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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2009 Oct 1.
Published in final edited form as: WMJ. 2008 Apr;107(2):69–75.

Table 4.

Representative themes and quotations about HSNI and effects on symptoms of allergy rhinitis, asthma and nasal polyposis.

1. Allergy
Participants reported decrease in allergy symptoms and an increase in quality of life.
“I'm allergic to a lot of stuff, ragweed and pollen, and I live in a rural area where there is lots of farm and haying and that stuff goes on all summer and it was miserable for me. I am surprised that not only has my sinus incidence gone down but my whole allergy incidence has gone down. I don't know what it is but I feel like I have more tolerance to being outside. I don't have hay fever like I had before or in the runny nose and eyes and itching.”
“It [HSNI] literally changes a great aspect of my life. For instance, I couldn't mow my lawn because the grass, it would just kill me. And planting flowers, ...I love flowers. Planting my flowerbeds was just terrible, I would just have hay fever and then I'd be plugged up and then I'd have to go to the doctor and get more antibiotics.”
“[My kids would say] 'Mom I got you flowers' and just bringing [them] in the house would trigger an allergic reaction and I would be miserable for days. But now it doesn't even bother me. I am out there picking weeds and doing a lot of stuff. I have talked to my friends about this a lot because it's a big change for me. When you suffer for a chronic illness for so long and then you don't have problems with it anymore I think it's such a big relief and I can't explain it, it's such a big change where you can enjoy things that people take for granted.”
“We did a lot of work in a basement with a lot of mold and... a week or two after that...I actually had some bad allergic reactions and then I got an infection shortly after that too.(considering tossing this statement, I don't think it adds anything) [HSNI] has helped a lot. Thinking back, my allergies aren't as bad using the neti pot.”
“What I do find is that it helps with my allergies. It helps with my sinus but it helps with my allergies as well.”
“…with my allergies it's helped. I don't know if that's supposed to be or not but it's helped me cope with my allergies…”
Participants recommended HSNI for allergic symptoms when asked to name conditions for which HSNI might be useful.
aI think if [patients complain] about their allergies that's enough. There's enough other things out there that you can't help and [HSNI] seems to help.”
“I think somebody who had a lot of sinuses and allergies [should use it]. It would see to me this would be the first line of attack for allergies.”
“Allergies and sinus problems.”
2. Asthma
Patients noted less frequent asthma symptoms.
“Whereas I use the Flovent after the fist couple of weeks, I was also using it [nasal irrigation] PRN and I use it twice a day now so that may be making some difference there too. I noticed the neti pot helps with the breathing....”
3. Nasal Polyposis
One participant speculated that HSNI might have prevented the need for surgery for nasal polyposis.
“If I would have known about HSNI twelve years ago I [might] never have had my first sinus surgery...my sinuses were so bad I was growing polyps in my nasal cavity... If I had this [HSNI] earlier I [might not] have gone through what I have gone through.”
Legend: Bracketed words are the authors' interpretation of the subject's original intent; they are used to link ideas or abbreviate wordiness.