All due respect to my old Navage unit – it helped a lot for three and a half years – but the SinuPulse is so much easier and more economical to use, and far more effective. I’ve only used the SinuPulse for two days now, and maybe it’s just coincidence, but I slept a solid eight hours last night for the first time in I can’t remember when. Not to mention I’m breathing so much freer already and can actually smell things again.
Differences between the two units:
— The Navage has four plastic sections that have to be snapped together and then taken apart again after each use. Even after 400+ uses, this assembly and disassembly never became smooth or “automatic” for me. I had to stop and think every time about which direction each section turned, being careful to get them snapped tight without breaking them. BY CONTRAST, the SinuPulse has only has the nasal wand and water reservoir to worry about, both of which easily attach in seconds with no undue pressure or snapping.
— There’s a significant learning curve with Navage, which requires you to stand up straight while holding the entire unit in front of your face, while keeping your head and the unit level, while pressing the On button with your thumb, while looking straight forward, while breathing through your mouth, while, oh yeah, trying to peek around it at the mirror to make sure everything was still level. BY CONTRAST, the main SinuPulse unit sits on the counter and you’re only handling the light weight nasal wand while bending over the sink. No concern about anything being “level,” or about getting water all over your front and on the floor if there’s a “leak.” (Navage can leak if the nose pillow attachment isn’t pushed in tight enough, if the O-rings slip, if the nose pillows aren’t inserted into your nose far enough, or if they’re inserted too far, or if they’re blocked by the inner nasal wall.)
— The Navage reservoir holds only 1 cup of saline solution per session, which never did it for me. Meaning I had to remove the catch reservoir, dump and reattach it, refill the water reservoir and insert another salt pod to continue a second time. BY CONTRAST, the SinuPulse reservoir holds 2-1/2 cups of saline solution and can be refilled on the fly as many times as you need.
— Navage requires the use of their own salt pods, which are expensive. In three years I spent enough on salt pods to buy 5 SinuPulse units, which BY CONTRAST can be used with an inexpensive homemade saline solution.
— The motorized Navage section can only be cleaned by holding it under the tap and running warm water into a small hole leading into the chamber, being very careful not to get the bottom wet where the batteries are inserted. But, honestly, what little I could see inside the unit or reach with a pipe cleaner, I always wondered how clean it really got. I.e. Was there gunk building up inside that I couldn’t see or reach, and was I was running the risk of giving myself an infection? BY CONTRAST, the SinuPulse is flushed under pressure by running plain warm water through the reservoir and hose after every use, and I like that it can be flushed periodically with a vinegar or bleach solution to disinfect.
— Navage is battery operated. BY CONTRAST the SinuPulse is electric, and thankfully it’s a standard direct plugin rather than one of those power “box” plugins that take up the entire outlet.
Desperate for relief from sinus headaches, aching teeth and feeling stuffed up all the time, I bought the Navage after seeing numerous television commercials, and I’ll give it credit that it did help a lot. But I’ve always found Navage a bit awkward to use, so when it started going gunnybag a few weeks ago (leaking like a sieve despite all the troubleshooting recommendations), I did some research and decided to try the SinuPulse. And I’m really, really, really glad I did.
P.S. Several reviewers have mentioned how “noisy” the SinuPulse is. It is somewhat noisy, though not nearly as noisy as my electric water flosser. And for five minutes a day I wouldn’t care if it was as noisy as a power saw, considering how well it works.