As if I don't need more health issues, this weekend I suffered from either an abscessed tooth or the mother of all sinus infections - considering how my last two years have played out my bet is on both. I won't bore you with the entire story because, well, it is boring, but it was pretty dreadful. The pain was so out-sized, with waves running across my face, that it made me wonder if something else were not involved, either some inflammation response to my first COVID shot (which I received a couple days earlier) or a bizarre aspect of my polyneuropathy (I felt like less of a lunatic on this issue when the nice doctor at Urgent Care brought it up as well; as my excellent friend CB opined, "Your nerves are confused."). Anyway, my doctor had put me on some antibiotics, but I was still in a ton of pain, so I did something I don't like to do (must be my experience as the son of a doctor): I called my dentist at home on Sunday. He very graciously talked about what it might or might not be, accepting that it might be an abscessed tooth but also arguing for the possibility of it being a bad sinus infection. During the conversation he strongly proposed that I get a Neti-Pot to clear out my sinuses. Of course, what I'm thinking is actually: "Seriously, does living in Vermont just make everybody as hippie?" For the uninitiated, the Neti-Pot is that little teapot where you pour a concoction in one nostril that quickly flows out the other nostril, and in the process cleans out your sinuses. I've known people that used them but I had never considered them. Actually, I reached out to several people on the issue and some surprising folks said that they loved them - and a few people said they either sounded horrible or were in fact horrible. Nevertheless, I actually bought one, but when I reached home I realized that you're only supposed to use them with distilled water (which made sense), so I viewed this as God's way to giving me a pass on actually using the Neti-Pot. My dentist was kind enough to slide me in for an appointment early in the week to give me an x-ray to see if we could actually figure out what was up. In the end, my sinuses were so stopped up that he couldn't even see the roots of the tooth that were giving me the most discomfort. He gave me another antibiotic prescription, gave me a referral to a dentist with a better x-ray machine, and, yes, brought up the Neti-Pot again. OK, I was now cornered, and, well, I had nothing to lose, so I swung by the store and picked up some distilled water and gave it a try. The main ingredient, pictured, is the little blue teapot, where you mix the concoction: some powder and the distilled water (my dentist had told me to heat the water in the microwave for a few seconds - I've discerned the Correct Answer is 24 seconds - so that it's more soothing, but not too hot). Then you tilt your head slightly forward and to the left, and then pour half the little teapot in your right nostril - and in about two seconds it begins to flow out your left nostril. Then you blow your nose, and repeat on the other side. Actually, I didn't find it horrible or unpleasant, but instead mainly silly, and I often start laughing. And, lo and behold, it does make me feel better. I keep waiting for the moment when it turns into a spring Vermont ice break and the gnarly brown chunks (my imagination of what's happening in my sinuses) start to flow out and the world changes instantly for the better. I have a long history of sinus and ear infections, so, like I said, this is worth the experiment. And the ignominy hasn't been as bad as I thought; I hope this means I'm not turning into a Vermonter.
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