Herbal Sinus Treatment Products- Are They For Real?

by Walt Ballenberger

I recently wrote an article about an herbal sinus treatment product called “Joe Johnson’s Sinus Doctor Sinus Treatment” (note- Joe Johnson is not a doctor. He calls his product Sinus Doctor to presumably put some credibility in the title). A prominent ENT wrote me an email after reading the article and responded thusly:

“Walt, how come in the pictures of the testimonials from these miracle natural herbal products, the people always look so utterly handsome, healthy and especially happy. I wish my patients were that happy (and handsome).

Still the best is Bora Bora juice. This

is picked by nubile virgins under the full moon of Bora Bora. It is recommended for ingrown toenails, as a hair shampoo, as a bath oil, as a skin softener, as a cure for baldness, itching, coughing, sneezing, Gastric Distress as well as Marital Distress.” So you can see this ENT does not care much for herbal sinus treatment products. Below are some additional comments on the subject.

It seems that the problem with herbal sinus treatment products is that there is no science behind them, just a lot of hype. The only “proof” is comments from people saying how much it has helped them, if you can believe the comments came from a real person. If that is true, then fine. If someone really feels that the herbal concoction has really helped them, what’s the harm in that? I would first find out from your ENT, however, if the product is likely to cause harmful side effects.

In general, real medications come from serious laboratories run by serious researchers. I’m talking about people with advanced degrees and professional experience in the field. Their results are obtained by performing statistically significant tests and their results are subject to peer review. The herbal products, on the other hand, are typically “discovered” by a non-degreed “sinus expert”. There is one product on the market that was “discovered” by a person who was appearing on the Oprah Winfrey show. He got pepper up his nose or something like that, and thus the product was “discovered”.

Is that supposed to be serious sinus research? I know a sinus sufferer, however, who uses the product, and he says he thinks it helps. Again, I’m OK with that. People are free to spend their money on whatever they like, and there are many sinus sufferers who cannot get relief from standard treatments and who will try anything that might help. People simply need to know what they are paying for if that is the case. If there was something to these products, would not the major research teams also be looking at them? Why aren’t the major drug companies selling a similar product? There is certainly a large market for effective sinus treatments out there, since tens of millions of people suffer from sinus problems in the U.S. alone.

As you can readily see, I am not fan of most herbal sinus treatment products. If you find one that seems to help, then go ahead and use it, assuming your ENT tells you it won’t cause harmful side effects. I’m just wary when I see lots of hype and no proof. And a testimonial quoted from a person, fictitious or not, does not constitute scientific proof.