Nose Douching for Sinus Problem

In this section, we shall learn about nose douching or washing to solve our sinus problem. Sinus problems include runny nose or blocked nose. Sinus infection is difficult to cure, so you have to see your ear nose throat (ENT) doctor. After he cures your sinus infection, you can follow the steps below to maintain a healthy, breathable nose.

I have gone through turbinectomy and sinus surgery before. These, I realized, are just temporary solutions.

The methods described below are what I learnt from my doctors.


Method 1: The Thorough Flush

Get a small 150ml cup and a small 10ml syringe, as shown in the photo below.

Get some sodium bicarbonate powder, which is available from the pharmacy.

Mix one teaspoon full of sodium bicarbonate powder into the cup full of water. Stir to dissolve the powder completely. The solution is colourless. This solution will be used to clean your nasal cavities.

Getting the right concentration is by trial and error. Too much powder will give a hyperconcentrated sting, while too little power will give a hypoconcentrated sting, similar to the swimming pool experience.

Suck up the solution using the syringe. Tilt your head to one side over the sink, until the top of your head is pointing directly at a wall. Insert the syringe (without a needle of course), into your upper nostril. Gently pump the solution into your nose. After that, straighten your head to let the solution flow out into the sink.

Repeat for the other side, and for a few times.

When you have almost finished the sodium bicarbonate solution, gargle with the remaining solution. Sodium bicarbonate helps to dry up the mucus due to its high concentration.

Method 2: The Cheap and Easy Setup

Get a tau jior bottle, i.e. a soya sauce bottle. Get a short tube and stick it into the hole of the bottle.

Get some baking soda, which is basically sodium bicarbonate. If you are kiasu, you can use the pure sodium bicarbonate power from the pharmacy. Honestly, I have never tried it with baking soda.

Fill the bottle with sodium bicarbonate solution, as shown in the image below.

Squeeze the bottle to squirt the solution into your nostrils. Perform rapid sniffs, just like what a dog would do to find a tasty treat. This would clear up your nostrils.

Method 3: The Quick Fix

Buy the Sterimar nasal spray, as shown in the pictures below.

The good thing about this is that the concentration is just right. The solution feels like second nature to your nose. On the flip side, this solution is costly because there is not much liquid in the bottle.

Method 4: Food Control

This is not a nose douching method. However, I would say this is the easiest and most effective strategy that you and I can start doing immediately.

Most of our sinus problems are due to what we eat. We actually have food intolerances to certain food or drinks. Once we eat that particular food, we develop sinus problems like nasal congestion. It is different for everyone. You can refer to the scanned document in this link for more information.

http://picasaweb.google.com/winstonho7/FoodRestrictionTherapy#

I have already OCR-ed the document, and you can refer to the album description or the comments for easy reading.

All the best for breathing easy! =)

Winston W. L. Ho

Blood Donation

I donated blood a few days ago. This time, I volunteered to help out during the Blood Donation Drive. I chose the last time slot for my donation to make sure that I had enough energy during the day. It was a well planned, enjoyable, and fruitful event, with about 200 successful donors.

Here is the badge that I wore:

Ho Wing Long Winston

Blood Donation

I donated blood a few days ago. So far, my experiences donating blood were “No Pain, 100% Gain.” You gain the satisfaction of knowing that you save three lives.

Recently, in another part of the world, people were kept as prisoners and blood was sucked from them to sell to the hospital. When they were rescued, they didn’t even have the strength to walk. Blood is precious!

Here is my certificate:

Winston Ho Wing Long




A nice optical trick:

Give blood ... to save lives:

FAQ:

Q1. Why should one donate?
A. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYtLzXQUFXw

Q2. What impact can it have?
A. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJz7Lr80g-0

Q3. What happens if you don't donate?
A. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEkLFT8frXo =)

Tips on Palm Graffiti 2

Palm Graffiti 2 Help

Write characters as you would write English lower-case letters. Write numbers as you would write on paper.

To write continuously without pausing, draw the space and minus characters at the bottom of the input areas.

For more flexibility, refer to the table below:

Table of Graffiti 2 Alternate Strokes

We see that we can write any number with a single stroke! :-)

We can choose to use single-stroke inputs for characters {f, j, 4, and 5}.

When you are writing, look at the input areas. Only when you have finished a sentence, go back and correct any errors.

If you really wish to return to Graffiti 1, DO NOT try the much publicized method of beaming the two Graffiti 1 files onto your new handheld (e.g. TE2). It will cause your handheld to hang. You will need to do a hard reset followed by careful sychronization with the PC (“desktop overwrites handheld”). A possible handwriting solution is to try TealScript by TealPoint. Some drawbacks include the priciness and the risk of being over-reliant on the software.

For those considering whether to buy a TE2, I’ve included the Graffiti 2 help pages below as reference. It’s easy to see why many people prefer the new Graffiti 2 over the old Graffiti 1. The strokes resemble the actual character and some punctuation marks even require fewer strokes than in Graffiti 1.

Winston Ho Wing Long

Graffiti 1 to Graffiti 2

I’m just starting to use Graffiti 2 and unlearn Graffiti 1. It is truly a painful process. Somehow Graffiti 1 restricts you to a very fixed mindset.

It’s good that Graffiti 2 tries to mimic the small letters closely. However, many letters require 2 strokes, making it almost impossible write properly on buses or other moving vehicles. Thankfully, Graffiti 2 has retained the single-stroke input for characters {f, j, 4, and 5}.

Palm should come up with a new alphabet of single-stroke input based on small letters. Better still, Palm could allow users to customize their input strokes, so that people can “invent” their own shorthand.

Winston Ho Wing Long

Upgrading Palm PDA

I’ve recently upgraded my Palm m515 to a Palm Tungsten E2 (TE2). Upgrading a PDA, even if it’s from the same company, Palm, is not as easy as it seems. I had to spend hours trying to transfer all my data and get started with my TE2.

Therefore, if anyone wants to avoid hours of confusion or permanent loss of data, you should read my simple list below.

Things to remember when upgrading Palm model.

Copy and backup the whole Palm folder.

Rename “Backup” in user folder to “Backup_old.”

Uninstall Documents To Go, because it may conflict with the new Documents To Go.

Palm Desktop itself need not be uninstalled. Just uninstall it if there are any problems.

Put an empty SD card into the card slot of the new Palmtop.

If reinstalling the Palmtop, perform a hard reset.
(On TE2,
hold power button + press reset once lightly with a paper clip.
Release power button only after Palm logo appears.)

If you originally used Palm Desktop, you must complete the whole synchronization for Palm Desktop, and make sure it is working perfectly. Only switch to MS Outlook later if you wish to.

After installation, during the first hotsync, we must choose: Desktop overrides handheld. If we choose “synchronize,” the empty handheld is considered to have “deleted” all the information. Therefore the Palm Desktop correspondingly deletes all the information on the PC.

After successful installation of the new Palm,
install third party programs, one by one, from “Backup_old” folder.
Programs that have several dependent files may have to be installed completely afresh, by the normal method. It would be good to get the latest version.

If you have any comments or suggestions, about anything at all, feel free to let me know at:

An adorable and uniquely Singapore comic strip

My recent letters in The Straits Times newspaper

THE STRAITS TIMES INTERACTIVE ST FORUM

March 31, 2007
Will vanity plates be easy to decipher?

I WAS dismayed to read that the Land Transport Authority (LTA) is introducing personalised vehicle number plates.

While cameras at gantries are able to capture the alphanumeric characters, the move would make it difficult for motorists to record the vanity-plate details of offending motorists, such as hit-and-run drivers.

I hope that LTA will enlighten the public as to how it will overcome this problem, and make the number plates easy to decipher, remember and jot down.

Winston Ho Wing Long




THE STRAITS TIMES INTERACTIVE ST FORUM

April 17, 2007
What to do should you be involved in a collision

IT IS unfortunate that a dispute over a minor car collision resulted in grievous bodily harm recently ('Man badly hurt after traffic row with cabby'; ST, April 12).

To help prevent such incidents from happening, here are some pointers for motorists involved in minor road accidents:

· Record the other vehicle's licence-plate number, colour, make and model.

· Note the time and place of the accident.

· A camera to take some photos or securing witnesses' contact details would be helpful.

· If you can, exchange particulars with the other driver, but do not go out of the way to do so if the other party is uncooperative.

· Most importantly, remain calm. All cars are insured. Let the insurance companies sort out the matter.

· Make a police report only when there is bodily injury.

Dents and scratches should not be fussed over, as used cars are usually exported for sale overseas, and such dents do not affect the resale value. At most, just bear with them.

Winston Ho Wing Long

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