Sinus infections happen to everyone, but when the temporary discomfort of a stuffed nose becomes a permanent condition, it can severely affect the quality of life. There are many ways to deal with a chronic sinus infection, medication and nasal sprays being the most common. Both of these have their side effects and do nothing past relieving symptoms.
The idea behind nasal irrigation is to remove the cause of the sinus problems through gently cleaning out the nasal passages regularly. By literally washing out the pollens and pollutants from the sinus, many will experience that the sinus infections become less limiting or even disappear completely. Nasal irrigation is the process of either snorting or pumping lukewarm salt water through the nasal passage, cleaning out the passage and moisturizing the sinuses at the same time. Over time, the natural processes for cleaning the sinuses will be improved, and overall sinus wellbeing restored. For a chronic sinus sufferer, there can hardly be a more compelling prospect.There are a few options for persons wanting to try nasal irrigation, in this product review I will be testing the SinuPulse Elite, an at home complete nasal irrigation system. The main draw of the SinuPulse Elite is simplicity and effectiveness. When you purchase the SinuPulse Elite it comes packaged with perfectly portioned bags of fine salt that makes it very convenient and easy to make the solution needed for the nasal irrigation. No guessing about salinity or dosage. While mixing your own saline solution is possible and not very difficult, for someone new to nasal irrigation, having alt the measurements already done makes it that much easier to get started.
The SinuPulse Elite is very easy to set up out of the box, you connect one of the two mouth pieces to the machine, mix the water solution in the tank, set the strength of the water spray and you are ready to go. The act of nasal irrigation itself takes some practice to get right, and especially to get comfortable with. The SinuPulse Elite comes with very easy to understand instructions on how to successfully irrigate the sinuses.
As a nasal irrigation system the SinuPulse Elite does what it says it does, the water spray is very gentle and not as uncomfortable as one would think before trying it. The machine is also very effective in cleaning out the lower nasal passages. Unlike nasal sprays that can cause irritation after sustained use, nasal irrigation feels natural and has no real side effects if it is done correctly.
There are several things the SinuPulse Elite has going for it, it is the most advanced nasal irrigation system that is available to the regular consumer, and it is effective in what it does. For me personally though, there are several issues with the machine that detracts from the value.
While the SinuPulse Elite is an affordable machine for most household, it costs around 100 dollars, it is still expensive enough that I expected better build quality. The materials used are low grade plastics, and the water tank especially seems flimsy. While the tank is still working, the low quality of the materials makes it feel like you’re using a 20 dollar product.
The most serious problem I have had with the machine is that the knob for adjusting the water pressure got stuck after just a couple weeks use. As it turns out, it is stuck in the position I would use anyways, but for the money I paid for this machine, I want to be able to adjust the water pressure.
Another issue I have with the SinuPulse Elite is that while it does a good job of cleaning the lower nasal passage, it does not deliver on the most appealing parts of the sales pitch to me. I was expecting the SinuPulse Elite to clear my sinuses as the name and the description both imply, however in reality all it does is clear out the nostrils and lower nasal passage. While using the SinuPulse Elite did make me feel less congested, it did nothing to address the most important issues to me, which is chronic sinus infection. The upper sinuses were not affected by the SinuPulse Elite treatment at all. I tried increasing the water pressure, but that forced water down the passage to my ears and was painful and ineffective.
I tried the SinuPulse Elite faithfully every day for several weeks to see if the sinus blockages would dissolve over time, but at least in my case, the sinuses remains clogged.
All in all, for what it does the SinuPulse Elite does a good job, and it actually is a big relief to have the lower nasal passages cleaned, but that still is not enough for me to fully recommend this product. I went in expecting a more thorough nasal irrigation, and feel that the effects of the SinuPulse Elite could easily be had for a lot less money. That the machine comes with a whole set of different extensions might be a selling point for some, but I found that the standard irrigation mouth piece was the only one I needed and used. In short, for the price I had to pay for the SinuPulse Elite, I was expecting it to work better and be a higher quality product than what I got.
