, spring, summer, and even in the fall for a lot of people, and the mucus production can be really nuts. So anyway, the oil is fantastic. You can actually get or use oils that have been medicated with herbs that will actually help to release tension in the head. Maybe even relieve accumulated stress as well. So what kind of oil? I know you’re just dying to know. You can use Sesame oil, basic good, old Sesame oil. You can use olive oil. One of my favorites is ghee, G-H-E-E. I like just a little bit of ghee. And you can put some oil on your pinky fingers and gently rub it inside your nostrils. You want to coat the entire inner lining of the nostril, or you can put it on the Q-tips and gently massage it.
What I like to do is I have a little bottle with an eyedropper of oil, and then I shake it up and I tilt my head back and put two or three or four drops of oil, little drops, tiny little drops in each nostril, and then a couple of big sniffs in, and I’m good to go. So those are my top two recommendations for a good open airway and a protected airway as well.
Charlie: I’ve seen devices that they sell that essentially do what the neti pot does, where you can hold it up and it actually pumps through, what are your thoughts on those?
Lisa: Mm-hmm (affirmative), I say, do the best you can with what you’ve got, but in a perfect world you’d use the neti pot, because think about the pressure that’s behind that pump when you squeeze it, that’s a lot of pressure going up into the sinuses. And a neti pot, one of the reasons I love it so much is its gentleness, it’s very gentle. Now I will say this, my husband was also very resistant to the neti pot for a long time, after I began using one, he referred to it as Ayurvedic waterboarding. He just thought for sure, it was… yeah. But I will say this now, he’s a fan and we have his and her neti pots. Yeah, he’s a believer. So I choose the neti pot over the sprayer for that.
Charlie: This is actually going to increase the oxygen content, doesn’t it help you get more air into your blood system when you do this.
Lisa: Mm-hmm (affirmative), yeah, it’s certainly possible to do that. You bet because your airway is clear, right? So we’re able to increase the vital capacity of our lungs, when we have a clearer airway,
Charlie: And one of the places that we’ve heard from the CDC where COVID is finding home is in the nasal passages. So keeping that clean and evacuating that regularly is something that’s going to a greater chance of remaining healthy.
Lisa: Absolutely, that’s that’s accurate. And that’s one of the reasons that I lean towards always using a medicated oil, not only do I consider the nose as the direct route to the brain, but the doorway to consciousness as well. And when some of these nasal oils that have been infused with herbs, like one that I use in particular during spring and summer has tulsi in it, you might know tulsi as holy basil. It’s in the basil family, it grows like crazy in Oklahoma once you get your hands on some and plant it. And it’s a beautiful, beautiful green shrub, and it is excellent for clearing… It’s an antibacterial, it’s excellent for clearing mucus. And it also increases capacity in the lungs on the upper respiratory tract. So we use it a lot with asthma and bronchitis. So yeah, using a medicated oil, if you can get your hands on one and I’m happy to help you with that, is really a way to not just hit the ball but get a home run.
Charlie: Lisa, I’m going to circle back to one thing you said about the neti pot, you said water and salt, do it just a pinch of salt, a little bit of salt in that?
Lisa: You want to use about an eighth of a teaspoon of salt. And the thing about the salt is don’t just reach for Morton’s table salt. You want to use a USP, so a United States Pharmacopeia grade salt, and ideally one that does not have any anti-caking agents in it. Because that’s just a chemical that keeps your salt really smooth and from getting clumped up, you don’t want that in it. So you can buy these jars at Sprouts and Whole Foods and Natural Grocers, maybe even Walmart.
But yeah, the quality of the salt is important. I mean, we’re dealing with the nasal passages. We’re dealing with the doorway to the brain. So the quality of salt is important. The amount is important. And I’ll give you a little trick, those of you who are going to try the neti pot at home, I’m so proud of you, kudos, I’m high fiving you right now. But you start with about an eighth of a teaspoon, that’s sufficient for the salt. If it stings a little bit, honestly, you need more salt. And I know that seems counter intuitive, but you need just a little bit more salt and it’ll be smooth sailing and smooth breathing.
Charlie: And regular tap water? Because I’ve heard some people say that you should use distilled water and not tap water.
Lisa: Mm-hmm (affirmative), that’s correct, distilled water and warm it up. So one of the things you can do is heat it up in the morning in the microwave, [inaudible 00:08:28] use one of the ceramic pots, you can just pour your distilled water in there, heat it up in a microwave, make sure it’s not too hot when you’re ready to use it and add your salt and dissolve it. Now I will, true confessions right here, I use my shower water. I’d probably get banned from the Ayurvedic community if they heard me say that, but you got to meet people where they are, right? So I do this in the shower and I just use the water that comes out of my tap, but I know that’s a big, no no.
Charlie: In a perfect world you’d have a jug of a distilled water under the sink, in the cabinet. And you’d fill it up, heat it up, add the salt, dissolve it and get after it.
Lisa: Yeah, exactly. So professionally speaking, yes, distilled water, personally speaking, just clean your nose.
Charlie: Don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good, that’s all there is.
Lisa: Thank you, thank you for that.
Charlie: All right. She’s Lisa Bracken, she can help you with this and so many more things and you can reach her through our website or schedule time with her by calling Tulsa Spine and Rehab and tapping into her Ayurvedic excellence here. Lisa, thank you so much for joining us.
Lisa: Hey, my pleasure, Charlie. Thank you.
Charlie: Remember now, Tulsa Spine and Rehab is a collection of specialists. They’re all teamed together in one place, chiropractic and physical therapy, massage, cryotherapy, and a host of other specialties, including Ayurveda, all with one goal to help you get moving.
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