snot
noun (usually considered vulgar)
It started on a Tuesday night, I began to get a sore throat and I thought to myself oh, no I am getting sick, I am getting a cold. The next day I was fine until I woke up in the middle of the night with a painful sore throat and a stuffy nose. A few days into this “cold” my partner said “Um, I think you have allergies.” Turns out she was right. I never got a fever or any other cold/flu symptoms besides creating mucus at a rapid rate and dealing with sinus pressure in my face that later traveled to my ear. Pollen was high. (Side note: how ironic a Rebel Butterfly is allergic to pollen?!?! Sounds like a kid’s movie just waiting to be written. Ha. Like Finding Nemo, a clownfish with one fin too small but still lives a happy life…) Anyway, like I was saying, about a week into being a snot-creating machine my teeth began to hurt. Again my lovely partner, who is filled with simple and brilliant ideas, suggested that I look up sinuses and toothache. Sure enough I learned, thanks to the world wide web, that the inflammation caused by a sinus infection can lead to toothaches. Whoa. I went from having allergies to a full-blown sinus infection. I am not into over-the-counter medicine* and even less into going to see a doctor to get some antibiotics to cure an infection. With the current state of politics I had even more ganas to cure this infection sans prescribed drugs. Once again I went searching in the world wide web for solutions and ideas for curing a sinus infection naturally. After a week of doing the following things I am feeling 99% better and no longer refer to myself as a snot-making factory nor do I carry around tissues.
*In the beginning I did take a pain reducer at night so that I could sleep. The pain in my face was too uncomfortable before I started the regime below.
I started Oil Pulling: I put 1 Tb of coconut oil into my mouth and gently swished it around for 15-20 minutes first thing in the morning. When the timer buzzed I spit out the oil into the trash, rinsed my mouth out, brushed my teeth and flossed. I had tried oil pulling years ago in California so I was familiar with the process. I found that getting on social media, or washing dishing or making tea while I was doing the pulling made the 15/2o minutes go by really fast. You can read more about oil pulling on the internet, just look it up.
after I flossed
I drank some water: sometimes half a glass to a full glass depending on how thirsty I was. Next, I drank 3 Tbs of apple cider vinegar followed by another glass of water. Drinking apple cider vinegar is like drinking pickle juice, it’s intense. Some people water it down or add it to a tea.
then
I used a Neti Pot. I had heard about the Neti Pot for years but I never had an issue with allergies until last year nor had I ever gotten a sinus infection. I was desperate for relief so I got a pot at a natural food store. It was helpful for a few days (I did it twice a day: once in the morning and once at night). As my sinuses began to dry up it became harder to do because at least one of my nostrils was clogged so the solution wasn’t able to drain.
next
I made myself fresh garlic & ginger tea – peel about 2-4 cloves of garlic and a good size of ginger, put it into a cup, boil some water, put water into the cup with the garlic and ginger and drink it up. I drank this every morning and sometimes at night as well. You can also add a squeeze of fresh lemon and a bag of some kind of herbal tea.
then repeated it on the daily for about 5 days. I am still doing the oil pulling, apple cider vinegar and tea every morning.
Reb Mari 
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