How to do - Stage 1

1. Nasal cleansing can be performed over a sink, a bowl on a table, in the shower or outside. First fill the Neti Pot with warm water of a temperature suitable for pouring in the nose - neither too hot nor cold. Just like testing a baby�s bottle, pour a bit on your arm or taste and spit to check the temperature. Pure water is best if available but this is not obligatory.

2. Mix in salt to the proportion of one - level teaspoon for half a liter of water. This equates to 0.9% � the same as human blood � and is called an isotonic solution. Mix the salt thoroughly. Taste the water and spit - adjust if not correct. After several attempts you will be able to recognize the correct mixture by taste. Be sure to fully mix and dissolve the salt.

3. Place the nose cone of the neti pot into the right nostril, sealing it to the nostril with a few twists and slight pressure. Try to point the spout straight up in line with the nasal passage so as not to block the tip of the nozzle by the inside of the nose. Open your mouth and breathe gently through the mouth. Do not sniff, swallow, laugh, talk or have any movement of air through the nose while the water is flowing through.

4. Now slowly bend forward from the waist so that the tip of the nose is the lowest point of the head; and then tilt/roll the head, so that the left nostril is now the lowest point of the nose. Tilt slowly so that water doesn�t run out the top of the pot onto your face! Keep the nose cone fully sealed into the right nostril so that water doesn�t leak out. Continue breathing through the mouth while the water flows. After a few seconds and the water should run out the left nostril. Keep breathing slowly and gently through the mouth. After the water begins to flow, wait about 20 - 30 seconds for about half a pot to flow right to left, and then remove the pot and stand up.

5. Before changing sides, blow out gently through both nostrils to clear water and mucus from the nose. It is important that you do not blow hard at this point or you will send water up into the ear tubes and sinuses. All that is needed is a couple of slow, soft blows out into the sink to remove the water in the nose. Do not pinch the nostrils to create extra force, or blow hard and vigorously.

6. Repeat steps 3 & 4 as above, but with the nose cone entering from the left nostril and the flow of water going left to right. After the pot runs dry, stand up, blow out gently through both nostrils and then prepare to dry out the nose. Read: Drying the nose

7. If, after doing the above steps, there is still a mucus blockage, the whole process may be repeated several times until it clears. If you regularly need to do several pots to effectively clear nasal mucus, it is easiest to mix several liters of solution in a bowl beforehand.

8. Always do half a pot right to left, then half a pot left to right. Repeating this sequence is better than doing one whole pot in each direction, and taking a break to refill in between sides. It also gives the mucus a better chance to dissolve and exit more quickly.