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Bactroban Irrigations
Patient Instructions
- While this process will seem quite foreign, rest assured that most patients become accustomed to it over a brief period of time.
- Wash your hands with soap and warm water before mixing the solution and before irrigation.
- Squirt 1/2 of the 15 gram tube of Bacroban ointment into the one liter bottle of saline (salt water) and tightly cap the bottle. The ointment is water soluble so it will dissolve....eventually. Let the bottle sit at room temperature, shaking it occasionally until the ointment is dissolved. Keep the solution refrigerated after it has been mixed. It is not necessary to refrigerate the other bottles until they have been opened.
- When you are ready to do the irrigations, pour out a small amount of the solution into a clean bowl and let it come to room temperature over 10 - 15 minutes. Do not microwave the solution.
- Draw the solution into the bulb and squirt it into your nose as forcefully as you can without causing pain. To minimize the amount that goes into your throat, stand upright over a sink. (Some patients prefer to do the irrigations in the shower.) One to three good squirts should be sufficient on each side, depending upon how much mucus is flushed out.
- Keep the bulb in a clean place. Twice a week, flush it out in a sink with 1 part chlorine bleach and 100 parts warm water. (Alternatively, a half-strength Betadine® solution can be used.)
- Call with any questions or concerns.
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St. Joseph's Ear, Nose & Throat Clinic • Thomas R. deTar, MD • M. Erik Gilbert, MD
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