Aaahhchooo...No.1, Aaahhchooo...No.2 ... I normally go on up to No.5 at a stretch, 6 to 10 times a day. This is a "condition-fairly-within-control" type of sneezing. If the numbers and frequencies are much less, I feel I am quite "normal"; further, if my nose is also able to identify smells to one third of my original sensing capacity that I used to have some 10 years ago, I feel I am "more than normal"!
Under the above "normal" and "within control" situations, I ignore my sneezing, though I am helplessly aware that my family members and neighbors can't, considering the decibel levels I produce with my lung-power which borders on noise-pollution.
I know, with so much of road dust, auto-exhaust and other pollutants hanging in the urban ambiance and perhaps as a God given punishment to my particularly nosy character, I can't escape from sneezing and I have to live with it. This has dawned to me after hunting for cures under Allopathy, Ayurveda and Homeopathy over several years.
Nasal drops, nasal sprays, anti-histamine medicines, herbal oil bath ... I have tried them all. Did I get a cure? No. Did I get a relief? Yes; temporarily. But I found out a truth: When I spend money on these temporary-relief-giving medicines, I get respite for a few days. When I did not want to spend money on these, I found out that as long as the affliction is moderate, the malady is self-limiting; it goes away on its own in a couple of days and I get respite for a few days! Eureka! For the past 5 years, I have not spent a single penny on medicines for the sake of my allergic sneezing.
But what if sneezing goes out of control? My self-defined bench marks for "condition out of control" are as follows: (a) more than 5 sneezes at a time, (b) more than 3 to 4 sneezing bouts per hour (d) Reddening of the eyes, watery eyes and nose (e) gasping for air (f) tiredness and a compelling desire to doze off.
What do I do under such a situation? I have found a wonder-home-remedy for it!
In fact I have been toying with the idea of starting my own small scale pharmaceutical unit at home to mass-produce the medicine and become a millionaire. But my conscience prevents me from doing so for two reasons: (1) The idea is not my original. I came to know of it from a magazine (2) It virtually costs nothing. Making something out of nothing amounts to doing magic and people will not take magical cures too seriously! Will they?
So, I have decided to be magnanimous enough to share my secret "wonder drug" with you.
Do you too suffer like me? Would you like to try my magical cure?
Here comes my magical "solution":
Add a teaspoon of common salt into 2 table spoons of water and boil it. Take an empty bottle of some used nasal dropper (having an ink-filler type dispenser). If you have an empty bottle of an used eye-drop, it would serve the purpose too. Wash it thoroughly in soap water and then rinse in boiled and cooled water. Allow it to dry. Then fill up the bottle with the salt solution and close it with the dispenser.
Lie down flat on a bed or on floor without a pillow, with your head touching the bed surface / floor and tilt your chin up. Now with your nostrils facing up, dispense 2 to 3 drops of the salt water using the dispenser into each nostril. Remain so in that position for a while. Bring your chin down and tilt your head to left and right a couple of times so that the salt solution spreads well inside your nostrils.
If the sneezing has been severe, you will find mild to strong irritation inside your nose and after a while, you will feel the drops descending into your throat and you can even feel the saltiness.
You can get up now. The irritation inside the nose may trigger a fresh bout of sneezing; but don't worry. You can apply this solution 2 to 3 times a day. Doing it before going to bed at night is the best practice I recommend.
I have personally found that I get a definite and palpable relief within the same day or by the next day. The "out of control" condition cools down to "within control" in a day and "almost normal" condition in the next 2 days.
I do not make it a habit to apply the drops. I would apply it at the maximum 3 times (not necessarily in one day). I do it only when the suffering peaks; not when it is within control. I allow the nature to take its course.
If you are a sufferer, try it out and see whether it works for you. If yes, suggest it to someone else who suffers like you. That is the fee you pay for me!
