That’s not true at all. It’s just that they’re known for the negative correlation.
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This is correct, but possibly not clear, so I shall expand on that a bit for @Skeptic’s (and others) benefit.
There are multiple sinus cavities, some with near-surface presence below the cheekbone. All of them, and their drain canals, have connective tissue in common with the ear structure, with the canals being present in the area most proximate to the ear, so movement of the ear also moves the canals and may help dislodge a clog. By combining this distortion via the ear with gentle pressure from the other end (below the cheek bone), drainage may be effected in most cases.
Here is a cross-sectional diagram to help illustrate what’s going on.
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Still have crappy nasal respiration. Eventually I’ll get my surgery to enlarge my nasal passages approved. Covid stopped all ‘non-essential’ surgeries just before I was supposed to have mine done.
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I remain skeptical that my adult skull is flexible enough for gentle pressure on my cheekbone to distort my skull enough to drain my sinuses. Do you have a science-based reference for this treatment?
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Doctors hate him!
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I just tie my shoes an hour later, presto!
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Odd Couple bit: And now I know where Archer gets that from (Animated spy comedy, he does that when gunfire is causing him tinnitus).
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I don’t, but I also don’t share your skepticism. The bottlenecks in your sinuses are tiny enough that deforming them by fractions of a millimeter plausibly affects whether they drain or not. And you can see by looking at a skull that the bone in front of the maxillary sinuses tapers to a knife edge – it’s easy to believe it can be deflected by a few hundred microns without much force.
More empirically, I happen to know that if you try using a neti pot to help with blocked sinuses, then massaging the bones of your face in much this way, hours later, can sometimes cause a goodly amount of brine to gush out onto (for example) your desk, or the floor of the Magma bookshop on Earlham street.
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Don’t press on the cheekbone. Reach around and under it to apply pressure to the bottom of the maxillary sinus. If you take a good look at a skull, go under the checkbone and between the maxilla and jaw, and it’s all soft tissue (including the maxillary sinus) up to the eye socket.
Do you have a science-based reference for this treatment?
Well, I tried it just now and it worked. So, direct experimental evidence.
The dude is a chiropractor not a medical doctor
In the same way that “appeal to authority” is a logical fallacy, so is “dismissal as not-an-authority.” A stopped clock is right twice per day, and all that. This particular claim (that pushing in this particular spot while pulling the ear causes some sinus drainage) is true or false on its own merits. The fact that he’s a quack isn’t relevant to the analysis. (You cannot reason inductively from “he’s a quack” plus “quacks believe false things” plus “he believes X” to “X must be false” because the vast majority of any given quack’s beliefs are in fact true. (“Grass is green,” “water runs downhill,” “rocks aren’t edible,” etc.))
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I just came here to say Toynbee maneuver. There, my work is done.
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The real concern with a guy like this is that when this very good technique becomes popular, he’ll go all Henry Heimlich with it and start claiming it cures cancer and depression too…
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Probably not fluid, sinuses are typically filled with air. Miserable when filled with fluid, but they can also be problematic when the valves that normally help filter air are partially blocked.
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This works for me. He also has videos on tinnitus also works for me. REBOOT YOUR EARS IN 40 SECONDS - (Discovered by Dr Alan Mandell, DC) - YouTube
All of the bones of the face and sinuses are flexible. You can also push up on the roof of your mouth, alternated with pressing the space between the eyebrows. This acts like a little pump to move mucus around. Weird, I know.
I was once part of a study to test the effects of cranial manipulation on the sense of smell. I learned that I have a terrible sense of smell… and that I was in the control group. So I have no idea if it helped with smell, but this one part of it showed me a great way to drain my sinuses.
I think I agree with Skeptic that the bones in the skull are fairly well solid (not entirely, but not enough to effectively compress sinuses IMHO), I think most of the work done here is moving the tissues inside the bones, not the bones themselves.
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I offered that up not as proof he’s wrong but rather that we should not accept his claims on the assumption that the “Dr.” before his name means he is right. I.e., it’s a counter to his implied argument from authority, leaving the claim unproven.
And, again, I’m not saying his method is proven impossible, but I am saying I’d like to see scientific support of it rather than anecdotes.
All that means is that you should try it. I mean, this is something that works for me.
Maybe my face-bones are thin, subtle and flexible like a eggshell in vinegar, but in my face at least, I can feel the joints moving around.
My face hurts, my ears hurt, sinuses are still blocked. Maybe this is sth for the beginning of a blockage but not, if you already have a serious infection.
I prefer Dr. Bunsen Honeydew’s Electric Nose Warmer, but I’m fancy like that.
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Most of your skull is solid, but if you look at a CT, the whole area around your eyes and nose is made up of air pockets (the sinuses) with distressingly thin walls between them. And bone is quite springy – I have here a bone folder*, about 200mm long and 4mm thick, and I can easily bend it by several millimeters.
We’re not talking about squeezing out the sinuses like ketchup packets though. I’m picturing something more like flexing the spout of a milk carton to allow it to drain more freely. The opening of your maxillary sinus is something like 2mm wide, minus the thickness of the (potentially inflamed) tissue lining it, so the difference between sealed and not sealed could be very small. I’m sure this kind of manipulation does move the soft tissue as well, but in any case, it’s not some outlandish idea with a heavy burden of proof.
If the sinuses were filled with really thick snot, it would take more than this to drain them, but then, if you have problem sinuses, your ostia probably aren’t wide enough for snot to get in there to begin with; it’s more likely to be tears, or even just air, that can leak out freely once you get the flow started.
* A thingy for folding paper, made (despite the rosy claims on several bookbinding sites) from the long bones of murdered cows
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