No Aunt Neti

Linda and I enjoy watching episodes of The Murdoch Mysteries, a Canadian program portraying a turn of the century detective who uses, what were at that time, cutting edge scientific methods to solve crimes of murder in the city of Toronto.  We watched Episode #83 this evening, Murdoch of the Living Dead.  I mention it because of a scene in the program that made me laugh because of my recent experiences.

The coroner/medical examiner, Dr. Grace, is a woman who is just as excited about removing the contents of a corpse’s abdomen or removing a brain as a 5 year old would be with an ice cream cone or a favorite toy.  There’s some macabre humor associated with her role in many of the episodes.  Her  love interest is Constable George Crabtree.  The interaction of these two with one another is, by itself, worth watching the program.  In this episode he stands by as Dr. Grace removes the brain of a cadaver in an attempt to determine the cause of death.  She remarks about the condition of the sinuses (there’s the connection to me) saying that they are inflamed, possibly because of an infection.

George responds, “My sinuses get inflamed if any dust at all gets up there.  My Aunt Nettle has a little teapot I’ve taken to pour some water up there to clear things out; not quite as clear as this chap though!”

I laughed out loud at that!  I don’t have the teapot but I have the equivalent and have been using it once or twice a day for the last week or so.  Aunt Nettle (Aunt Nettie) … is that somehow connected to the Neti Pot?  I decided to find out.

It turns out that there is no Aunt Nettle in the history of the pot.  The Neti pot comes to us from India.  Neti is Sanskrit for “nasal cleansing.”  There are some other methods related to this method, including the use of a string instead of water (doesn’t THAT sound fun!!).  And there is a technique where you close one nostril, pour the solution into the other nostril and allow it to run out of the mouth.

My squeeze bottle is handy to use and it is effective.  Having learned a little more about this whole thing, though I really want to find an actual Neti Pot.  Somehow, they seem to have more panache and style than a utilitarian plastic squeeze bottle.  Anybody have one that is unique?  Send me pictures!

Now for your viewing pleasure, here is a video of someone cleaning the nasal cavities of a pet rabbit!  Wow!