By UTMB’s Dr. Victor Sierpina: I want to tell you about the Aladdin’s lamp of nasal health, the neti pot. Shaped like a little lamp or teapot, it is a simple and perfectly designed way of delivering salt water into irritated nasal passages. You put a 1/2 teaspoon of salt in the neti pot, dissolve it with warm, clean water, then with your head over the sink and turned to the side, simply pour the solution into each nostril. This flushes out mucus, debris, pollen, and inflammatory cells and molecules. The next time you feel stuffed and blocked in the nose and sinuses, reach for your neti pot. Instead of looking for a pill, a decongestant, antihistamine, an antibiotic or making a phone to call your doctor, the neti pot ought be your first choice. Mine cost under $10, less than the cost of a copay or over the counter medications, neither of which might help all that much anyway to promote your nasal health.