Cold Comfort

Who me? Nah, I don't have a cold.

I take pride in having a powerful, take-no-prisoners immune system. Sure, I used to get colds, back when I was younger, but now I don't. Colds are for lesser mortals, who don't have such a kick-ass disease-fighting abilities.

Bring it on, bugs. I'm ready for ya!

Why yes, I did just blow my nose, but I have allergies. Probably due to the cat I'm not willing to give up, or possibly to the dust I'm too lazy to clean up. (And for anyone curious about the neti pot experiment--nope, it didn't help with the runny nose, and in fact even seemed to make it worse. Think there's much of a market for used neti pots?)

But anyway, a runny nose is normal for me and does not mean I have a cold.

Oh, these cranberry-flavored, Vitamin C-enhanced Ricola lozenges? Well, they're just very tasty, that's all. That's why I've been sucking on them for the last few days.

If I did have a cold, which I do not, I now have some more information about whether I could go to they gym today and work out. The New York Times just ran a helpful article about when you can exercise with a cold and when you should sit it out. Even though I won't need this information personally, I'll be happy to share it with you.

Most of The Time, You CAN Exercise With a Cold

According to some older studies they dug up in the NY Times article, exercising with a cold does not seem to be a big deal.

In one study, researchers infected 45 young adult subjects with a head cold and made them exercise. They concluded: "Having a cold had no effect on either lung function or exercise capacity."

Well, that's great! But unless you're a serious athlete, isn't the real question whether the exercising makes your cold worse? Not whether having a cold makes your exercise performance worse?

Turns out they looked at that too. Researchers started with 34 subjects, gave them all colds, and had half of them just rest. The other half had to run on treadmills. Then every 12 hours, they asked subjects a bunch of (probably annoying) questions about their symptoms and physical activity.

And get this: "The researchers collected the subjects’ used facial tissues, weighing them to assess their cold symptoms." (Career counseling note to self: academic research may sound prestigious and all, but... collecting and weighing other people's snotty Kleenex??)

The bottom line: There was no difference in symptoms between the group that exercised and the one that rested, or in the time it took to recover from the colds. But the exercisers were more likely to say they felt better.

So for those of you who want to go for it even though you have a cold? This is indeed good news! Those of you who were hoping to get let off the hook, read on.

When to Sit it Out

However, the article stressed that these experimental colds were only head colds. They said to use more caution if running a fever or experiencing chest congestion.

And heck, just use common sense--you probably know if you feel way too crappy to work out, no matter where your symptoms may be located.

Back in the olden days, when I used to get colds, I'd mostly still exercise. I always felt like I deserved triple credit though, just on principle.

Back to the Cold I Do Not Have

So why do I take such smug pride in my resistance to the common cold? Well, I wasn't born with a particularly robust immune system, and in fact, I used to catch pretty much any bug that was going around. But over the past decade or so, I've been getting better about eating all the right stuff--plenty of fruits and veggies and garlic and green tea and fish oil pills and whatever the heck the experts are recommending this week. I get lots of sleep and exercise. So I feel like my not catching colds is a hard-earned badge of my (mostly) healthy habits. (I even dodged the stomach flu last week when the poor Lobster got hit, and I ALWAYS used to be the first one to get stomach flu.)

Still, it's curious. What's the deal with the sore throat I had a couple days ago? And the coughing and congestion at night? Oh, and my voice: it's hard not to notice that it's been steadily descending in pitch. First it just went down to a kinda-sexy Suzanne Pleshette, then further down to Lauren Bacall, past even Bea Arthur, and now it's settled in the James Earl Jones range.

Could it be?

Hmm.

Nah, not me. I don't get colds anymore.

How about you folks, do you have awesome immune systems or do you catch whatever comes around? Do you exercise when you have a cold?

Ready, Steady, Neti!

They sell 'em here.

Do You Really Want to Read A Post About Nasal Hygiene?

Of course you don't, but you're here already, right? You thought it was going to be an amusing post by Merry 'cause she's usually Tuesday, but it's not. Fooled you! Fear not, though, Merry will be back tomorrow.

Anyway, I may have mentioned in passing before that I have mild but chronic allergies. My nose runs pretty much all the time, and as a result, I get occasional nosebleeds. Also I have to sleep practically sitting up. If I don't? Then my post-nasal drip eventually hits a sensitive spot or something and my asleep self decides to fix the problem by not breathing at all.

Thanks so much, asleep self. Way to problem-solve! I so love waking up in the up in the middle of the night gasping for air and fearing I'm dying.

But year after year I refuse to do anything about my allergy problems. Well, I tried some over the counter stuff a few times and it didn't help. And once I went to a doctor who suggested I drink a glass of warm salt water through my nose every day. I think I actually did it once, but, um, hello Mr. Big Fancy Expensive Ear Nose and Throat Doctor? This may surprise you, but Nose-Drinking is unpleasant! It would have to not only cure my allergies but give me superpowers of some sort. Alas, no superpowers were immediately apparent so I said screw it.

Now I suppose I could try to clean my house of allergens. But that would be a lot of work, wouldn't it? And then where the hell would I put this?



Plus, once we moved to a sterile corporate apartment across the country from our old place, with no cat and none of the usual allergens, and my nose still ran all the time. Case closed, tried everything, there's no hope!

Nasal Remedy of Last Resort: The Neti Pot

There was one thing, however, that I hadn't tried, because it sounded too much like the dreaded nose-drinking. But now I am trying it. Last weekend I went out and bought a neti pot.

For those who haven't been introduced to one before, you use it to pour water up your nose. Nice, huh? Actually, you pour warm salt water in one nostril and let it run out the other in order to irrigate your sinuses. (Preferably while leaning over the sink in the privacy of your own bathroom; not in the middle of a big client meeting at work. But however you like to roll).

Of course I assumed that the earthy-crunchy employee at the Natural Foods store would be familiar with the ancient Ayurvedic technique of jala neti, thus sparing me awkward explanations. But no, lucky me, he was a Neti Pot virgin and seemed very curious and amused by the whole concept.

(Had I thought to have googled sooner, I could have told him that the practice of jala neti is thought to assist the Ajna Chakra in awakening higher states of meditation. Plus, it's supposed to reduce mouth breathing and temper-tantrums and gives one sparkly eyes. And who doesn't want sparkly eyes?)

Even Web MD approves of neti pots for allergies and other sinus problems, though they don't cite particular studies (and I'm not going to go hunt them down either). They did mention stuff like "uncoordinated cilia" and used other impressive medical terminology, so I say, good enough--I'll give it a try!

How To Use a Neti Pot

If you're actually going to buy one, don't worry, it comes with instructions. And there are even Youtube instructional videos but I am SO not going to watch one. Do I really want to see some random stranger pouring water up his nose and flushing out his snot? No, I do not.

Basically, you just have to learn to tip your head at the correct angle so the warm salt water goes through your nose and not down your throat.

If you need additional resources, here are the best Neti Pot Instructions ever. (Or at least the most hilarious).

So How Do I Like My Neti Pot?

Well, it's a much less obnoxious practice than drinking water through your nose and swallowing it, that's for sure. The first time was uncomfortable because I had the water too warm; after I solved that problem, it wasn't fun but it wasn't a big deal. It's really just a bit of a time-consuming mess.

Does The Neti Pot Work To Reduce Allergy Symptoms?

Not yet, goddamn it! But it's been less than a week. I've decided I'm going to give it a month before deciding whether it helps or not. It's worth a little bit of patience if I can reduce my allergy symptoms. Or hell, even if I don't end up curing my runny-nose problems, maybe I can shoot for sparkly eyes or fewer temper tantrums.

My goodness, this is not going to be an easy post to comment on! I will not be alarmed if many of you do not have any thoughts/experiences to share about the exciting topic of Nasal Irrigation. But feel free to chat about anything, snot-related or not, and pray for the speedy return of Merry Sunshine.