ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Nasal lavage is an ancient practice that still has a fundamental role in the management of sinonasal conditions. The history related to these devices is extensive and remarkable. By reviewing it, it is hoped that a broader view can be achieved on what is currently possible with nasal lavage and how advances may be made in the future. METHODS: A careful review of different sources, such as ancient manuscripts, registered patents and scientific papers, was conducted to achieve a thorough examination of the history related to nasal rinsing devices. CONCLUSION: Nasal lavage has evolved significantly since first considered for medical use and has always played a central role in the treatment of patients with sinonasal conditions. Further innovation is still necessary to surmount the shortcomings of current nasal lavage systems.
Subject(s)
Equipment Design/history , Nasal Lavage/instrumentation , Nose Diseases/therapy , Paranasal Sinuses/pathology , History, 15th Century , History, 16th Century , History, 17th Century , History, 18th Century , History, 19th Century , History, Ancient , History, Medieval , Humans , Nasal Lavage/history , Nasal Lavage Fluid , SyringesABSTRACT
In a period of only one decade in the United States, the neti pot shifted from obscure Ayurvedic health device to mainstream complementary and integrative medicine (CIM), touted by celebrities and sold widely in drug stores. We examine the neti pot as a case study for understanding how a foreign health practice became mainstreamed, and what that process reveals about more general discourses of health in the United States. Using discourse analysis of U.S. popular press and new media news (1999-2012) about the neti pot, we trace the development of discourses from neti's first introduction in mainstream news, through the hype following Dr. Oz's presentation on Oprah, to 2011 when two adults tragically died after using Naegleria fowleri amoeba-infested tap water in their neti pots. Neti pot discourses are an important site for communicative analysis because of the pot's complexity as an intercultural artifact: Neti pots and their use are enfolded into the biomedical practice of nasal irrigation and simultaneously Orientalized as exotic/magical and suspect/dangerous. This dual positioning as normal and exotic creates inequitable access for using the neti pot as a resource for increasing cultural health capital (CHC). This article contributes to work that critically theorizes the transnationalism of CIM, as the neti pot became successfully Americanized. These results have implications for understanding global health practices' incorporation or co-optation in new contexts, and the important role that popularly mediated health communication can play in framing what health care products and practices mean for consumers.
