So not just tap water but her RVs tap water. The attempt at scare-mongering - tap water - like it could happen to anyone is annoying.
You can’t use tap water straight for Neti pots. I’m pretty sure every single neti pot tells you to boil the water first.
I hope it tells you to let the boiling water cool, too. I feel like that's an important step.
The article does (which is a quote from the CDC), so the fact that the first comment got 34 updoots and is labelling this as fear mongering makes me sad that lemmy is becoming reddit faster than I thought
Way more people read the headline than the article itself, and the writers know that, but decided to only and specifically call it "tap water" in the headline. They knew it'll get more clicks, and seemingly didn't care about the people who will come away from it with a misconception.
We talkin’ ’bout the title. "… her RV’s tap water" at the end would be enough.
What's the difference between a neti pot and taking a shower? I'm pretty sure I get water up my nasal cavity every time I shower. Is the neti pot warning a cya thing or is there a greater risk?
Big difference between a little water in your schnozz and a deep irrigation of your sinus cavities.
Use (cold) boiled or distilled water
According to a search I performed several years ago (meaning that my information may be outdated and that I'm no expert), the relevant bacteria have never demonstrated the ability to travel through droplets such as go through shower heads.
Its the same amoeba you can get swimming in lakes. It doesn’t happen every time but it CAN happen. It is grossly ignorant to not be cautious of it
Well, they're not sure if the water came directly from the RV tank or the local water supply, so it certainly could have been tap water.
The potable water tank, the investigation found, was filled before the woman bought the RV three months ago and could have contained contaminated water. The investigation also concluded that the municipal water system, which was connected to the potable water system and bypassed the tank, could have caused the contamination.
The agency stressed the importance of using distilled, sterilized or boiled and cooled tap water when people perform nasal irrigation to reduce the risk of infection and illness.
Sounds like the general idea is also just don't use tap water directly out of the tap if you want to run water through your sinuses (which is where these infections come from). They aren't saying that tap water is unsafe to drink. I don't see this as fear mongering at all.
It could, with warming temperatures the bacteria is moving north. Showing up in areas unfamiliar with it
But you’re way more likely to get it by swimming and just don’t pour water up your nose
I'm seeing many, many comments from people who have never used a neti pot or have questions. There are some basic answers, from a man who has, at times, safely used a neti pot.
You only use a neti pot with distilled water or previously boiled water. I use water fresh off a boil, cooled down just enough to where my nose can tolerate it. You can use that expensive gentle salt or table salt or sea salt, anything is fine.
You guys have no idea how satisfying it is when your head is all stuffed up with snot, blowing with a tissue is impossible....and you cycle some warm saline solution in your sinuses & a massive glob of 3-4 tablespoons of snot effortlessly glides out your other nostril into the sink & you can breathe again. It is a disgusting miracle when you're sick, it is amazing.
Let's clarify a few things -- always use distilled or previously boiled water, as the brain-eating amoeba is present in most of North America's waters. It can potentially survive water processing plants, and possibly domestic hot water tanks. The brain-eating amoeba can only survive in warm, moist environments....like your sinuses right next to your brain....it must be forcibly injected into there, so no cannonballs into the lake. No snorting untreated lake water. Normal swimming is okay.
You can use the neti pot too much. I was using it to aggressively clear out my sinuses for a year with limited success, and it turns out I am allergic to a mold or fungus at my workplace. Very frequent use of the neti pot only irritated my nose further, causing it to become inflamed (but not dangerous), and it would never ever cure the root problem: allergies. That was only fixed by pills & anti-histamine spray.
There is no need to be afraid of the neti pot, or the brain-eating amoeba, so long as you use the neti pot responsibly. Correctly.
It's always been tempting to try a neti pot as my sinuses are always clogged and no amount of trying to blow my nose brings anything out
But stories like the amoeba scare me to hell and back, even if I did everything right it would still scare me.
So I'm an environmental microbiologist. If it's any consolation, these incidents are very rare despite people doing similar things frequently. Even if you do snort water that's home to Naegleria fowleri, infection isn't common. If you take basic precautions, you really don't have anything to worry about.
As a former permastuff allergy sufferer, I can't recommend enough trying out triamcinolone (nasacort). I had tried nasal sprays in the 90s and early 2000s without any luck. About 5 or so years ago, my allergist recommend I give it a try again as a lot of formulas have come around since then and could work for me now. I couldn't believe it, no more permastuffed and there's smells everywhere. Learned that I love the smell of star jasmine flowers.
For me, a puff in each nostril in the morning and another puff as needed when blowing my nose doesn't suffice (which is rare) has turned this perma-stuffed allergy sufferer into a not-perma-stuffed person.
you can buy medical saline from the grocery store.
Gotta say, brain-eating amoebas are one of my fears.
Irrational fear is one of the first symptoms
If you read the fucking instructions you'll find it says use distilled water. But why read the instructions on a medical device when you can get your brains eaten instead?!
I only clean my head holes with hard liquor.
As a fellow American who hasn't had to put up with this nonsense in my state but still lives in this era of fascist billionaire overrun, I now have a better idea what it must feel like to live in Texas. But Jesus fuck, fix your ~~water~~ ~~utilities~~ ~~government~~ ~~education~~ ~~society~~ shit.
she filled a nasal irrigation device with tap water from her RV's water system at a Texas campsite
oh, that sounds gross. Way to many points of possible contamination.
The potable water in the Deregulated Texas Oblast is safe. Right? Did she have United Healthcare supplemental insurance?
Isn't precaution number one when using neti pots to never do it with plain tap water?
This is why I only use river water
I know I have an extremely biased experience set having been a health inspector in a place full of RV slums, but I would never trust any portion, interior or exterior, including internal systems, of a used RV.
I'll just keep chilling out safely over here on Team Blow Your Nose With A Tissue.
You can use steam to break up mucus, making it easier to use a tissue
She has just been nominated to be RFK jr's deputy.
I'm getting convinced kennedy's worm caused this.
Skill issue, didn't watch House M.D.
Just pick your nose like a normal person. Sheesh.
Can this happen in Sweden as well? 'Cos I clean mine with shower water almost every shower.
Yep! It's the reason that every netty pot tells you to use distilled water.
Use distilled ONLY. With good chlorinated city water systems it's still very unlikely to happen, but it's such a horrible way to go, just get some distilled from the store.
The amoeba can survive chlorination, that's why boiled or distilled is necessary
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