What Is Hypertonic: Everything You Need to Know

Hypertonic

Allergies are a common issue for many people, whether they deal with permanent or seasonal allergy issues. There are, of course, a wide variety of ways that allergies can be either overcome or treated, with one effective way being cleaning out the nasal passages. With a few different ways of doing this available, we’ll take a look at hypertonic saline solutions and how they’re used to bring relief to allergy sufferers.

Can’t We Just Use Regular Water?

While you may be thinking that regular water should be just fine for rinsing out your nasal passages, this isn’t the best kind of solution. In fact, using regular water as a nasal rinse could be downright dangerous.

Before we get into that, let’s lay some groundwork for what hypertonic water is all about. Hypertonic saline is basically just salt water, with hypertonic being one of three terms used to describe saline solutions. The other two, isotonic and hypotonic, refer to an equal balance of freshwater and salt, and a solution of lower salt levels per freshwater, respectively. Hypertonic, on the other hand, refers to a solution with a higher salt content.

Woman with allergies

Three different types of saline are used, not just for nasal cleaning purposes, because different situations require different approaches. For those with very runny noses or a lot of nasal congestion, hypertonic solutions are helpful at clearing away excess mucus and opening up sinus passages.

However, hypertonic saline can sometimes burn when rinsed through the nose. This is more likely to happen in cases where excess mucus isn’t a problem, and the nasal and sinus passages are instead dry, raw, and/or irritated. Isotonic solutions might be used for those who have a lot of nasal sensitivity and, therefore, don’t respond well to the salt.

Now, back to the issue of regular water. Not only do you want to use a saline solution, if you’re mixing your own together at home then you need to also use distilled water. Water straight out of your tap, whether you’ve mixed salt in with it or not, isn’t something that you necessarily want to introduce to your sinuses.

Tap water can contain bacteria that, while easily neutralized by our stomachs if ingested, can become a true health hazard if they’re able to establish an infection in your sinuses. This is especially true considering how easy it is for pathogens to travel from the sinuses to the brain, where more serious complications can occur. While salt doesn’t neutralize possible bacteria, exactly why you need to always use distilled water, the salt creates a solution that’s more compatible with your body’s natural state.

How to Use Hypertonic Solutions:

You can certainly buy a saline nasal spray at any pharmacy, but creating your own hypertonic saline solution at home is extremely easy and straightforward. In order to administer the solution, you’ll need a spray bottle or a Neti pot, and to make it you’ll need 8 ounces of water and half a teaspoon of non-iodized salt. You’ll need to boil your water in order to sterilize it and get rid of any possible bacteria.

Once it’s been brought to a rapid boil, let it cool until it’s comfortably warm, and then add your salt, stirring to help it dissolve. If you find that the level of salt is too much for you, then you can create an isotonic solution the exact same way, but with ¼ of a teaspoon of salt instead. You can also help reduce any stinging by adding half of a teaspoon of baking soda to the water when you add the salt.

Steam from a pot

Once you’ve made your solution, and then allowed it to reach room temperature, you can fill your spray bottle or Neti pot. If you’re using the solution as a spray, when you go to administer the solution you’ll want to lean forward slightly and then angle the spray nozzle back toward the ear on the same side of nostril you’re spraying.

It only takes a couple of sprays, at the most, in each nostril, and you should always avoid snorting your nose in an attempt to clear any congestion. Instead, you’ll want to just sniff the solution gently in order to help coat your nasal passages.

If you’re using a Neti pot, then you’ll also want to lean forward slightly when administering the solution, this time over a sink or basin. You’ll then tilt your head to one side and carefully pour a small amount of the solution in one nostril and let it drain out of the other, repeating for the other nostril. Afterward, gently pat and blow your nose.

 

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