Jason Earle

No, that headline doesn’t suggest anyone should put their head in a toilet and pull the lever. The sinus remedy I want to tell you about is much older than Thomas Crapper’s invention, by several thousand years. The revelation that it’s a valid one, however, is little more than 10 years of age.

The highly respect Mayo Clinic announced in 1999 that a clinical study it conducted found that 96 percent of all chronic sinusitis is caused by mold. That doesn’t mean mold growth in the sinuses, merely the presence of mold spores causing a reaction in the mucous membrane that doesn’t go away until the fungal irritant is removed. So I’m here to tell you how to remove it.

It doesn’t matter whether you have chronic sinusitis, or you just inhaled a snootful of dust, pollen or other irritants that have you sneezing and blowing. My go-to remedy is the venerable “neti pot,” used by Vedic healers in India millennia ago and still in use today.

We published a pretty comprehensive article on this in the Summer 2010 issue of our season magazine, Habitat Quarterly, and we recently reposted that piece here on 1800gotmold.com. Here’s a snippet:

Lots of people who don’t suffer from sinus problems, and who aren’t yogis or even aspiring to become one, do this and love it, but anyone predisposed to this kind of ailment might want to consider this as a normal part of their daily hygiene. Like most preventive measures originating out of Eastern wisdom, this method is dismissed by many physicians. Others are simply unaware of it. A few are strong advocates, such as Dr. Wellington Tichenor, MD, in New York City, who also happens to be a rarity in other ways too. His patients never stop raving about him.

One fair warning: Because it uses salt water, your world will smell like the seashore for a little while after a flush. It’s not unpleasant and, trust me, it goes away pretty quickly. You might want to get yourself a little sandbox and take your shoes off to complete the illusion.