A traditional nasal douche is a glass container used to flush nasal passages with isotonic salt water or saline solution. The process is intended to clear or wash mucus and bacteria out of the nose, while also providing soothing relief from dry nose symptoms. Today, modern versions of a nasal douche include plastic, glass, or rubber containers. Select systems offer electronic compressors and plastic chambers to aerate saline into a fine mist. Rather than simple gravity-based containers requiring users to spray or pour salt water through the nasal passages, electric or atomized systems deliver solutions at a constant pressure set by the user.
To use a nasal douche, a small amount of fluid is placed in the douche and then sniffed, sprayed, or poured, depending on the specific nasal douche design. One nostril is treated at a time. Water or vaporized saline flows into one nostril, then either pours or is blown out of the other nostril. Repeating the process with the second nostril completes the treatment. Professionals and care providers recommend different treatment frequencies to fit the specific ailment in question.
Other common terms for similar therapies include nasal lavage or nasal irrigation. Equipment similar to a nasal douche would be neti pots, bulb syringes, and even some pulsating equipment with knobs to control pressure. Irrigation solutions include normal saline solution, homemade salt water, premixed isotonic salt water, and commercially available nasal lubricants. Alternatively, commercially available kits can be purchased which include the douching container, pre-measured packages of isotonic salt, and associated supplies. Users need only add water to complete the kit.
Using neti pots and the practice of nasal irrigation began in ancient India, with a practice known as Jala-neti. Nasal douches function much the same as a neti pot and similar equipment. Modern medical practitioners recommend either method of nasal irrigation, often treating such remedies as interchangeable. Lavaging or irrigating, as the treatment is sometimes called, is an effective home remedy in cases of severe hay fever, sinus infection, dry crusty nose, allergies, and other nasal problems, both temporary and chronic.
Studies have shown that atomized nasal douche treatments are, for some ailments such as viral nasal infections, better than simple nasal irrigation using common sodium chloride solutions. Several such studies have been conducted by the University of Siena in Italy, using between 60 and 200 test subjects. In each study patients tested as showing higher nasal functions using an atomized nasal douche over other similar treatments. An atomized nasal douche consists of a small compressor and a delivery chamber that together provide saline in a mist form, rather than simple salt water solution.