I’m currently recovering from one of the worst head colds I’ve ever had. It started last Friday and I finally broke it on Wednesday. I’m still getting headaches from sinus pressure, which aspirin doesn’t do a damn thing for, though after last night’s entertainment I’m not feeling so bad about it.
I had just one last big pressure area that, no matter how many time I blew my nose, would go away.
I’m talking to a co-woker and get a bit of a residual cough thing going on. I get up and head to the fridge to grab a cold bottle of water. I take a drink as he’s talking to me and I don’t know what it was, most likely the water temp, but it chose that moment to let go.
My head let out a whine from released air pressure that lasted about 10 seconds. I was so stunned that it was happening that I just sat there, staring forward, and let it go.
My co-worker hears it and looks at what I’m looking at, which happens to be my desktop CPU.
He asked “Is there something wrong with your computer?”
I replied “Nope, there’s something wrong with my head.”
To which he smartassed “We already knew that.”
My head is still sore from that pressure headache. Relief should arrive by end of business tomorrow. Just in time for the weekend.
HEre’s something that actually works really well.
Nasal irrigation.
You take an 8 oz squeeze bottle with a nozzle tip, and fill it with water and saline. Shake it up. SQUEEZE it through one nostril, until you get a flow of water out the other nostril or down your throat (open your mouth and let it run out).
Do the other nostril. Repeat each at least once.
I have been doing this for a month and my formerly awful congestion and allergies barely warrant a few nose-blowings a day now. It’s awesome.
I know it looks and sounds weird but try a neti pot. A doc reccomended it to me when I was really messed up and I got a cheap plastic one from walgreens. It helps. I do it at a minimum before sleep time and wake up clearer than without. It is a very different feeling but very helpful.
Thank you, gentlemen. On the list they go.
I second the nasal irrigation. It’s helped out like you wouldn’t believe with my allergies. You can get a commercial irrigation kit under the name of NeilMed at Wallgreens and/or Wal-Mart. It’s got the squeezebottle and packets of their nasal rinse solution.
I’ll say this – it can be flat out disgusting observing what you flush out of your sinuses. But it stopped me from getting sick in South Carolina, and it’s prevented any major illnesses up here in Wisconsin (knock on wood!) I breath better and don’t have near the sinus problems I used to have.
It sounds positively retching, but all the homeo-pathic types swear by the Neti-Pot, and my allergies get worse every year, so I might have to try it. \\ Good practice controlling your gag reflex in case you are ever waterboarded.