bluebanded goby
Contributor
Hi Larry, I think (for what it's worth as a layperson/diver) that all of the concerns you raise are valid ones. A couple of comments in reply:
-- I don't think that Clear-Ease is anything like a proprietary formula that requires you to go to Dr. Grossan's company to obtain. One can buy bromelain and papain tablets in any health food store. I gather that Dr. Grossan's main contribution was to suggest the efficacy of absorption through the tissues of the mouth rather than via the digestive tract. Re the dates in his bibliography, I'd volunteer the comment that from having met him he's getting on in years, and so the bibliography may reflect the main era when he was working on this (1970s-'80s). Having said all that, though, I have add that after trying Clear-Ease extensively for my own sinus situation, its effect, if any, is too subtle for me to detect.
-- Re the use of a Water Pik for nasal lavage, Dr. Grossan (and others) sell attachments designed for this purpose. He makes it clear that you should definitely not try to do this with the standard attachment that comes with the off-the-shelf Water Pik. His advocacy of the procedure is based in part on the idea that the device's pulsation rate corresponds to the vibrational rate of nasal cilia. I'll be honest and say that I find this concept farfetched. Based on my own experience with it, the device does seem to get water farther back into the sinuses than other nasal lavage methods (spray bottles, neti pots, etc). But I think you probably run the risk of irritating tissues by excessive pressure if you don't set the device appropriately. I still use it occasionally (with the Water Pik on a very low setting), but I tend to rely more on spray bottles and a neti pot to get water through my sinuses. All of my doctors and ENTs endorse the basic notion of this for sinus health.
-- On the general topic of treatments from the health-food store, I try as a layperson to exercise judgment. I'm well-aware that "natural" isn't necessarily better, and health-store supplements can do bad things to you. On the other hand, I also note that my family practitioner with a fairly conservative HMO now recommends a few health-food-store-type supplements that I don't think he would have five years ago. So I don't take the mere fact that a self-treatment or product is from the natural or herbal world as either a ringing endorsement or damning fact. As a health consumer I try to stay neutral, gather information extensively and experiment very cautiously.
One of the challenges in trying and evaluating various self-treatments for sinus issues is that, among the many prescription and non-prescription treatments I rattled off, the effects of the great majority of them have been very subtle in my case. Since I only dive every few weeks and only encounter symptoms when I dive, it's hard to do a full-up empirical test to really determine what works and what doesn't.
At any rate, as I mentioned at the outset I do understand all of your concerns. I especially appreciate your mention of the fact that the fruit enzymes are close to meat tenderizer. Gives me pause in thinking about using up the rest of the bottle I have on hand! ;-)
-- I don't think that Clear-Ease is anything like a proprietary formula that requires you to go to Dr. Grossan's company to obtain. One can buy bromelain and papain tablets in any health food store. I gather that Dr. Grossan's main contribution was to suggest the efficacy of absorption through the tissues of the mouth rather than via the digestive tract. Re the dates in his bibliography, I'd volunteer the comment that from having met him he's getting on in years, and so the bibliography may reflect the main era when he was working on this (1970s-'80s). Having said all that, though, I have add that after trying Clear-Ease extensively for my own sinus situation, its effect, if any, is too subtle for me to detect.
-- Re the use of a Water Pik for nasal lavage, Dr. Grossan (and others) sell attachments designed for this purpose. He makes it clear that you should definitely not try to do this with the standard attachment that comes with the off-the-shelf Water Pik. His advocacy of the procedure is based in part on the idea that the device's pulsation rate corresponds to the vibrational rate of nasal cilia. I'll be honest and say that I find this concept farfetched. Based on my own experience with it, the device does seem to get water farther back into the sinuses than other nasal lavage methods (spray bottles, neti pots, etc). But I think you probably run the risk of irritating tissues by excessive pressure if you don't set the device appropriately. I still use it occasionally (with the Water Pik on a very low setting), but I tend to rely more on spray bottles and a neti pot to get water through my sinuses. All of my doctors and ENTs endorse the basic notion of this for sinus health.
-- On the general topic of treatments from the health-food store, I try as a layperson to exercise judgment. I'm well-aware that "natural" isn't necessarily better, and health-store supplements can do bad things to you. On the other hand, I also note that my family practitioner with a fairly conservative HMO now recommends a few health-food-store-type supplements that I don't think he would have five years ago. So I don't take the mere fact that a self-treatment or product is from the natural or herbal world as either a ringing endorsement or damning fact. As a health consumer I try to stay neutral, gather information extensively and experiment very cautiously.
One of the challenges in trying and evaluating various self-treatments for sinus issues is that, among the many prescription and non-prescription treatments I rattled off, the effects of the great majority of them have been very subtle in my case. Since I only dive every few weeks and only encounter symptoms when I dive, it's hard to do a full-up empirical test to really determine what works and what doesn't.
At any rate, as I mentioned at the outset I do understand all of your concerns. I especially appreciate your mention of the fact that the fruit enzymes are close to meat tenderizer. Gives me pause in thinking about using up the rest of the bottle I have on hand! ;-)
