Cold Remedies

In honor of my first major cold of autumn, here is my dad's nose drop recipe. This is a super-powered version of the saline spray you get at the drug store. It works great to stop a runny nose. My mother and father both swear that if you start with the drops several times a day as soon as you notice symptoms, the cold will be a lot milder and a lot shorter. Another remedy here.

Nose drops:
1/2 c boiled water
1/8 tsp. salt
2 drops regular chlorine bleach (not the super concentrated kind or the scented kind, just regular old bleach)

mix ingredients together and put into saline nosedrop bottle you can get from the store. Solution will smell like a swimming pool.

Hints:

• To get the top off the saline drop bottle, I use needle nose pliers, rock the dropper part back and forth, and pull really hard.
• optimally, each member of the family should have their own bottle, don't share!
• To use, tilt your head back and put drops down each side of your nose. Try and get the solution into all four sinuses. Some will run down your throat, this is normal.
  
• If your head hurts worse after using these, you might want to use it again. What happens is the gunk in your sinuses gets loosened and moves around. Using it again will help wash it out.
• Right before bed, put drops in twice. Put in the drops, blow your nose, and wait 5 minutes. Then put the drops in again and let them sit there as long as you can. (This is really good for stopping the flow of gunk long enough to fall asleep.) I like to put vicks on my nose after the second set of nose drops, it helps keep me breathing well for most of the night.
  
• Warning: I am not a doctor. Consult with your doctor. Be careful with bleach, it stains and only use a little bit because bleach can be a poison. Just use common sense.