If you use a Neti pot...

oasis16 · December 2011

check out this article and always use distilled or boiled water!

white318 · December 2011

This is interesting...but like the comments ask, why is there an ameoba in the drinking water? And if you take a bath in the same water you can get an ameoba infection. Just seems like it is a very slim chance for people to be worrying about it.

dosafyre · December 2011

I believe the Neti Pot instructions say clearly that your should always boil or used distilled water...you're running it across vulnerable internal mucus membranes. It's not the same as a bath...unless you are snorting the water (which sometimes happens when swimming in lakes/streams where infections have been known to happen). Probably more of a risk is certain areas of the country.

kdello · December 2011

white318:
This is interesting...but like the comments ask, why is there an ameoba in the drinking water? And if you take a bath in the same water you can get an ameoba infection. Just seems like it is a very slim chance for people to be worrying about it.

You can certainly get an amoebic infection from physical contact with water, but your likelihood is much increased when you're passing water against an inflamed mucus membrane so close to the brain.

daisies916 · December 2011

dosafyre:
I believe the Neti Pot instructions say clearly that your should always boil or used distilled water...you're running it across vulnerable internal mucus membranes. It's not the same as a bath...unless you are snorting the water (which sometimes happens when swimming in lakes/streams where infections have been known to happen). Probably more of a risk is certain areas of the country.

All of this. It annoys me that so many people will not try the neti pot now, or stop using it because of this report. I could get the same infection from the many lakes, ponds, and rivers that I've been swimming in my entire life. Also, the instructions do state that you should not use plain tap water.

PeonyPumps · December 2011

Is filtered water okay? Or do you still need distilled/boiled?

kris_kelsey · December 2011

i have a co-worker whose young daughter (somewhere around age 6) died from an amoebic infection from swimming in a lake. Their whole family is missing a loved one and if they read some responses here they would be so mad that anyone would endanger themselves or a loved one. If you know you are going to use a neti pot, and you know that using tap water could cause an amoebic infection, then why do it? It may be a slimmer chance, but is that really a worthy chance to take. Once people get amoebic meningitis they almost always die...and it is a quickish and ugly death. Just be safe because there is no going back.

daisies916 · December 2011

kris_kelsey:
i have a co-worker whose young daughter (somewhere around age 6) died from an amoebic infection from swimming in a lake. Their whole family is missing a loved one and if they read some responses here they would be so mad that anyone would endanger themselves or a loved one. If you know you are going to use a neti pot, and you know that using tap water could cause an amoebic infection, then why do it? It may be a slimmer chance, but is that really a worthy chance to take. Once people get amoebic meningitis they almost always die...and it is a quickish and ugly death. Just be safe because there is no going back.

I don't think anyone was taking this lightly. I didn't intend my response to sound that way. What I meant is that by 2 people not following the directions, many people will stop using this very safe product or never even try it in the first place. Instead they'll continue to take medicine after medicine that can do damage to their bodies while searching for relief. I know because I did just that before finding the neti pot. I am sorry for your friends' loss. I can't imagine how difficult that must be.

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