Side effects of Jal Neti

Are there any known side effects of Jal Neti?

I have been having seasonal allergies that keep getting worse each year. I am very much against allopathy medicines becuase of their side effects. Someody told me abour “Jal Neti” So I immediately brought the Neti pot and have been doing it since last few days.

I used their “Saline packets” that came with the pot for last few days. But I read somewhere that the original “Jal Neti” only uses salt. I believe the “Saline fackets” that come with the neti pot also has some kind of soda. Since I believe 100% in original yoga practice, I chose to do things in the original way and not use the “saline packs” that came with the pot.

Today when I just used salt, I felt different. I am not sure there might be other factors affecting this, but since morning today I am having stuffed and runny, blocked nose, I am blowing my nose all day today. Almost done it more than 20 times now.

What could be happening?

What was the specific kind of salt you used this morning?

[QUOTE=David;19138]What was the specific kind of salt you used this morning?[/QUOTE]

It says “Morton Salt” on the packet. I made sure it does not have “Iodine” just like I read. Are you looking for any further specifics about the salt?

What kind of salt should be used normally?

I personally prefer the finest grain, purest sea salt I can find.

With that said, what you’re experiencing MAY not be a bad thing. Your body may be breaking up some junk that was up there. I’d personally switch to sea salt and continue the practice regularly.

[QUOTE=David;19140]I personally prefer the finest grain, purest sea salt I can find.

With that said, what you’re experiencing MAY not be a bad thing. Your body may be breaking up some junk that was up there. I’d personally switch to sea salt and continue the practice regularly.[/QUOTE]

Where can I buy it? How do I ensure I am getting what you are suggesting?

Is there a way to confirm what I am experiencing is a good thing or a bad thing? If it is a bad thing, I would like to switch the the “Saline Packets” that came with the pot until I figure out the right salt. If it is a good thing just stick with it and I believe this will go away by itself in next few days.

Neti should be learned from a teacher. While the practice is relatively benign in terms of side-effects, an inappropriate angle or direction while rinsing the nasal passages can actually lead to sinus infection.

Furthermore, to comment on the process you are using for neti without you completely outlining it is absurd. If you want to describe what you are doing, then a conversation of sanity might ensue.

Regarding salt, it is best to use a sea salt which is typically available in bulk from the local health food store or co-op.

The salt solution promotes osmosis in the nasal passages and draws the particles from the nasal membrane to be washed out. As such the salt and water have a ratio for this process. It should be followed as prescribed by said teacher mentioned in paragraph one.

It is “nice” to believe “100% in original yoga practices” however yoga is growing which is what makes it yoga in the first place. So please consider letting go of one right answer and seek only the answer that works for you in your life.

Hey there and welcome to the forum!

Morton’s salt has anti-caking agents added to the mixture, hence their famous jingle, [I]“When it rains, it pours!”[/I] For the neti to be therapeutic, you need a pure salt, like you have been recommended to use by David and IA. My bet is the neti pot saline packets are just this. In addition to those packets, you should be able to buy this pure salt in your grocery–look in the salt aisle for sea salts, Himalayan salts and the like. I can buy in bulk like IA has recommended in my natural grocery, so look there if you also have that option because it will cost very little this way.

To make the solution to the salinity that is good for you, taste it before you pour in your nose. It should taste just a tad salty–like your own tears. Using well water or purified or filtered water will help with irritation too. I have a problem with my city’s water, so I use the water run through my PUR faucet filter to remove the chlorine.

There are many threads on this forum about the neti and using a variety of salts and even honey–do a search to find those goodies.

I have read your other posts, and wanted to tell to you that since you are navigating your newly diagnosed, obstruct apnea, be sure to add that information to these satellite posts as well. It is a really important piece of your personal puzzle and will help you get better recommendations from the members who are sharing with you. You should also know that you will have specific issues related to using the neti resulting from your obstruction. Now that Oprah and Dr. Oz have made the neti pot famous as the “nose bidet,” it is likely your own primary care physician will be able to help you to utilize it for your condition.

Willem has offered you some very sound advice on one of your other threads–look up Hamsa at Stone Yoga or Bonnie AmarJyothi Pariser at http://www.yoga-loka.com/ for highly skilled and trained Yoga therapists in your area.

All happiness,
Nichole

I just wanted to thank all you guys for your valuable input and all your help.

I also wanted to update you on the latest on my jal-neti practice.

I skipped 1 day of Jal-Neti to stablize. Today I did it again with the “Saline Pack” that came with the pot and I didn’t get any side-effects that I got with the “Morton” salt. It worked fine just like before. So I would conclude that it was indeed the “Morton” salt that didn’t go well for me.

Thanks again for all your help especially Nichole.

You are welcome and I am glad to hear that you are back on track. After your packets run out, be sure to find yourself some good salt. Crazy enough, you actually need to read the ingredients of your salts these days. Here are Morton’s ingredients: Salt, Calcium Silicate, Dextrose and Potassium Iodine. Healthy salts will have only the salt and the minerals that come from it’s source, meaning the mineral content of a sea salt will likely vary from that of the Himalayan salts.

Take care,
Nichole

More amount of salt in Jal Neti is very harmful. It will surely
block the nose. That is the problem with Jal Neti. We never
come to know the right amount of salt. The yogic texts only
say ‘little bit salt’. But how little is ‘little’?

That is why Urine Neti is preferred over Jal Neti. It
has not only the right amount of salt in it but the
right level of temperature. I can vounch this that
you will never suffer like this if you use urine for
the Neti purpose. This is my personal experience.
Social stigma about urine is another thing, that
you need to deal with.

Urine may be at the right temperature, but it certainly is NOT constant in composition. The kidneys are the body’s instrument to keep body fluids constant in composition. By consequence, the urine waste product is highly variable in its composition. This depends on one’s diet, intake of water and exercise.

You don’t need a rocket scientist to discover this. After heavy exercise with little water intake, urine will go darker. For a scientific angle, just consider acidity. Blood plasma has a closely regulated acidity (pH) of 7.35 - 7.45 (almost neutral). By comparison, urine acidity may vary widely from pH = 4.5 to 8 (acidic to alkaline). The same goes for the salts, ureic acid, and urea present in urine. Not to mention the odor!

In my opinion, the right amount of salt for jala neti application should be exactly what is proper for your body. Medical science uses a so-called physiological salt solution for this (0,9 % NaCl). This solution has exactly the same osmotic pressure as blood plasma. It can be safely injected into your blood stream. It contains 9 grams of NaCl salt to 1 liter of water. It can be approximated by about one level teaspoon of sea salt for half a liter of water. Since a teaspoon is not an accurate measure, stir and taste the water first. This is also a good temperature check, but you can also use a simple thermometer (37 C) if this is a concern.

Personally, I like combining ancient yogic knowledge with modern scientific insights. In the case of urine, I feel that this type of “yogic magic” has been superseded. We can buy good quality salt everywhere. We have ready access to warm water and we know what concentration to use. There is simply no reason to use earlier methods. After all, nowadays we also use modern implements for sutra neti and basti!

Yes. It’s right that urine is not constant in its composition.
It will vary for every individual depending on his lifestyle.
But that’s a good thing rather. For every individual his
urine reflects his health condition. And if body is reintroduced to this then it acts like a biofeedback. So,
even if you are able to achieve the optimal temperature
and the right amount of salt still you will not gain the
benefit of urine as urine will have many other things in
it which are helpful. Now this is not a necesstity for Neti.
But it will surely help. There is a certain scientific research
on the fact that urine is not a waste. There is considerable
research done by Dr.Alfred Free, published in his book
’Urinalysis in clinical laboratory practice’.

I have personaly known many people who have been
greatly benefited by urine drinking. And I do it as well.

Of course there are guidelines for how to do this. For
example it is not recommended to use urine after any
physical exertion as it will have toxic substances. But
surely fresh morning urine (after sleep) is very helpful.

Regards,
Deepak

There would have to be quite a bit of measurable difference in the results between the two modalities for me to choose the one with measurable odor. Is there ? Plus,My health would have to need the difference. Namaste

There is surely a difference. Urine is not just another liquid to be used in place of
regular ‘Neti’ water. It is very helpful in itself as a medicine when consumed.
In ancient Indian scriptures it is called ‘Shivambu’ (The water of shiv). It proven to be having great healing qualities and cures even diseases where regular alopathic medicines
fail. There have been very successful cures for dreaded diseases like cancer.

Thank You for that information. In your own life and health, have you noticed an enhanced effect of urine over saline ? Namaste

[QUOTE=TonyTamer;21910]Thank You for that information. In your own life and health, have you noticed an enhanced effect of urine over saline ? Namaste[/QUOTE]

Yes Tony, please read main thread on urine neti for this. I have shared
my experience there. It opens up nose relatively very quickly as compared
to normal water (as recommended for Jal Neti). In fact even if you put
few drops of urine in the blocked nostril still it will open up, without
doing full neti. It is that effective. This is my own experience. Even in
case of severe nose blockage urine net works , whereas in such case
regular neti may not work or even if it works the mucus will bounce
back in few minutes.