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Let's do the time warp again! *sing* Burda let's us travel into the next year altough we still have more than one week to go... And I found the missing underwear section in the Burda issue for January 2012, so all is good now!
No wonder I include a wonderfull selection of 50s inspired underwear/sleepwear in the hitlist, right? The panty on the left represents the whole collection which I would love to sew in future. I think about buying this issue, despite next year only starting in 9 days! Maybe 2012 will be the year of pretty Burdas and not of the end of the world as the Mayas predicted?
Second place goes to a nice an comfy cardigan. If I had this pattern some weeks ago, I would have used one of my knits from fabricmarket for this pattern. Unfortunately, they a both cut and sewn... But I like the ruffly collar. It looks so luxurious!
The best pattern in my eyes is the ballerina wrap cardigan. Although itÄs not the most elaborate pattern, it is right at the heart of fashion right now. I saw some in H&M as well as Zara last week! Also, I would love to have one in dove grey for comfy sitting on the couch and reading...
But of course Burda has to include some saggy non-fashion in this issue as well. The dress on the left looks a bit frankenstein-ed because of lack of fabric. I also think that putting glossy satin in places where most women have trouble zones is a bit annoying. Who would not want to put some emphasize on the slightest curve of belly or the smallest of protruding hips?
Second worst goes to the wonderful unanimated ruffle ont he right. The dress itself could use some shaping, not even plus size women have as many figure problems as this cut may hide.
And what about the jacket in the middle? You will certainly look as if you have pulled down shoulders, no chest at all and a lot of belly fat - a very flattering look on everyone! If you look attractive in this jacket, you can probably pull of a bag of coals as well...


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Michael Weatherly is leaving NCIS after 13 seasons
The actor who plays Anthony DiNozzo will depart the show at the end of the current series
After 295 hour-long episodes, Michael Weatherly is calling it a day on American police drama NCIS.
US network CBS confirmed that the current run will be Weatherly's last as Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent Tony DiNozzo and paid tribute to the star: "the immense charm and talent he brings to the screen as 'Very' Special Agent Tony DiNozzo has helped make NCIS what it is today – the No. 1 drama in the world".
The actor, who has been in the long-running show from its very beginning in 2003, was also quick to show his admiration to his crew, co-stars and character tweeting:
I will miss the amazing crew & cast, who are like family to me, & to the fans all over the world – THANK YOU, it's been a fantastic ride!
— Michael Weatherly (@M_Weatherly) January 5, 2016
DiNozzo is a wonderful, quixotic character & I couldn't have had more fun playing him over the past 13 seasons pic.twitter.com/GR7YSsmsKJ
— Michael Weatherly (@M_Weatherly) January 5, 2016
The announcement has led to speculation on how Tony DiNozzo will bow out in his final episode on 19th January, with some fans speculating that his slow-burning relationship with Ziva might finally find a spark.
If very special agent Tony DiNozzo is leaving, please let's end the season with a wedding to Ziva. A happily ever after would be nice. #NCIS
— Karen Peterson (@karecrazy) January 6, 2016
Tony can run away to Israel to be with Ziva! Omg perfect! The End! ? #NCIS #Tiva
— Sam (@SamReax) January 6, 2016
Right if Michael weatherly is leaving #tiva better happen I've waited to long for this ? #ncis
— Chelsea (@Jisbon_Tiva9814) January 4, 2016
British fans will find out how it ends for Tony when the current run of episodes airs on Channel 5 in the near future.


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For a long time it was thought that Indian yellow was derived from the urine of Indian cows. But the mystery surrounding the origins of this wonderful golden yellow pigment is still unresolved. For years now artists have been making use of synthetic alternatives that are identical in colour to their natural counterpart.
It is not exactly clear when Indian yellow was first introduced into Europe. It is known, however, that between the 15th and 18th century brown, rather pungent balls were imported into Europe from Asia. Once they were broken open they revealed a wonderful warm yellow powder. By grinding and mixing the balls with a binding agent such as egg, oil or gum, the characteristic golden yellow, transparent paint was produced. The origins of the pigment lay somewhere in Persia, China or India. But regarding the exact origins there are many wild stories.
The most remarkable story is that the pigment was extracted from the urine of Indian cows. In the north-eastern state of Bihar the cows there were supposed to have been fed only with the young leaves of the mango tree. It was this that coloured the urine bright yellow. The urine was collected and then evaporated, after which the remaining pigment was kneaded into balls. As not all the pigment was excreted, the animals developed large kidney stones which made passing urine very painful. This often led to them kicking over the buckets full of expensive urine, so rigorous measures were introduced such as the animals being suspended with leather straps. It was even claimed that the cows only passed urine when massaged in the genital area. Due to the holy status of the cow this production was banned in 1908.
The evidence to support this theory is, however, very thin. The only concrete reference to this comes from a letter to the Society of Arts from 1883, in which Mr Mukharij from Calcutta claimed to have seen the process with his own eyes. The French painter Merimee on the other hand claimed in his book 'The Art of Painting in Oil and Fresco' from 1939 that the colour was derived from a bushy tree. And the Scottish chemist John Stenhouse wrote in 1844 that the colour came from plant sap that was precipitated onto magnesium and then boiled down to the consistency of the balls. The British journalist Victoria Finlay, too, cast doubt on the story of the 'mango cows'. In her book 'Colour, travels through the paintbox' she suggested that it was probably made up in order to 'take the piss' out of the English rulers.
Whether derived from urine or not, whatever remains of the natural pigment is now a collector's item. The yellow pigment was replaced long ago by synthetic alternatives with the same warm yellow tint as the original. Rembrandt water colour Indian yellow is made from highly stable pigments, the colour of which is retained for at least 100 years under museum conditions.
Indian yellow is a transparent warm yellow colour. When mixed with blues it gives a rich gradation of greens. When mixed with red a wonderful range of oranges is produced.
Royal Talens has the colour Indian yellow in the following product ranges:


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text: Maitra Ayurvediya Chikitsalaya offers the perfect Ayurvediya Consultation and treatments for chronic diseases, with special reference to certain ailments like neuromuscular problems, skin diseases, coronary artery diseases, and others. Depending on an individual's medical history, consultation is offered in the form of Yoga and Pranayam Sadhana. Maitra Ayurvediya Chikitsalaya assures proper diagnosis and offers suitable treatment for the same. Treatment prescribed solely implements pure Ayurvedic medicines suitable for individual health. The Chikitsalaya is managed by Dr. Manoj Madhav Thakur, Dr. Mrs. Varada Manoj Thakur, and Dr. Meera Madhav Thakur.


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Title: Finding Zero: A Mathematician's Odyssey to Uncover the Origins of Numbers
Author: Amir Aczel
Genre: Nonfiction, Science, History, Mathematics
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: January 6, 2015
Page Amount: 256 pages
Blurb From Goodreads:The invention of numerals is perhaps the greatest abstraction the human mind has ever created. Virtually everything in our lives is digital, numerical, or quantified. The story of how and where we got these numerals, which we so depend on, has for thousands of years been shrouded in mystery. Finding Zero is an adventure filled saga of Amir Aczel's lifelong obsession: to find the original sources of our numerals. Aczel has doggedly crisscrossed the ancient world, scouring dusty, moldy texts, cross examining so-called scholars who offered wildly differing sets of facts, and ultimately penetrating deep into a Cambodian jungle to find a definitive proof. Here, he takes the reader along for the ride.
Why Read: Although I find actual math (as in Algebra, Geometry, etc, etc) to be potentially one of the things that I am worst at in the world, abstract math and the history of numbers is something entirely different. I adore everything Amir Aczel has written. I love the way that he combines history and the advancement of formulas into a beautiful text that speaks to those who are not numerically skilled. So… there's little doubt that I was going to read this book.
Review: Whenever we get to trace in the footsteps of great discoveries or adventurers, there's a sense of excitement in the air. Following Amir Aczel as he tries to locate the origin of zero gave me that same feeling that Indiana Jones watchers might remember. The book starts by tracing Aczel's own origins as the son of a ship captain and his earliest memories learning about numbers and about the past that holds them captive.
The story continues to trace his own academic routes of discovery through ancient civilizations such as Babylon, Ancient Greece and Rome where he attempts to find out: where did our numbers come from? One particular moment that I enjoyed was Aczel's attempt to work in Cambodia and Vietnam, where he ran into multiple problems due to a lack of conservation and the Khmer Rouge. Some of those passages were uniquely sad, because it really reminded me as a reader just how much knowledge and process was perhaps lost because powerful forces deemed academics a challenge to their authority.
Part of what made this book so interesting for me was the combination of travelogue and math history lesson. Aczel writes in a way that allows math history, even challenging concepts, to be accessible to practically anyone. I found myself beyond interested as he systemically described the different styles of counting and how they evolved and formed into the number system of today. It was such a fascinating read, and currently my reading quest is to find all other books by him and devour them as quickly as possible. I suggest you do the same.
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars


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Jennifer Garner isn't just a supermom who acts on the side. She also happens to be a budding baker, so much so that she stars in a pretend cooking show that's been posted to her Facebook page. That being said, there's nothing 'pretend' about it. The woman is a natural on camera (anyone who's ever seen Alias or 13 Going on 30 or Daredevil knows this) and she doesn't half-ass anything. So as far as baking goes, she's the real deal.
On Saturday, Jen posted Episode 2 of Pretend Cooking Show. And forget hair and makeup — she's all about baking in her jammies. The recipe she tackled? English muffins. Because why buy a pack of six for $3 when you can spend night and day making them?
On both her Facebook and Instagram accounts, Garner posted the recipe from the Zoe Nathan's Huckleberry cookbook, and included her very own 'Jen tip' for heating a griddle. And don't they look absolutely mouthwatering?
Now, you might wonder that if this was the second episode, where's Episode 1? Well, ask and you shall receive.
The first instalment of Pretend Cooking Show came last month, when Garner took on Ina Garten's Honey White Bread recipe. And because this is Jen we're talking about, she had to take it to another level. Sure a loaf of bread is delish, but bread men for each of her kids? Now that's going over and above, clearly making her the coolest mom on the block.
She also happens to be a glutton for punishment since she admits she's avoiding carbs for a movie right now. That's real sacrifice right there.
Oh, but if you're looking for a healthy, carb-free option, Jen does smoothies too. You're welcome.


text: Dear Future Centenarian, I mentioned Dan Sullivan in a couple of newsletters. Joe Polish too. Joe has been a close friend for over 20 years. He and Dan hold a provocative and persuasive series of interviews and discussions on the topic of developing and expanding "Abundance Multipliers" in the 21st century global economy. What that…Read more


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As you're likely already aware, Ridge Vineyards is in the midst of happily celebrating 50 years of zinfandel production (#50yearsofzin), and so understandably, I think we've all got a bit of zin on the brain. I know #ZinZen does: "Your… Read More ›
2012 Paso Robles
I Found My Thrill …
Spoiler Alert: –Ridge Vineyards and Blue Hill (in New York) are teaming up for an EXTRAORDINARY wine & food event on March 25th, and you can find out all about it on Blue Hill's Facebook page, located here. –Prefer Twitter… Read More ›


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The Sinus Flush
Jan 06, 2008
As you can see by the hundreds of comments, the Flip-Turn Sinus Flush works extremely well for chronic bacterial infections of the upper sinuses, replacing antibiotics and surgery in most instances. For infections of the lower sinuses, I recommend the Neilmed Sinus Rinse--available at most pharmacies--as it requires less effort and risk.
The Flip-Turn Sinus Flush (by friggy) removes infected mucus from every part of your sinuses, which Mayo Clinic research shows is the cure for sinusitis, rather than treating sinus tissue with antibiotics. Regular saline irrigation does not work in the upper sinuses, because of gravity, but the Sinus Flush defeats gravity. It is effective with bacterial and viral infections, and some but not all fungal infections.
The Flip-Turn is the original, and still the best Sinus Flush.
The technique in this manual involves bending over in a hot shower. Obviously, if you bend over in a shower, there is a slight possibility that you can get dizzy and fall down. You could possibly hit your head, get knocked out, or break something. It's a tiny risk, greater if you are older, overweight, obese, or have reduced blood flow in your neck arteries, but it's a risk you must assume if you want get rid of an otherwise untreatable sinus infection.
There is a possibility that the infection could go into your ear, which happened to me once, but I found a way to avoid it. You could also accidentally rub infected snot into your eye and get an eye infection, if you are careless.
The physiology of your head may be different from my head and you could experience a problem that I would not have, so it's another risk you must assume.
This technique will work for almost any infection of the nose, if you're willing to take the risk. If an unfortunate side effect should happen to you, well, I am sorry. I am not charging you for this, you are not paying me for it, so don't sue me. It's a responsibility that you have to assume. If you expect a risk-free life, with massive compensation should things don't work out, then don't try this.
So, why is this book manuscript free? The physician who reviewed it said, "The materials cost less than $5.00, so there's no income, and if, on the outside chance, a patient falls in the shower, they can sue me. What doctor's gonna recommend this?" He's right, doctors aren't stupid—that's why they're doctors."
If you don't wish to take the risk involved, then at least you may wish to try the Dr.Grossan Hydropulse Nasal Irrigation System. It gently pumps the saline solution into your sinuses, and I don't know if it pumps saline all the way up into the far reaches of your sinuses, because of gravity, but it follows the same line of treatment expressed here.
Neilmed Sinus Rinses squirt saline into the maxillary and ethmoid sinuses. It does not work for infections in the upper sinuses, says so right on the box. It only costs $13 at any local pharmacy.
There is also a neti pot, which was demonstrated by Dr. Oz on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Many people swear by a neti pot, so it is apparently effective for some colds and some sinus infections. However, a neti pot flush may or may not reach the upper part of the sinuses. They are now widely available.
***BUT, before you try anything here, you should go to a doctor and have your problem checked out. You may have a problem that looks like a sinus infection, but is something else. The medical model works for most people, and if you have a severe sinus infection, it could spread to other parts of your head or body, and it would be a good idea to be on antibiotics.
Part I explains the Flip-Turn Sinus Flush®, Part II tells you why it works, Part III tells you how to prevent sinus problems.
Good luck, and breathe free!
Antibiotics often do not work for chronic sinusitis. The reason is simple: antibiotics are delivered to the site of infection by the bloodstream. There is some blood flow in the sinuses, but for many people it's not sufficient to deliver enough of the drug to kill the large number of bacteria in the infected sinuses.
You may also have learned that saline irrigation works a little bit to relieve your sinusitis, but not enough. The reason is even simpler: gravity. Gravity will pull the salt water out of your nose before it can wash out the infected mucus in the upper part of your sinuses.
A study released a few years ago by the Mayo Clinic revealed the surprising discovery that if the cause of sinusitis is the toxins from the infected mucus in your sinuses, and you remove the infected snot, the problem will go away.
There's two ways to remove infected snot from your sinuses, if long-term antibiotics do not work. The medical way is with surgery—stick an endoscope up your nostril and suck enough of it out to end the infection. This usually works, but it sometimes causes complications, or scarring, and the infection often returns.
This guide will show you a simple and extremely effective way to get the saline solution where it needs to go, and get rid of your sinus problem.
I am not a doctor, but my father was a highly respected family physician. He was the one that told me that all the antibiotics, anti-histamines, corticosteroids, and nasal sprays that my top-notch local HMO doctor was treating me with might not work, because he'd seen them fail in many patients. The medical model of treating most diseases doesn't always succeed with sinusitis, and he recommended saline solution for some relief.
It worked a little, but not enough saline would reach the upper part of my sinuses. Then I remembered, from being on a swim team, that when you botch a flip-turn, massive amounts of water gets in your sinuses, which is uncomfortable, but causes no damage. It also drains every bit of snot out of your nose. The Flip-Turn Sinus Flush mimics this process. Plenty of saline drains into every nook and cranny of your sinuses, and when you stand straight up, it drains out with most of the infected snot and pus. During the first treatment, you will see. After several treatments, your sinuses will resume their normal function, and you will be able to breathe freely through your nose.
If you want to know what causes sinusitis, and why the saline solution works, go to Part II of this journal.
WARNING: Do not use tap water, unless it has been boiled first. There is a rare microbe that can get in your brain from some water systems.
Saline solution is salt water. You can buy a bottle of saline solution in a drugstore, and it works just fine. However, the store-bought saline solution will contain a preservative, to keep things from growing in the water, and some people will find the preservative to be irritating to their mucus membranes. Store-bought saline is also expensive, and the quantities required will make you hesitant.
It's cheap and easy to make your own saline, a gallon at a time. Buy a one-gallon plastic bottle of distilled or osmosis-purified water. I always buy distilled, because the water has been boiled. The water usually has an expiration date.
Don't buy a regular bottle of regular drinking water or spring water. This water contains more contaminants than you think—not enough to make you sick if you drink it, but you don't want to add them to the other germs you are working to get out of your sinuses.
Buy some table salt without iodine. Iodine is an irritant to some people. Sea salt is okay, as long as it has the same size grains as table salt. Pickling and canning salt is the very best, because it doesn't have any additives (calcium silicate) to keep the salt grains from sticking together. Avoid kosher salt, because the anti-caking agent may cause a strong burning sensation in your nose.
The best saline solution has the ratio 2 grams salt for 98 milliliters of water. This is about 78 grams of salt to the gallon. Do the math, and make it practical, it works out to be 10 teaspoons of salt poured into one gallon of distilled water. Shake it up.
Now you have plenty of saline solution, enough to get rid of the toxic schmoo in your nasals and sinuses. If you are concerned about germs growing in your gallon of salt water, then make a new batch every time you feel sinus infection coming on.
Why does salt water work? Simply put, germs need water, and salt takes the water away from the germs.
There are two kinds of saline solution. Isotonic solution has the same concentration of salt as the human body. Hypertonic solution is saltier than the water in the human body.
Infected and inflamed secretions, like the ones in your sinuses when you have sinus infections and colds, are excessively sticky. Allergies make your secretions sticky, and people over forty have stickier secretions. That's why Old Men have a stereotype of being phlegmy. Hypertonic solutions thin the sticky secretions and make them easier to wash out of your sinuses.
Hypertonic solutions shrink swollen tissues by drawing out the excess moisture. When the swollen tissues shrink, the openings of the sinuses (the ostia) get bigger, and all the infected pus and snot can drain better.
Hypertonic solutions wash out particles of pollution, fungus, and mold, so that your body won't have an allergic reaction to them.
Finally, hypertonic solution soothes infected or irritated tissue, helps it heal, and helps the cilia in your nasal membranes function better. It's safe for people of all ages, even children.
You aren't going to squirt the saline up your nose, but rather pour it in slowly; it helps to have the right applicator. The best is a 4-ounce plastic travel bottle with a spout that folds open and shut. You may or may not find them in a local outdoors store, or a luggage store, and you can definitely find them at R.E.I., online if you have to, or at a Container Store. You may possibly find a 3 oz. bottle, which is fine, in the travel-size section of a drugstore or department store. They are becoming easier to find, because these bottles are what you have to put liquids in when you fly on an airplane.
If you can't find one anywhere, then you can just use any plastic bottle with a spout that squirts, like a Rubbermaid picnic bottle or a kitchen squeeze bottle.
The best, once again, is a small travel squeeze bottle, which is listed as a 4 oz. bottle, but actually holds about 5 oz. or about 140 milliliters. Fill it up from the gallon of saline solution. Keep the small bottle in your shower, but store the gallon bottle somewhere else.
The same pustulence that causes your sinuses to be infected can also get into other
places in your head. Heed these warnings and it won't.
WHENEVER YOU BLOW SNOT AND PHLEGM AND PUS OUT OF YOUR NOSE, ALWAYS BLOW IT OUT ONE NOSTRIL ONLY. Press the other nostril closed with your finger. IF YOU DO OTHERWISE, YOU CAN BLOW THE INFECTION INTO YOUR EARS OR THE PART OF YOUR NOSE WHERE YOUR SENSE OF SMELL IS.
NEVER BLOW YOUR NOSE AS HARD AS YOU CAN. THIS CAN BLOW THE INFECTION INTO YOUR EARS OR THE PART OF YOUR NOSE WHERE YOUR SENSE OF SMELL IS. Blow very very very gently. Let the gravity do the work of removing the saline and infected mucus.
DO NOT TURN YOUR HEAD TO THE SIDE WHEN YOU HAVE SALINE SOLUTION IN YOUR NASAL PASSAGES. Gravity can cause the infection to get into your Eustachian tube and ears..
DO NOT RUB YOUR EYES IN THE SHOWER AFTER YOU HAVE BLOWN INFECTED MUCUS OUT OF YOUR NOSE. THIS CAN CAUSE THE INFECTION TO GET IN YOUR EYE. Use the top of your wrist to wipe the water out of your eyes.
You are also going to be bending over forward in the shower. The shower is not a good place to find out that bending over makes you dizzy. Practice it first before you get in a shower, no matter how young and fit and healthy you assume that you are. Stand in front of a bed or couch or a carpeted floor. Slowly bend forward as far as you can comfortably bend, and look between your legs at the crotch. Slowly stand up erect. Bend over and stand up again several more times to make sure, before you get in the shower. If you do get dizzy, see a doctor. You may have some blockage in your carotid arteries—the ones in your neck that provide blood to your brain.
Figure out which direction you will be bending over in the shower. Preferably, it's the side away from the shower head. Take everything out of this side of the shower, so that you don't mistakenly grab it and fall down.
If the thought of falling in the shower bothers you, you can also perform this technique standing on a towel next to the running hot shower or other source of running water, and wash the towel after you create a mess. In fact, hot running water is not essential to this technique—but the steam provided by the hot water helps loosen the phlegm and pustulence in your sinuses.
If you want the saline to be warm, which is more comfortable, place the filled squeeze bottle in a cup or glass of hot tap water before you get in the shower. Don't submerge the top of the squeeze bottle in the hot tap water, because water from your hot water heater has things you don't want to know about. When the bottle is warm, put it in your shower
Turn on your shower as hot as is comfortable and jump in. The heat and the steam will loosen the mucus in your nose and nasal cavity. After a minute or so in the shower, press your right nostril closed with your right index finger, and very, very, very gently and slowly blow out the open left nostril, into your hands. Rinse the hands off, then close the left nostril with your left finger and blow out the open right nostril. Wash off your hands with soap.
The blood vessels on one side of the nose swell up with blood, on purpose, to close off that side of the nose to air. This gives the cilia in the closed nostril a chance to clean out all the pollution and mucus. When it's clean, it opens up and the other side is closed to repeat the process. The things that swell up to close your nostrils are called turbinates.
Keep this in mind when you are blowing your nose. One side will always seem more congested than the other, even if it's clean.
Step One: Spread your feet so they are about 2 feet apart, for better stability in the shower. Stand so that the water stream is hitting you on the butt, so that when you bend over, water doesn't flow down to your face. Take the squeeze bottle, tilt your head back slowly, and squeeze as much saline solution as you can into each nostril. TILT YOUR HEAD BACK VERY SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY, BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE CAN EXPERIENCE NECK PROBLEMS IF THEY TILT THEIR HEAD BACK QUICKLY.
Note: If the water goes immediately down your throat, say the word "Go". Notice how your throat closes off at the beginning of the letter G. That is how you close off your throat when you are filling your nostrils.
After you have filled both of your nostrils, pinch them shut. Set down the squeeze bottle. Then, very slowly bend forward, at the waist, until you can look between your legs at the crotch. If you have balance problems, use the fingertips of the hand that is not pinching the nose to make a three-point stance, just like a football player makes before the ball is hiked, to be extra safe.
When you are still bent over, release the hand from your nostrils. Some water will come out of the nostrils, and some will percolate into your nasal cavity and sinuses.
Stay in this position for 5 to 10 seconds.
IF YOU FEEL SALINE GETTING INTO YOUR EARS, STOP DOING THE FLUSH. Some people, due to anatomical differences, can possibly get saline into their Eustachian tubes. If your Eustachian tubes get infected, it could lead to Eustachian Tube Dysfunction (ETD) which requires a lot of time to clear up.
The first few times you do this, it may feel uncomfortable to have saline and water up your nose. You will probably feel a burning sensation. This is due to the fact that the pH of the hypertonic saline solution is different from the pH of the water in your body. This will not affect the power or safety of the saline solution, just the comfort level. The comfort you are looking for is to get rid of sinus problems. You will get used to the burning sensation, to the point where it doesn't bother you anymore.
The burning will not damage your sense of smell. In fact, it will improve it. I keep a small bottle of Dr.Bronner's Peppermint Pure-Castile Soap in the shower.. When I'm sick I can barely smell it, but after a saline flush the smell will be strong enough to give me a jolt.
Next, bend halfway up, so that you're looking straight down, and your face is facing the floor of the shower. Close the right nostril with your right finger, gently blow out the left nostril. Open both nostrils, then close the left nostril with the left finger, and blow gently out the open right nostril.
Very slowly stand up straight, and wash the snot off of your hands. DO NOT RUB THE WATER OUT OF YOUR EYES WITH YOUR HANDS, OR YOUR EYES MAY GET INFECTED! Use the top of one of your wrists to wipe the water out of your eyes.
Step Two: Tilt your head back and fill both nostrils with saline solution for the second time. Pinch your nose, slowly bend all the way down again, release your nostrils, and wait 5-10 seconds. Slowly stand all the way back up this time. Close the left nostril and blow out the open right nostril. Open the left nostril, close the right nostril, and blow gently out the open left nostril.
Rinse the schmoo off of your hands. Wash your hands with soap, just to make sure they are clean.
Step Three: Tilt your head back slowly, and fill both nostrils with saline solution for the third time. Pinch your nose again, bend over all the way so you can look through your legs at the crotch, and release the nostrils. Wait about 10 seconds, and slowly stand all the way back up straight. Don't blow your nose this time. Let whatever is in your nose and sinuses drain slowly out of your nostrils, while the hot water of the shower falls on your chest. Put a finger across your top lip if you don't like the salty water getting in your mouth.
After about 20 seconds, snort inward, so the mucus goes into your throat, then do some hawking, and spit it out of your mouth. Repeat once or twice. Then, close one nostril, and blow out the open nostril as slowly and gently as you can. Open both nostrils, then close the opposite nostril, and blow out the open nostril as slowly and gently as you can.
If you still feel congested, you may repeat Step One and Step Two, or you can repeat Step Two twice. Remember, one of your nostrils will always be closed or partly closed anyway, so don't expect that you can breathe clearly through both nostrils.
Step Four: Look straight up. This will drain the saline from the front of your sinuses. However, it will also constrict your throat, and you will feel the mucus slide down your throat. Yes, it is gross and uncomfortable. Gargle with saline immediately afterwards.
Be sure to wash your hands thoroughly with soap before you get out of the shower. Also use soap to wash the outside of the squeeze bottle.
An examination of the nasty material coming out of your nose may give you an indication of your sinus problem. If it is thick and yellowish or yellowish-brown, you most likely have a bacterial or viral infection. If the snot is the usual greenish or clear stuff, your problem may likely be the result of an allergy, or from mold or fungus. If you have had a chronic infection, a strange alien-looking ball of gel may come out, after which you will experience a dramatic improvement in your breathing.
Some blood may come out. This comes from the damaged tissues in the nose and sinuses. The best treatment for minor bleeding in the nasal region is saline irrigation, which is what you are already doing.
Do this procedure at least twice a day, once in the morning when you wake up, and once in the evening before you go to bed. You may also do it for a third time in the afternoon, or when you come home from work.
If your sinus infection is in your upper sinuses (sphenoid, frontal, or upper ethmoid) your results may not be as obvious on your first attempt. Don't give up.
When you feel that your sinuses have been cleared, continue the procedure twice a day for at least 2 days afterward, to prevent any residual infection from growing back and causing sinus problems again.
After you have flushed out your sinuses, some saline solution may remain inside your head. While this is harmless to you, if you bend your head down during the day, a few drops of saline may leak out into the nose, and cause you some unpleasant business. Keep a facial tissue on your person or nearby at all times.
NOTE: This procedure looks difficult at first, but it's basically: tilt head back, squirt saline in nose, hold nose, bend over, release nose, stand up, blow nose.
Once your sinuses get cleared out, the cilia start functioning properly, and your sinuses, your sense of smell, your nose, and your breathing just start working better and better as the days go by. DO NOT DO THIS FLUSH FOR MORE THAN 10 DAYS IN A ROW. Your sinuses need time to recover and grow back the good bacteria.
If you are unable to bend over safely, there is an alternate method of getting a large amount of saline into your sinuses. This method has also helped some people on this forum reach parts of their sinuses that weren't reached by a Flip-Turn Flush. One user reported his success with this method to his ENT, who informed him that he has been using this method for 35 years.
I went outside to try this method (you can do it inside, on towels) I sat down on the ground, legs bent, knees up. I bent my head back, poured saline into my nostrils, pinched them, and did a reverse sit-up until my back was flat on the ground, and tilted my head back a little further. Then I sat up, and the saline poured from my nostrils (if you try it, you may want a bowl in between your legs to drain).
No water got into my ears, which is always a concern, and although I no longer get sinus infections, a lot of clear phlegm got flushed out this way. It seems like an effective alternative to the regular Flip-Turn Flush, several members of this forum have done it with success since it appeared in the comments section, and might possibly reach a few missed head cavities.
You've got holes in your head. The sinuses are hollow spaces in the bones of your face. They help you breathe, by making the air warm and moist. They help you smell, by letting odors and fragrances waft up to your olfactory nerves, which transmit the smells to your brain. If you are using your voice correctly, you can feel your sinuses vibrate with sound.
The sinuses make your head lighter, because solid bone would weigh too much, and your neck would be sore all the time. The sinuses make mucus, which moisturizes your nasal passages, and cleans them, too, leaving a neat package of rubbish in your nose—boogers.
Inside the sinuses are tiny little moving hairs, called cilia, which move the mucus out of the sinuses into the nose, to make boogers, or into your throat, where it is swallowed, usually without you noticing it. There are millions of cilia in your nose, and they each beat 16 times per second, acting like miniature oars to push the waste out of your nose.
Each sinus has an opening, called an ostium, into the nose, which lets air and mucus in and out, and each sinus is connected to the nasal passages with a continuous mucus membrane lining. Sinusitis is the inflammation of these linings, which cause them to swell up and block the ostia. The ostia are only about 3 millimeters in diameter, which is about as big as this letter "O", so it doesn't take much to block each hole.
When the ostia become blocked, mucus can get backed up in your sinuses, and air can be trapped inside. This causes pressure in the sinuses, which leads to face pain or headache. Sometimes, the oxygen in the blocked sinuses is absorbed by the blood vessels of the mucus membrane. This creates a vacuum inside the sinus, which causes pressure from the outside, and of course, pain.
Doctors use three ways to classify sinus problems:
• Acute: a severe attack which lasts less than 3 weeks
• Chronic: sinusitis which lasts for 3 to 8 weeks, or longer, sometimes for months and even years.
• Recurrent: several attacks of acute sinusitis in one year.
Here are some of the other afflictions that can cause the sinuses and connecting holes and passageways to get clogged:
• An infection by a bacteria or virus of your respiratory system, which includes your lungs, throat, nose, and nasal passages. It's usually caused by a cold, which inflames your membranes, makes them thicker, and makes the mucus thicker, which blocks your sinuses and creates an ideal condition for bacteria to grow. Then white blood cells come to attack the bacteria, and the battle further swells and congests the nasal passages. The discharge that comes out of your nose is usually yellowish or greenish. Doctors refer to it as purulent nasal discharge. It's this nasty mess that is the problem we are going to deal with in this book.
• Your sinuses may react to an allergen, such as pet dander, dust, dust mites, pollen, or any other tiny particle you are allergic to, and your immune system will attack it and cause your nasal membranes to swell up and block your sinuses. In the case of pollen, it could be seasonable. A food allergy can also cause this condition. The discharge that results from this is usually clear or whitish.
• A fungus, including mold, can settle in the nose and cause chronic sinusitis. The name of this specific reaction is called "allergic fungal sinusitis". Researchers at the Mayo clinic found that 96% of chronic sinusitis sufferers had a fungus in the nose.
• Nasal polyps can grow inside your nose from years of allergic reactions or infections. These growths can get as big as your fingertip, and block your nasal passages and sinus openings. Polyps may possibly be related to chronic allergic fungal sinusitis, but doctors aren't exactly sure what causes them. Polyps can be removed by surgery, and the air passages will be opened considerably. A recent study suggests that the prescription drug Nasonex may shrink the polyps.
• A defect or injury in the cartilage of the nose, called a deviated septum, can cause chronic blockage in the nasal area. This may be corrected by surgery.
• Other irritants can inflame the nasal passages, such as air pollution, cigarette smoke, cigar smoke, and perfumes made from synthetic ingredients. Once again, see your doctor, or avoid the irritants.
• Asthma is an immune disease, and asthma sufferers are highly susceptible to sinusitis. About 3 out of 4 people with asthma also have chronic sinusitis. There is evidence that some asthma and the chronic sinusitis associated with it is caused by Chlamydia or mycoplasma bacteria. The mycoplasma is difficult to detect with the standard tests. Your doctor would have to request a special test to find it. There is also a strong possibility that asthma is a chronic reaction to a fungus that has taken up residence in the lungs, in the same manner that a fungus can cause sinusitis.
This book is going to concentrate on acute and chronic sinusitis caused by cold viruses and other viruses which lead to bacterial infections in the sinuses and nasal passages. With the methods I will show you, the yellow and green purulence, which we better know as snot, will be removed from your nasal passages. When the infected snot is removed from your head, the cold viruses, bacteria, and perhaps the fungi will not have a comfortable environment to thrive, multiply, and release the poisons which inflame and destroy the otherwise healthy red mucus membranes in your nose and sinuses.
Doctors have difficulty treating sinusitis caused by fungi. They can give you an antifungal medicine, but there is no definite proof that it can cure the sinusitis. Some researchers are looking for an anti-fungal nasal spray at this time.
This book will show you how to flush out the fungus or mold when it first appears, which will prevent chronic sinusitis. The technique has not been tested on chronic fungus infections, although I had great success against one. It certainly does work in the early stage of exposure to a mold or fungus, for the same reason that it works against bacterial infection—if you flush out the toxin, you may flush out the problem in your sinuses.
If you have one of the other forms of sinusitis, your doctor can take an x-ray of your head, and the infection may show up as an opaque area on the x-ray. Of course, you don't really want to get an x-ray of your head unless you really have to, so it's better to get a CAT scan of your sinuses, which is the more accurate way to diagnose the specific form of sinusitis that you are suffering from.
Sometimes, however, you can have a sinus infection that won't show up on a CAT scan of your sinuses. In this case, you will have drainage into your throat, called post-nasal drip, and your throat often have too much mucus in it, which can cause a mild sore throat or cough on a chronic basis.
The main symptom of sinusitis is pain. Pain in your face, pain in your head. The pain is caused by the pressure of mucus and pus and air trapped in your clogged sinuses, or pain caused air pressing on the outside of your sinuses, a result of a vacuum inside a clogged sinus or sinuses..
NOTE: Go to Google Images and type in "sinus" if you want to see a picture of all the sinuses
• Frontal sinuses. You may have pain in your forehead when you touch it, if they are infected.
• Maxillary sinuses. They can hold about two tablespoons of mucus. If these are infected, you may have pain in your upper jaw, your teeth may ache, and your cheeks may have pain when you touch them.
Note: One of the causes of maxillary sinusitis is a tooth abscess that has leaked the infection into the maxillary sinus. The teeth may be X-rayed to find this.
• Ethmoid sinuses. If infection occurs, you may get puffy eyes and pain between them. The sides of your nose may get tender to the touch, your nose may get stuffy, and you won't be able to smell so well. You may also get a splitting headache, felt most intensely in the forehead.
• Sphenoid sinuses. If they get inflamed, you may feel an earache, a pain in the neck, and an ache in the top of your head.
Most of the time, though, you are just going to feel a general pain everywhere in your head, especially when you awaken in the morning.
Other symptoms may include:
• A runny nose. This is called rhinitis.
• Nasal congestion
• Fever
• General weakness
• Fatigue
• Malaise
• A cough caused by infected mucus draining into your throat and irritating your throat. It gets more severe at night, because it can't drain while you are lying down.
• The mucus draining from the back of your nasal passages into your throat, or post-nasal drip, can also cause a sore throat.
• An odd smell that won't go away—an odor like a mix of dog-poop and old Parmesan cheese.
You may have some or all of these symptoms, and if you have some of these symptoms, it doesn't necessarily mean you have sinusitis.
You may also have fever with chills, which usually indicates that the infection has gone outside of the sinuses to somewhere else in your head or body.
If you get an attack of acute sinusitis, a doctor may recommend the following:
• A decongestant to help reduce stuffiness and congestion
• Antibiotics, if a bacterial infection is indicated
• A painkiller to relieve any pain or tenderness in your face or head.
Antibiotics are usually prescribed if you have yellow or green nasal discharge from one side of the nose, or both sides of the face, localized pain on one side of the face, or evidence of pus inside the nose. Doctors rarely take a sample of pus from your nose and actually test it, in order to determine if it is a bacterial or viral infection.
However, it's a safe bet that a bacterial infection is present, because most of us already have bacterial in our upper respiratory tract. These bacteria, such as haemophilus influenzae and streptococcus pneumonae, don't cause a problem when you are healthy, but after a cold virus infection clogs your nasal passages and weakens your body's immune system, these germs are able to multiply and thrive.
Doctors usually prescribe antibiotics for 10 to 12 days in cases of acute sinusitis. Whether or not the short-term use of antibiotics actually works against sinus infection is still open to debate. The sinuses are holes in the bones of the face, and bones don't have much blood going through them, and the blood circulation through the mucus membranes in the sinuses is not great, so it's extremely difficult for antibiotics, which travel though the bloodstream, to reach the sinuses to fight the bacteria.
A study published in the Journal of Family Practice in February of 2005 showed that there was no difference between the patients who received an antibiotic and the patients who received a placebo. That's just one study, but it does cast doubt on the effectiveness of short-term antibiotic treatment for mild acute sinusitis. Taking antibiotics also increases the chance that you can develop a drug-resistance strain of bacteria living in your upper respiratory tract. Lately, many ear-nose-and-throat doctors have spoken out against the use of antibiotics for mild acute sinusitis, claiming they are useless and contribute to the development of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria.
On the other hand, antibiotics may prevent the infection from spreading to other, more dangerous parts of the head or body, in certain cases.
At any rate, this can be said for taking antibiotics, or any other treatment that people use for a cold or acute sinusitis—many times the body fights off the infection anyway, and whatever medicine or treatment that people are taking or doing when the infection clears up is going to get the credit.
Your doctor may prescribe a corticosteroid nasal spray to help reduce your sinus congestion and the swelling and inflammation in your mucus membranes.
The treatment for chronic sinusitis is similar to that for acute sinusitis, at first. Doctors may prescribe antibiotics for 10 to 12 days, and if that doesn't work, as it rarely does, they may prescribe a different antibiotic for anywhere to 4 to 6 weeks, which is often effective. Sometimes it takes months and even a year of antibiotics to effect a cure.
Steroid nasal sprays can also be prescribed, but the medical community is unsure of the possible side-effects of long-term use of steroid nasal sprays.
Antihistamines and decongestants may help relieve some of the symptoms, but just a little bit. These drugs can also make your problem worse, by making the mucus even thicker in your head.
If the antibiotics and other treatments aren't effective, then surgery is sometimes recommended. Surgeons use an endoscope, which is an instrument that they stick up your nose, to open up the drainage holes in your sinuses and clear out some of the infected pus and tissue. Surgery provides immediate relief—significant relief—but it often does not provide a permanent cure.
What you will learn in this book is how to clear out the infected schmoo in your sinuses, even more effectively than surgery does, without somebody sticking a machine up your nose.
The common cold is caused by several different viruses, in fact over a hundred of them. They have names like maxilovirus and rhinovirus. The rhinoviruses are the cause of more than half of the colds that people get.
Colds mostly start in the nose, but they can also thrive in the lungs, the ears, and the sinuses, leading to sinusitis.
A cold usually lasts for a week, sometimes two weeks, or more for some nasty strains, or if your immune system handles it well, only 2 or 3 days. A cold makes you sneeze, makes your nose run, stuffs up your nose, makes your throat rough or sore or hoarse, and you can get mild chills or fever, and you might get a headache, and you might just feel funky and tired and sick.
Sometimes, a cold won't cause any symptoms at all, and it will clear up in the same amount of time.
A cold starts when a virus gets into your nose. Your nose actually helps the virus get to the back of nose, to where it can infect a nasal cell. The virus latches onto a receptor, called an ICAM-1, on the nasal cell, which plugs into the virus and draws it into the healthy cell. Once inside, the cold virus infects the cell and makes multiple copies of itself. Then the infected cell dies and explodes, releasing all the new cold viruses into the tissue and mucus inside the nose, and spreads to other cells in the nose. This takes about 8 to 12 hours for this cycle to happen. About 10 to 12 hours after this, cold symptoms begin to appear. About 12 hours after that, the cold symptoms may seem their worst, although it may take longer for the symptoms to reach their peak.
Cold viruses don't attack very many cells in the mucus membrane, so damage to the membrane is minimal. The symptoms are due to the body reacting against the infection.
The immune system releases many substances, such as prostaglandins and histamines, which makes the blood vessels get bigger and begin to leak, and makes the mucus glands begin working overtime, in order to flush out the viruses. These substances also make you cough and sneeze in order to expel the viruses, which helps you get rid of them, and also helps the virus to spread to other humans.
This manual shows you how to use saline solution to help get rid of the cold viruses, the toxins from the infected and ruptured nasal cells, the bacteria that take advantage of the viral infection to cause their own infection, and most of the substances that the body releases to inflame and swell up your sinus and nasal tissues, which often leads to sinusitis. Once you get rid of this toxic schmoo, your nose and sinuses and throat will quickly recover.
About a year after I developed the technique put forth in this book, the Mayo Clinic of Rochester, Minnesota released a study, led by Dr. Jens Ponikau and Dr. David Sheriss, which explains why it works.
Until the study, it was believed in the medical community that chronic sinus infection was caused by the bacterial infection that set into the nasal tissues after they had been inflamed by viral infections. It was believed that toxic proteins were released by the infected cells into the surrounding tissues of the nose and sinuses. Doctors have therefore targeted their treatment to curing the surrounding tissues, with various prescription drugs and antibiotics. This is common sense, because that is what works with most infections.
What the Mayo Clinic study discovered is that in a chronic sinus infection, the white blood cells, called eosinophils, respond to an infection by getting together in the nasal mucus and the sinus mucus, and they release a toxic protein, called major basic protein, into the mucus. It's the poison inside the mucus, which we see as greenish or yellowish snot, which damages the nasal and sinus membranes.
The study suggests that surgeons focus on removing the infected mucus during nasal surgery to prevent the disease from coming back.
So there you have it—get rid of the infected mucus, with the toxic major basic protein, and it will stop damaging the mucus membranes in the nasal passages and sinuses, and the bacteria will stop infecting the damaged tissue.
What's the best and safest way to flush out this infected mucus? It is saline solution—salt water—which you will make yourself, and administer to yourself in the most effective manner, and soon you will be breathing free, with sinuses as clear as you can remember. Perhaps, you may be smelling things that you haven't smelled for quite some time. They may be fragrances that you miss, and some of them may be dreadful funks you wish you'd never experienced. If this technique does not work, then at least you can narrow down the real cause of your sinus problem.
The best way to kill your sinus problems is to attack a cold virus with everything you've got, before it leads to acute sinusitis.
The first thing you can do is not get a cold. Cold viruses are acquired from other people who have a cold. If somebody with a cold blows their nose, or touches their nose or mouth, or sneezes into their hand, and then shakes hands with you, you will have cold viruses on your hand. If you then touch your nose, the viruses will go in, and your nose will escort the germs further into your nose.
If a cold sufferer with viruses on his hand touches a pen, a keyboard, a doorknob, a dime, or anything, the viruses collect on the object. When you touch the object, and then touch your own nose or mouth, you will get the germs.
What's the best defense? Don't touch your face, and especially your nose, with the parts of your hand that you touch things. If you feel the urge to rub your nose or eyes, use the back of your hand. And of course, if you have to pick your nose, make sure that you have thoroughly scrubbed your hands, or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 62% ethanol, which hospital studies have shown to be about as effective as washing with soap and water.
Drink as much water as you can tolerate. Filling your body with water dilutes the mucus in your head, throat, and lungs, and helps the body get rid of the microbes and their toxic waste.
As any practitioner of Chinese medicine, most organic/natural food enthusiasts, or an experienced doctor will tell you, there are four things that can increase the thickness of your mucus, and create a lot of phlegm, so avoid them while you are fighting the onset of a cold, or clearing up your sinusitis.
• Cut way back on milk products. Milk on your cereal, cream in your coffee, those are okay, but knock off the glasses of milk and ice cream while you are sick. If you want to see the effects of dairy products, drink a milkshake or a glass of eggnog when you are healthy, and see what happens to your phlegm levels.
• Stay away from white flour, like you find in cakes, cookies, white bread, and pastries. White flour is a phlegm-maker.
• Moderate your sweets. Sugar is a phlegm producer. Eat a piece of a chocolate bar, to get a clear demonstration.
• Lower the use of alcohol. Alcohol thickens the mucus in your head and lungs, and lowers your immune resistance.
If you start getting chills, you may have the flu instead of a cold. Flush your head with saline before bed, jump in bed with as many covers as you can find, and sweat it out. It won't be a great night's sleep, but there's a very good chance you can beat the flu virus. If you don't, go see a doctor or deal with the flu the way you usually do.
Does saline solution work against the flu? It might if you get to the flu virus soon enough, but that is something I am not going to talk about in this book. The flu, if not treated properly, can be fatal to some people. In fact, it is fatal to 1% of its victims. I personally wouldn't seek alternative medicine for a possibly fatal disease, so I wouldn't recommend it to you.
It's true, what your grandmother said, that chicken soup helps a cold. Chicken soup actually loosens phlegm in your head and lungs, and helps your body clear it out.
It also helps activate the cilia in your nose and lungs.
Another folk remedy is to drink apple cider vinegar, which its proponents claim will thin out your mucus. I've never tried it, but you can look it up on the internet if you want to try it.
A food that certainly helps clear out the congestion in your head is the chile pepper. In fact, the active ingredient in all hot peppers, capsaicin, is being used by some doctors to treat sinusitis. But forget about active ingredients, eat some spicy hot food.
Cajun food, Mexican food, Thai food, Szechuan food, red chile, green chile, jalapeños, Tabasco, and habañeras. If it makes your scalp sweat, and your nose to run, it's like medicine.
What about the "natural" cures for a cold? Some people take zinc lozenges to ward off a cold. Scientific studies that have been done show that zinc lozenges do not work, but not enough testing has been done to see if they work at higher doses. Definitely don't use a zinc spray, because some people claim it has caused anosmia, which is the loss of the sense of smell.
I always believed, instinctively, that echinacea was a fad cure for a cold, and a study sponsored by the government's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine lends support to that view. It found that the subjects who took echinacea caught just as many colds, had the same amount of virus in their snot, and had cold symptoms just as severe as the people who took a placebo. As the director of the center, Dr. Stephen E. Straus said, "It's a product with remarkable traction. It has that traction because of a combination of folklore, myth and word of mouth which is much more than the science has borne out." Medical science is full of unknowns, and maybe it works for some people at a different dose. Scientifically, echinacea follows the Last Cure Rule: Whatever people are taking or doing when the illness goes away gets the credit.
Drinking hot tea works very well, not just for the steam effect while you are drinking it, but the warmth helps, and tea gets the cilia in your lungs and sinuses into gear.
During your battle against a cold or sinusitis, it helps to place a warm towel or one of those rubbery hot water bottles over your face, because the warmth will help loosen the congestion in your head and face, and warm up the cilia to a temperature where they work better.
Don't hold your head over a steam source or do any intense steaming of your nasal passages. At too high of a temperature the cilia temporarily stop working. The steam from a hot shower is just warm enough to get the cilia working, but not hot enough to shut them down.
For a sore throat, gargling with a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution will kill the germs in your throat, and provide some relief.
Never discount anything that has worked for you in the past, such as humidifiers, anti-histamines, steam-baths, saunas, or anything your ancestors have handed down. My wife comes from a culture that considers Vicks Vapo-Rub to be the cure for every problem with the respiratory system, and it definitely works, as she rarely stays sick very long. In fact, some doctors have observed in their practices that the essential oils in Vicks are effective in relieving cold symptoms.
Sleeping with a Vicks Vaporizer has stopped several of my colds.
Saline flushes can only temporarily relieve the symptoms of allergies in the nose and sinuses. It can help clear the sinuses so that a bacterial or viral infection won't set into the accumulated mucus.
The best treatment for allergic rhinitis (a runny nose) is 10 milligrams of montelukast sodium (Singulair), which is available by prescription, or 240 milligram of pseudoephedrine hydrochloride (Sudafed). According to a study by the University of Chicago, the two drugs are equally effective, even though the prescription drug costs 4 times as much. The study was funded by the makers of the prescription drug. However, both drugs work in different ways, so one of them may work better for you than the other.
The best natural treatment for allergies is capsules of stinging nettle leaf, also known simply as nettle leaf. There are studies that suggest that magnesium lessens the body's reaction to allergens, and nettle leaf is a rich source of magnesium.
If your sinus problems are not going away after doing a saline flush, I'd recommend taking pseudoephedrine or Singulair, just to determine that your sinus problems are or are not caused by an allergy.
In the end, when you have cleared your sinuses, you should be able to walk a block with your mouth shut. If not, go see a doctor, again.
Many people on this forum get an incurable sinus smell, which other people can smell, for which medical doctors are unable to find a cause.
1. Some people, including myself, have had a smell that only they can smell. It could smell like dog-poop, old cheese, ammonia, a burning smell, etc. The smell comes on, often, as a result of a cold or sinus infection. Some, not all, of these smells are caused by an anaerobic bacteria thriving in the upper sinuses, and I was able to remove mine with a Flip-Turn Sinus Flush, and many other people have had success with it as well. I have already mentioned this in the earlier part of this journal, with a solution.
2. Some people had the smell, but were able to get rid of it with long-term antibiotics.
3. Some people had cysts or polyps, which blocked off parts of their sinuses, and created a pocket of infection. One woman, after reading my journal, made an appointment with Dr. Murray Grossan, who invented the Grossan Irrigation Machine, and he removed her cyst and the smell went away.
4. One man did a sinus flush, and some white tofu-like chunks came out. The smell actually got worse for a while, then went back to normal.
5. Many people, particularly the ones who have a strong odor that other people are revolted by, had no change at all after doing a Sinus Flush.
6. One woman found out that the smell was coming from a cracked tooth that her dentist was unable to find, but was discovered by a different dentist.
7. Some smells can come from liver or kidney diseases, or from acid reflux in the stomach.
8. Some smells can come from having a bad mix of bacteria in the intestines, and somehow the smell comes out through the sinuses or lungs. The best solution that I have seen is The Schwarzbein Principle by Dr. Diana Schwarzbein, MD.
9. There is a disease called atrophic rhinitis, which involves the decay of the mucus membranes in the sinuses. I don't know much about it, that's what ENTs and Google are for.
10. There are people who have been to multiple ENTs, and the doctors are completely mystified.
11. There may be a possibly be a fungal infection, possibly invasive, that doesn't flush out with saline, but that's just a hypothesis.
12. Another hypothesis: Some of the problems may be caused by the same kind of bacteria that cause tonsilloliths, or tonsil stones.
13. Finally, some patients have doctors who have diagnosed a yeast infection in the gut, which cause the smell which comes out through the sinuses or breath, and prescribed Fluconazole 150mg. This looks somewhat promising, but Fluconazole must be administered by a doctor at any rate. Here is the Medhelp thread for that:
- pseudoephedrine hydrochloride (Sudafed) is now OTC behind-the-counter since too many drug manufacturers bought it to boil down to methamphetamines. People can still get it, they just have to ask for it to be given to them.
- for allergic rhinitis, in addition to singulair and sudafed, there are other treatments: nasal steroids, nasal antihistamines, and nasal anticholinergics can help, and to get to the root cause, get allergy shots for desensitization
- even before you can walk a block with your mouth shut, a doctor can help you get there faster...
Sinusitis, NIAID Fact Sheet http://niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/sinusitis.htm
Dr. Murray Grossan, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, http://www.sinus-allergies.com
Report on over-prescription of antibiotics for acute sinusitis published in Archives of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, March 2007 issue.
Report on decongestants from University of Chicago, published in Archives of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, February 2006 issue.
"What the Experts Say About Washing Your Nose with a Salty Solution", Dr. Hana R. Solomon, MD, September 9, 2004
"Study Ties Sinusitis to Fungi in the Nose", by Gabrielle Glaser, New York Times, September 26, 2000
"Sinusitis", National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, April 2002
"When Trouble Hits Those Holes in Your Head", by Jane Brody, New York Times, March 15, 2005
Microbiology Professor Chuck Gerba, University of Arizona
Dr. Woodson Merrell, Professor of Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
"There is a Zoo of Microbes on Your Skin", by Will Dunham, Reuters, published on www.iol.co.za on February 5, 2007
"Experts Refute Anti-Bacterial Soap Claims", by John J. Lumpkin, Associated Press, October 20,
"Study Says Echinacea Has No Effect on Colds", by Gina Kolata, New York Times, July 28, 2005
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Kanchenjunga in monsoon time
This is brave! The Kanchenjunga region is the first big mountain region that the monsoon hits as it moves up from the plains to the south and consequently receives a huge amount of precipitation this time… (Read More)
This is brave! The Kanchenjunga region is the first big mountain region that the monsoon hits as it moves up from the plains to the south and consequently receives a huge amount of precipitation this time… (Read More)
"Hiking this challenging trail around Mt Kanchenjunga yields rewards that more popular routes don't, including stays in traditional teahouses that few foreigners ever see." begins the article about the Kanchenjunga Trek on the BBC website…. (Read More)
The Kanchenjunga trek region is pretty remote, and it is not so often than news comes out of there. For trekkers on the Kanchenjunga trek, it is interesting news. The Kanchenjunga Trek is sometimes known… (Read More)
Here's a great opportunity which will for many offer a richer experience than most who simply trek. You'll get to know the communities that the HDFA work with that lie along the Kanchenjunga Trek route, principally… (Read More)
The map shows the Kanchenjunga South-north trek and the relative location of the Khang La; east is up on the map. At Cheram on the Kanchenjunga south side base camp trek a valley runs up… (Read More)
Life as a volunteer in Ghunsa was about as different as it was possible to be from my life at home. There were the obvious things – food, housing, language, traditions. And then there were… (Read More)
200km of trekking to North and South Kanchenjunga basecamps, starting and finishing at Suketar. If you want to fly through the Kanchenjunga Trek on Google Earth, you can do that here with a KML file: Kanchenjunga… (Read More)
Jerome Gublin has published a beautiful coffee table book of photos from his trek around Kanchenjunga. Kanchenjunga is one of the best tea-house trekking routes in Nepal for adventurous people, in our opinion. Few people trekking,… (Read More)
David Walkey just contacted us and said the following: I have recently published an e-book called "Kangchenjunga, A Valley Too Far", which I think your clients will find an informative and entertaining read [if they are… (Read More)
Mamangkhe is a two day walk from Taplejung Bazaar, or 8 hours from a motorable road to the south (straight up the Kabeli khola valley). It is the last majority Limbu village to the north-east. Other… (Read More)


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A new breakthrough treatment, based on technology developed by researchers at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, could potentially control a major symptom of Chronic Kidney Disease.
Chronic Kidney Disease is an illness that affects one in three Australians and can lead to kidney failure, cardiovascular disease and premature death.
The treatment aims to control protein leakage (proteinuria) from the kidneys - a common symptom of chronic kidney disease.
Associate Professor Kevin Pfleger, is the Perkins Head of Molecular Endocrinology and Pharmacology, and Chief Scientific Advisor of biotechnology company Dimerix. Dimerix plans to release additional results from Phase II clinical trials of its flagship drug therapy DMX-200 in the coming months.
DMX-200 was generated from the groundbreaking Receptor-Heteromer Investigation Technology (Receptor-HIT) developed in Perkins laboratories and assigned to Dimerix in 2006.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently validated the Receptor-HIT screening technology as important in understanding and identifying new treatments.
DMX-200 combines two existing drugs; a blocker compound used for its anti-inflammatory properties and a hormone blocker used for the treatment of high blood pressure and diabetic kidney disease.
Associate Professor Pfleger says these blocker compounds were selected due to finding a functional interaction between the receptors they bind to in kidney cells.
"These findings have been published in the scientific journal PLoS One, validated in preclinical models by colleagues at St Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne, and have led to the Phase II clinical trials" Associate Professor Pfleger says.
Associate Professor Pfleger says the drug therapy has the potential to treat other conditions such as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a form of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which affects an estimated 6 million people in the US and currently has no established treatment.
Associate Professor Pfleger was recently awarded the prestigious Novartis Prize of the British Pharmacological Society for his outstanding work in medical research, and will receive the prize this month in London.


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Screenshot Friday
29 Jan 2010 12 Comments
in Screenshot Friday Tags: Screenshot Friday
12 Comments (+add yours?)
Hmmm….trying to think of a comment that fits with current comments so far….but I cannot see anything dirty about the screenshot. Besides rivs has it nicely covered lol.
- Trackback: Weekend Lagout « A High Latency Life


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Personal Branding
Recently I was working with a start up software company where the lead developer wouldn't pick up the phone to answer his first (and to date, only) paying customer.
You may say that "user experience" is not branding. You can be sure the "brand identity," "mission statement" or "company values" got back to the client, loud and clear.
Brand Identity
We all have an idea what branding is...but how does it work?
If someone pays 140 dollars for Nike, when a similar thing from another Chinese sweatshop with a different name on it costs 20 dollars, with no 7x performance improvement for the user, then something else is being purchased - identifying yourself with the attributes of the product - even if you've never played basketball.
But what are the attributes - an attribute is something conferred upon rather than intrinsic to something. An attribute is not quite a property "of" something. The locus of evaluation is external. What I mean here is that the sneakers didn't make Michael Jordan, "Jordan," When you wear Air Jordans, you "represent."
Note: In the UK "Jordan" is someone else entirely; less basket, more balls (equally well branded).
I'm not so sure the people who buy these sneakers make logical distinctions, so I'm not going to either...which means the "purchase decision" is not entirely logical. Branding is a heuristic - a mental shortcut or shorthand.
Lets say I buy an i phone. Is it really a better phone? The people who shell out 700 dollars for one, swear blind it is! Camera, internet, phone - all debatable whether the overall quality validates the purchase price. Maybe they're buying into something?
"It used to be a better meal. Now its a better life!" Jerry Maguire (1996)
I would call this "crowdthink," - accepting external group values, sublimating one's choices to the will of a consensus that comes from outside. A similar term "groupthink" (Janis 1972) refers to how members of a group tend to rationally conform to the group norm. Crowdthink dispenses with initial rationality.
We go a step further here, my crowdthinker will justify values that have an external locus as his or her own, first emoting and then rationalizing a supporting argument.
You're getting the drift here, McDonalds, Coke, all the rest - "the household names," market themselves as "being of a consistent quality, *whether that be bad or good in comparison with competiton is not the point. I'm not saying that company advertising is accepted carte blanche, but that "perception" meets customer "expectation." Expectation is malleable. Advertising shapes it.
*Ryanair had the customer service of warm doggie doo do for many years, until some brightspark at the company decided, there was no cost/benefit in shrieking at people like cattle - very catholic Ireland though. The point here is customers accepted groundstaff going batshit at "extra baggage" as a "cost" of the cheap airfare.
I'm getting a bit deep with this topic, so we will parachute out :) for today.
Here is a nice link.
Key point...
In a world of unlimited choices - decisions are often made in advance of the thinking.
Branding is a tool you use to deliver the kind of consistent experience your customer expects. You build the "expectation" through advertising "consistent quality."


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Prestera 98DX83XX Ethernet Switch Family
The Marvell® Prestera® 98DX83xx multi-layer Ethernet switch devices are a new generation of highly-integrated and cost effective packet processors optimized for campus Access Switches and for LAN and Wi-Fi 802.11ac Wave2 Access Point Aggregation. The 98DX83xx family is also optimized for high speed embedded connectivity applications such as eDrive and blade Servers and for radio base stations connectivity.
Key Features
- Up to 32 Multi-Rate FlexLink ports supporting 10/5/2.5/1GbE
- Up to eight 40GbE ports
- Up to eight 25GbE ports using Marvell's 88X5113 Gearbox PHY
- Layer-2 320Gbps Wire-Speed Switching Engine
- Unified Architecture for LAN and Wi-Fi aggregation
- Virtual Overlay Network
- Low Power
- SERDES Test Capabilities
Target Applications
- Enterprise and Campus 10/5/2.5/1GbE Access and Aggregation Switch
- 10GbE embedded connectivity in blade servers and eDrive
- 10GbE Radio base station connectivity
- SMB Managed, smart and unmanaged 10 GbE switches for Internet cafe and Gaming
- Storage and server connectivity in the private cloud


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Words containing glege
Found 3 words containing glege. Browse our Scrabble Word Finder, Words With Friends cheat dictionary, and WordHub word solver to find words that contain glege. Or use our Unscramble word solver to find your best possible play!
- Scrabble
- Words With Friends
- WordHub
- Crossword


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We can help maximize your cash flow and meet your business' ever-changing needs. From traditional small business savings accounts to money market accounts and health savings, we have the convenient, flexible options to meet the needs of your business both now and in the future.
Looking for a home? Enjoy our special financing offer!
No matter how complex or basic your business' banking needs are


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Vendor Details:
Vendors Website
NOTE: Plateau was bought by Success Factors which was then in turn bought by SAP. The vendor's website link now points to the Success Factors website.
Plateau appears to be mainly a Talent Management system with LMS capabilities added on.
Known Issues:
Several users on the Adobe Captivate forum have reported issues trying to get Captivate content to run on Plateau. There seem to be a number of unique reasons for this.
Check this very useful thread where a user reports five necessary steps to use to ge their Captivate project to work on Plateau.
These steps are:
- Don't have spaces in your module file names otherwise Plateau will not work properly. The spaces cause broken links. Use underscores to separate words in the Captivate publishing title field so that the generated SCORM files have no spaces in filenames.
- Set the Quiz Preferences as shown under Captivate settings below.
- Set the LMS Manifest settings to have a duration as shown in the settings screenshot below. Without this duration data, some LMSs will throw an error, while others will tolerate it without issue.
- DO NOT allow the Plateau LMS to use Livelink zip utility when downloading the Captivate 5 files for posting to the LMS. Apparently this compression utility adds an extra extension on each file which then breaks the links between files and prevents the content from displaying properly. (E.g. it adds an extra js on the end of JavaScript files, thus making standard.js turn out as standard.js.js and breaking the link in the HTM file that plays the Captivate SWF content.)
- Test in several browsers as they tend to vary in how they behave.
Captivate Settings:
These screenshots show the recommended settings for Plateau:
Quiz Settings:
Manifest Settings
Joeb (not verified)
Mon, 04/02/2012 - 13:56
Plateau Learning misstatement
Step 5 says to configure your content object as "credit upon launch". If you do that then there's no reason to use SCORM since launch, not completion, gives credit. I do not check credit upon launch when using AICC/SCORM. Also, I would test this on IE and Firefox because browsers behave differently, and document which one works best for your content.
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MJR (not verified)
Mon, 04/23/2012 - 14:56
Plateau 5.5 SP3 and Captivate 5.5 Bookmarking Issue
I found this post while researching an issue I am having with Plateau (now Success Factors) and Captivate 5.5.
We recently upgraded to Captivate 5.5 and I am now having trouble getting a course to bookmark properly. I have followed all settings that we (successfully) used in Captivate 5.0, but we are no longer getting bookmarking to work and even though the course is set to not mark credit upon launch, it is. I originally used Plateau's SCORM import process and have tried recreating the Content Object multiple times with no success.
Details are - We are on Plateau v5.8 sp3. The course was originally a powerpoint, that I imported into Captivate 5.0, but was in the process of getting 5.5, so updated it to 5.5, added a couple of "graded" questions (but don't assign any points- as we don't care if they "pass" this or not). I've confirmed all of my publish settings are noted as the same as the ones above, I've also added the duration noted to the Manifest Settings but that didn't seem to affect it either, everything I try continues to give a credit upon launch without bookmarking. I need this course to be "touch every page" and with bookmarking capability.
Any help or suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated. I am about to revert to a colleague to rebuild in Captivate5 if I can't find a solution soon... THANKS!
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Week #24 – Fantastic patterns
This 'week' we just decided to go for some really fantastic patterns. Just a bold colour with freehand black patterns over the top.
And with a POWDER GRADIENT contrast nail.
Here we opted not to cover the crystals with a top coat and therefore many of the were lost in the battles of everyday life, as you can see below.
We are quite into these but it is not the extravaganza we had dreamed of. Dreaming bigger for the future. You know. Soon photography standards will return to normal as well, you will all be relieved to know.
Week #23 – 3Ds
More experimentation with pretty basic 3D techniques (Poundland crystals, in fact).
The main difficulty here is whether to top coat over the crystals. If you do, they stay on for weeks but they loose their sparkly-ness as the top coat smooths over all the facets. If you just glue the crystals to a finished nail and leave it at that, they might stay on for two or three days. YOUR CALL.
Above, crystals without top coat.
Above, with top coat over crystals.
The difference is far more pronounced than it appears in these shitty phone photos. Apologies for this also; temporarily lack decent photography solutions!
You know you've seen more exciting nails on this blog. It is what it is.
Week #22 – Eye of Horus
Today I have finally got round to two designs I have been thinking of for a while.
One is this rope/plait/chain type thing, which I have done on top of a Barry M 'Instant Nail Effects' cracked-effect colour.
The other is the Eye of Horus, an important symbol which I have borrowed from Egyptian myth. Eyes, triangles and motifs like this are zeitgeisty in nail art at the moment thanks to Sophy Robson. Also, Madonna at the Super Bowl and Rihanna at Hackney Weekend have both added an Ancient World flavour to their much-talked-about performances.
I have enhanced the eyes with nail art jewels from Poundland.
The second 8 in a row. These work well. Into the chains, but they probably would stand out more with a less messy background. Alternating black and white might be nice. It was also hard to draw the black outlines and detail on the chains after covering the wet gold paint with glitter, but these are the challenges we face in life.
You can see these nails in motion below:
Week #19 – HOW TO: Real pressed flowers
Just when you think you are running out of ideas of ways to pimp your directional nails: pressed flowers. We had this idea wondering the city streets and marvelling at all the spring blossom (most of which is gone now), but blossom from trees is, in the main, way too large to be pressed onto a nail.
Forget-me-nots, however are perfect! Directional! Editorial!
Step #1
Pick some of the flowers (respectfully!), then separate the flower itself as much as possible from the stem and bud so that it presses as flat as possible (this is much easier on the larger flowers, but we still used a couple of small ones for variety).
Step #2
Then find as big a book as you can and put the flowers between some sheets of kitchen paper in the book, and leave to one side with added weight on top if you like. A couple of days was fine for me.
Step #3
When the flowers are dry and flat, apply two coats of your background colour to the nail, wait a minute or so for it to dry slightly. Then use tweezers to place the flowers on the nail – take care not to dent the surface of the nail polish, and if you do perhaps it can be covered with a flower?
Step #4
Finally, to keep the flowers from escaping. apply a thick coat or two of a good top coat like Seche Vite.
Important Note!
Some of the flowers did gradually go brownish over time, but I would say they only became unacceptably brown around the time I needed to do my nails again anyway (i.e. at least a week) so I wouldn't let this put you off.
The other nails are inspired by stained glass windows. The colour blocks are kind of like the glass, the and black lines are like the lead/resin-type-stuff that holds it together.
Also, we experimented further with eyes, after a successful – if slightly creepy – eye-based design in the past.
We guess the eye juxtaposed with the stained glass, and the actual flowers of God's creation is kind of human wonderment at perception of the divine or something.
We like this and will probably be re-using all these techniques in new combinations in the future. The stained glass window nails could have been a little neater, however.
Celebrity Contrast Nails: Joan Rivers and Sharon Needles
Well, well, well this might just be the campest 'Celebrity Contrast Nails' post so far, with two inspirational figures from overseas recently championing the contrast cause.
Our previous heroes have included of course, Kelly Rowland, Serena Williams and Cher Lloyd.
Now obviously these days you can't so much as get on the underground without spying a contrast nail nestling somewhere, BUT that doesn't mean we shouldn't keep our eyes peeled, as the gruesome saying goes, for the next big thing…
The next big thing for Joan Rivers seems to be the contrast nail being the ONLY pass-remarkable nail. Why paint ten when you can paint two? A thought-provoking look, and unquestionably a time-saving one. After all, this is a woman who constantly jokes about her proximity to death. We can see why she would opt for this.
We can't score highly because at the end of the day, we all know this doesn't pack much of a punch. But it makes sense. And if you're only painting two nails, all the better that they be in this classy shade of blue which is both electric, but still dark enough to go with anything. She knows what she's doing.
Now the VERY interesting case of Sharon Needles's manicure. This is the man who is almost certainly about to win drag queen reality competition RuPaul's Drag Race. Sharon seems to have taken inspiration from the pink, and black'n'white check that has long characterised the promotional shots and opening credits of the show. And, indeed, so did we. A long time ago.
Now we're not saying Sharon has had a bit of a google and copied Best City Nails.
But stranger things have happened.
As we (very generously) awarded our own original RuPaul nails a slightly ridiculous 7/10 it seems only fair Sharon gets a solid
As she has swapped the pink and the check round, so the check is more dominant – as well as it being a finer design.
Just like Joan Rivers, Sharon has thought practically about this; unlike my experience over the past week or so of gong around with garish Easter nails, these colours will go with all the looks she has to do in the course of an episode without her nails ever looking unkempt. It's a win/win (and she will probably win).
Our main criticism is that they could stand to be a fair bit longer, in case they need re-purposing as a weapon of self-defence against the poisonous, childish, boring, and slightly racist Phi Phi O'Hara.
Week #13 – Happy New Nails! Masking tape adventures…
Seems ridiculous, as masking tape is such a staple in the word of intermediate-level home-manicures, but this is our first foray into masking tape fun.
What do you call this look anyway? It's not Cubism? Art deco? Geometric? Dunno what it is exactly but it's lookin fressshhhhhhhhhhhhh
SOME TIPS: See that pink colour and that purple colour? They're actually the same, but just with the black or white base showing through SO, maybe it would be better to start with all the nails the same colour to avoid unexpected variety and/or use good quality, thick-texture varnishes, not like me at CheapSkate City.
The nails look a lot better in the top photo which used a flash, and they look at lot better in real life, but I feel I can put the masking tape technique to better use, I feel the gold stripes are a bit too thick AND there are a couple of vexing imperfections (that terrible whisker of white on the index finger could easily be edited out, but these photos are all bona fide and honest so you can join me in my quest for excellence).
And DON'T FORGET I have added these new special buttons to make it easy for you all to TWEET, FACEBOOK AND TUMBLR Best City Nails. SHARE THIS SHIT.
Week #12 – Eyes on the Prize, Violet…
This week the nails involved a repeat of Week #11's psychedelia, a glitter nail, a pattern a bit like the nets tangerines come in, half-moons, topical glitter use, and EYES.
Many of us are of course familiar with the eyeball manicure popularised by London's WAH Nails:
Picture: WAH nails
Here, as you can see, the concept works well as the nails are, more or less, quite a round shape so each nail is a WHOLE round, bloodshot eyeball.
Well here at B' City Nails we don't have too much time for nails this short, and it didn't take us long to realise this would look shite on us, like an eyeball on widescreen.
We ended up painting two eyes, and even the make-up around the eyes, too. This was quite a nice look, but may take some time to perfect.
I am buying better brushes and pens soon, also, so stay posted for some product-based posts cos it has got to the stage now where my cheap-o tools are holding me back!
ANYWAY here's the new nails, eyes n'all.
Both thumb nails broke recently so their inclusion in the photo (although they were painted) would ruin life.
I feel I have been marking myself too generously recently, and 2012 is the Year of Brutality after all. Not good enough will simply not be good enough, this year! I have decided I can't fault the design of this manicure, each nail works great with the next one, etc. But the execution is just a bit too wonky for higher marks, and I am not 100% committed to that green glitter half-moon, either.