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Did you use saline? You're supposed to use saline because it helps "dry" the sinuses i think...
My friend swears by the neti pot, but my sis has only had mixed results. I kind of find it gross (no offense of course!) so I can't speak personally.
I LOVE my netti pot! You need to make sure that your head is tilted to the side enough. If it doesn't work through one nostral, try the other one. If you're REALLY filled up, you may need to do it more than once. It takes a bit to get used to the feeling. Also, when you're all finished and you have the gross feeling of water triping from your nose to your mouth, sniff that water back up into your nose because the saline will help break things down in your sinuses.
... sorry, I totally wasn't clear. I did use the saline solution. It is totally a trippy feeling! The guy at the pharmacy said it felt like when you do a backflip underwater and it felt EXACTLY like that.
I think I'll go try it again, this time with feeling...
my aunt (a doctor) told me that you can't just use it once a day, it takes multiple rounds a day to actually do anything. then you have to follow it up with a spray like afrin.
sometimes i like the way it feels because it's nice and warm. i hate the way it tastes when i accidentally get some in my mouth/throat. yuck.
i have the pot and the spray bottle. the spray bottle is way more intense because you control the pressure!
I have never used one but my mom LOVES LOVES hers.
I'm sorry it didn't work for you :(
Maybe it just works for some and not others?
I have one and I used it like a year ago and I felt like I was drowning so I hadn't used it until like a week ago and I have been using it every day and I dont have any allergies anymore right now. I dont know if it all has to do with the neti pot but i have to say I am now officially a neti-pot head lol
My mom uses one. She tried to get me to use it the last time I was sick. I told her I was too scared of it :)
Oh yeah, you do have to do it like three times a day or so. I forgot about that.
The first time I used one when I was REALLY congested, I couldn't get the water to run through either. Try to do it in the shower with a lot of steam when you are all loosened up. Its really more of a preventative thing than a help solve a cold thing. It helps with my allergies so they don't turn into a sinus infection.
Yeah they feel disgusting. They say that if you are completely congested up, you shouldn't use one. If you're that congested you basically can't get much up there anyways! I've used Afrin when I'm seriously desperate. Nettis are gross but effective (my dr said they've proven to be more effective than anything at staving off sinus infections, which i get like nobody's business) so thanks for reminding me i need to use it to clean out the germs in my nose cuz i've been on sudafed for 4 days and starting to feel "it". I don't know that it does much for you once you ARE sick but i know it helps stave it off
My Dr. just recommended it a few weeks ago. I really liked it and didn't think it was gross at all. Then again, in the motherland we basically do the same thing but with regular water and our hands, so the Netipot was actually an improvement :)
@KMSull: good luck figuring it out :)
The netti pot is the at home version of a nasal lavage at the doctor's office. For some types of nasal congestion, it won't work. Some types of nasal congestion are caused by swelling of the sinus, and irrigation won't fix it. You need to take an NSAID like ibuprofen instead. But the netti pot is awesome for sinus infections and after a bloody nose!
There are mixed results with them- if you have severe congestion most Drs will tell you to try ibuprofen and an antihistamine before trying the netti pot. The Netti Pot is more preventive from what I understand. Maybe that's why it didn't work? My two cents.
In the summer I can't function without my neti pot. We don't have grass in the backyard... just dirt and pine needles. I get the worst dust bunnies you've ever seen. So, yeah, I love my neti pot. I can see why it didn't work for you though. You need to do it when your sinuses are somewhat clear.
I SWEAR by my Netti Pot!! My mom is a nurse practitioner and she turned me onto it as a non-medicated treatment/preventative for my chronic sinus issues.
Regarding the saline (salt and water) solution: You should NEVER just use plain WATER in the Netti Pot. The Salt is added to the water to form a saline solution that is naturally found in your body. (Just like you would never pump straight water into your veins, but you can with a saline solution). However, if you are using the saline packets that come with the pot, you can start with just a partial pack and work up to the full pack. At first it's a LOT and it can sting. I started using just half , then 3/4 then worked up to a full pack - but it took a while.
Also, make sure you are using tepid/room temperature water. Many times if I wait too long to use my netti pot and I am too congested, the water cannot even make it through my nasal cavaties to drip out the other side - it's just too plugged up in there. Like previous posters have said, try taking Ibuprofen (a natural anti-inflammatory) - this will open up your swollen nasal cavaties and allow the saline solution to travel through them, clearing out all of the mucus that is sitting in there (creating infection). My mom told me it is really good to us it at night right before bed to clear out all that mucus. Apparently, one of the major times that infection occurs in our sinuses is during our sleep since we are sleeping and the mucus pools in our sinuses...
Sorry if this is TMI - but the education my Mom has given me on this has changed my life!
LOVE LOVE LOVE the Netti Pot! Like the others have said, take some motrin and then try it again. If you must use a nasal spray, just use a saline spray. The others (like afrin mentioned above) can make things worse. Once you get the hang of it and use it regularly, you will love it too!
What do you mean it didn't work?
Do you mean that it didn't come out the other nostril? Or that it went up into your "head"?
I use one all the time and I love it.
It you are SUPER stuffy. ...you will often have to do it a few times over and over again until it goes thru. Just do one side and the other.....a few times
Also..you shouldn't ever have it go up into your head like when you get water up your nose in the pool. If you are, your head is tilted to far forward. Make sure your head is balanced so it isn't going down your throat or up your nose This just takes some practice.
Also, use warm, not hot water......that hurts! haha
Good luck..keep using it. It really works!
I love mine, but it took me several times to both get used to the feeling and to feel like it was working.
I love my netti pot. I got my FI hooked, too. We both use it whenever we feel stuffy and it works great! It did take a few times to get used to using it and to make sure we were using it correctly. Yeah, if you are super stuffy, you may have to use it several times before you get relief and definitely try an ibuprofen beforehand.
I've found using warmer water, and doing it in the shower helps. I have the pot, but have been meaning to try the bottle instead. I also like to follow up with afrin sometimes. Really, the best thing in the world is a breath right strip - but, that could be because I have a seriously deviated septum (somehow worse after a surgery to fix it, and to enlarge my sinuses). For reals though, neti pot + afrin +breathe right strips from costco blow my mind. Don't use afrin all the time though, only when necessarily! good luck!
I looooove my neti pot. That thing works miracles.
I'm also super gross so I get a huge kick out of seeing the crud that comes out of my nostrils. 
Love it so much. Here are my top tips.
1. Relax. If you are nervous you're more likely to get that "omg i think im drowning" sensation.
2. Breathe through your mouth.
3. Use the squeeze bottle rather than then traditional genie-like bottle. I started with the genie-style and it worked but was more difficult...when I switched to the upright squeeze bottle it was a life changing experience! Worked better, more quickly, and more easily!
I use the Neilmed sinus rinse kit, I like the bottle more than the pot. They also sell saline in pressurized cans that might help if you aren't into squirting water up your nose:)
There is this hot pepper nose spray that works wonders (not as bad as you'd think!)... https://www.sinusbuster.com/
Also 3 way nasal spray works well and it does not create a dependency (where you get stuffy/worse the second you stop using it).
Good luck!
I love my netti pot! I used to get sinus infections several times a year, but now I netti pot every day and it is so much better! My day to day allergy congestion (which I never had before I moved to LA) is so much better too =) Try using room temperature water and an 1/8th of a teaspoon of table salt (no need to buy the specialty salt they sell)
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.. or any other system where you pour water through your sinuses? Holy cow, I just did one and it was INTENSE! Also, it didn't work. I'm still super congested. Anyone got any ideas why it didn't work? I've been sworn up and down that it works... but it didn't.