I have sinusitis this morning so I used neti pot to clean it with tap water. When I told it to my friend who lives in Florida, he said I shouldn’t do that because brain eating ameoba may enter my body. Now I am anxious, are there record of brain eating ameoba cases here in tokyo? it is 97% fatal so I am really scared. Currently I am observing my body if I some symptoms will appear but since it is only today it will not appear for sure
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100%
A quick google search showed me that there was only 1 case in Japan between 1996~2019 and that happened in 1996 where a 25yo old woman died because of this. I think you are ok. Just don’t drink or use water from public parks.
Extremely safe, but keep in mind that it is riddled with chlorine and therefore very harsh on sensitive hair and skin.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/neup.12582
There were 24 cases in Japan between 1976 and 2018, and only 2 of those were in Tokyo.
It’s very unlikely to be found in tap water, and the more likely route of infection in Japan is hot springs or public baths.
Water in Tokyo is pretty safe to drink though i doesn’t taste very good
I’ll let you in on a little secret: the water they bring you at restaurants is tap water. Sometimes they put lemon in it or mix it with tea, to make it taste better, but it’s still tapwater nonetheless. If it were dangerous, people would be dying by the thousands, which is not the case.
The water in Japan (also in parks) is of drinking water quality, of course. Water for nasal rinses should always be boiled for at least 5 minutes to be perfectly save. I do this. Alternatively, you can use bottled water.
That said, the chance of getting infected with these amoebae, even without boiling the water, is – as others have already mentioned – extremely low. Whether you want to take the risk or not is your decision.
However, the probability that you have been infected by rinsing with tap water just once…. is really close to zero! So don’t worry about it!
First of all, your friend don’t even live here.
If it’s not safe, it would already be in the news. Significant number of people drink Tokyo’s tap water everyday. Any dangerous stuff in it would have led to mass death. Saw this kind of question every month. Stop worrying about it people.
You’re joking right? Please tell me you’re joking.
Opps OP wasn’t joking is already brain dead (I’d love to throw a Brain Dead quote in but cannot for the life of me think of an appropriate one and I’m not going to Google such a classic film).
Perfectly safe. May not taste all that great, although that’s personal preference.
To put it in perspectve – you are far, far more likely to die walking to the train station.
The fact that USA is consider a 1st world country with this kind of ignorance never ceased to amaze me.
Every single person I know who used neti pots is pretty adamant about only using boiled water for this particular reason.
Tap water is safe to drink and you’ll be fine from using it this time. However I’d you choose to neti pot more you should begin to use distilled water.
As far as I know, all of kitchen sinks have filters. I changed mine last month
Tap water in Tokyo is so clean and purified that it used to be bottled in PET bottles and sold as is. (However, there is a possibility of contamination if the water pipes in buildings have deteriorated.
Everybody seems to be a subject expert on everything. If it was really a major issue, the company would have been sued already for not putting a disclaimer on its product.
Sounds like a typical racist Florida resident.
Highly unlikely. If you’re really worried, you can use this stuff. https://www.kobayashi.co.jp/brand/hananoa/sp/
It’s not guaranteed to make you as happy as the guy on the ad, but it does help with my hay fever.
Regardless of country, you should always boil the water first before using it in a Nettie pot. Or just buy some distilled water and use that.
The lining of your nose and sinuses is considerably more permeable and sensitive than your throat and stomach. You should absolutely never take tap water—or, indeed, ANYTHING—up your nose.
If you insist on using a neti pot, use distilled water. If that’s not possible, use water that’s been boiled for at least 15 minutes (and then cooled down, obviously).
You can also breathe in steam, as that’s generally pure water vapor, and the heat also helps ease sinus pressure. Don’t burn yourself.
I would filter / boil any tap water you’re using to clean sinuses, regardless of how many people on reddit tell you it’s fine.
next time you can buy ハナノア from any drugstore for your peace of mind
That’s a thing in Florida lakes, not in tap water, and not in Japan. Your friend got you trippin over the wrong kind of water.
Your “friend who lives in Florida” is an expert on Tokyo tap water all of a sudden?
No water from any tap anywhere is safe enough to use in a neti pot without being boiled. The issue isn’t so much the water supply itself as the fact that it passes through a non-sterile environment on the way to the pot. It’s totally safe to drink but using it for sinus irrigation gives what would otherwise be harmless bacteria an express route to places you don’t want them to be in.