Sinus Relief Now: The Ground-Breaking 5-Step Program for Sinus, Allergy, and AsthmaSufferers

This book is approachable by a layperson and which covers most of what a sinus sufferer should know before seeking treatment. It provides a good overview of the anatomy, a brief description of surgical evaluation and intervention, and detailed descriptions of medications and recommended lifestyle adjustments I'm a patient of Dr. Josephson and he strongly encourages patients to read this book so I read it. Before reading my review, I recommend you first read the best review I could find, written by Walt Ballenberger who is founder of PostNasalDrip, "a resource web site for sinusitis sufferers like himself". You can find the review at the following links: [..] Ballenberger's review identified a number of questions which were unanswered in his book. By talking with Josephson in person, I was able to get answers for some of them. LASER The book doesn't explain the tradeoffs of laser vs. traditional cutting instruments. Before Josephson, I saw an ENT who recommended laser to lightly cauterize the turbinates in order to reduce their tendency to swell when inflamed (the scarification reduces the membrane's elasticity). Dr Josephson is not a proponent of laser except in certain cases. Although a laser is self-cauterizing and therefore reduces bleeding, it causes heat damage to surrounding tissue (more than the damage caused by a cutting instrument) and instrument setup adds time/cost to the procedure. Only where the decrease in bleeding outweighs these costs is use of a laser justified (e.g. when the patient has many small polyps). I didn't ask him but I'd imagine that the thermal heat injury would likely cause more damage to mucus-producing goblet cells and mucus-transporting cilia cells than cutting tools. SINUPLASTY This book doesn't explain the tradeoffs of sinuplasty® vs. traditional cutting instruments. Sinuplasty® is a proprietary tool made by Acclarent which uses a thin balloon similar to an angioplasty balloon to open the sinus passages. As in heart vessels, the balloon is placed into position and inflated, then deflated and removed. According to Acclarent's description, this results in permanent widening of the critical areas leading into the sinuses while leaving the nose lining unharmed rather than destructing this lining as occurs in typical sinus surgery. I would have to imagine that if the pressure applied expands bone than it certainly will crush the membranes and must do some damage to them and the cilia which are so necessary to remove the infection and mucus (mucociliary clearance) which is the whole basis by which the sinuses protect you. When I asked Dr. Josephson about what the pressure does to the membranes he said that he knew of no studies that showed what the effect of the balloons on the membranes and cilia were. It turns out that Dr. Josephson is trained in sinuplasty but relies almost exclusively on FESS (endoscopic cutting instruments, as described in his book). He pointed out that unlike angioplasty, whic

In the interests of full disclosure, I should reveal that I am a patient of Dr. Josephson's. In fact, he recently performed a FESS procedure on my sinuses. It needs to be noted that Dr. Josephson practices what he preaches. Before we arrived at the decision to perform the surgery, I followed each of his recommendations, including a long use of antibiotics, smoking cessation, the use of an air purifier and a humidifier, etc., etc. Only after these actions failed to result in a "cure" for my sinus problems did he recommend surgery. True to his word in the book, post-surgery did not require packing and I hope that the procedure will result in long-term improvement. In the meantime, I constantly refer to Dr. Josephson's clear and coherent book to guide my treatment.

This book is a God-send for sinus suffers. The regime it recommends works as advertised. I can attest to this--I have suffered from sinus problems all my life.The 5 step solution recommended by Dr. Josephson REALLY works. Sinus irrigation for example has made a huge difference in the quality of my life. The power of this book is that is does not over-simplify. Sinus problems originate from a range of complex problems and these need to be understood. What this book does well is break down the solution into pieces the average person can understand and implement. Barry Sheehy

If I could rate this book six stars, I would do so. Here is my review. When I first started seeing an ENT specialist years ago for my sinus problems, I purchased a couple of books on the subject of sinusitis. When I mentioned this to my doctor and asked a couple of questions that showed a bit more knowledge of the subject than most people had, he frowned and had a worried look on his face. He then commented that having only "a little bit of knowledge was dangerous". I therefore appreciated the comments by Dr. Josephson in his new book entitled "Sinus Relief Now- The Groundbreaking 5 Step Program for Sinus, Allergy, and Asthma Sufferers". He stated: "If your physician responds negatively to your newfound knowledge or is obviously uncomfortable working with a patient who is well educated about his or her disease, it's another clear signal that it's time to move on" (and find another doctor). I wish I had had this advice at that time, as the doctor eventually performed my first sinus surgery, caused me immense pain, and he didn't improve my situation at all. It should be mentioned at this point that Dr. Josephson is a well known and highly regarded ENT specialist and surgeon. He has several times been on New York magazine's "Best Doctors" list. He has been an expert commentator on many local and national television programs, and he is the Director of the New York Nasal and Sinus Center. I personally believe this book should be part of the home library of anyone who suffers from what Dr. Josephson calls CAID, or Chronic Airway-Digestive Inflammatory Disease. In the U.S. alone this includes about 70 million people who suffer from sinus disease, asthma, allergies, reflux diseases GERD and LRPD, as well as sleep problems like snoring and sleep apnea. Dr. Josephson believes that all these problems can be related for the simple reason that they all are associated with parts of the body which are directly connected together in the upper and lower respiratory and digestive systems. This is an interesting concept and is explained clearly and thoroughly in the early chapters of the book. Dr. Josephson discusses the symptoms of all these maladies and then offers a CAID test, which helps the reader understand which branch of CAID is causing his problems. He explains symptoms and possible treatment options in great detail for the various "limbs" of CAID, sinus disease, allergies, asthma, GERD and LPRD, and sleep disorders such as snoring and sleep apnea. One point is made clear throughout the book: like high blood pressure, sinus disease cannot be "cured" in the sense that it is gone once and for all, but it can only be controlled. But with this awareness and being knowledgeable about one's problem, it is possible to control these health issues, and one can improve his or her life and not be forced to "just live with it". There are a number of things I was pleased to see in "Sinus Relief Now": 1. Dr. Josephson is a sinus sufferer him

I read "Sinus Relief Now." This book puts into perspective all of the problems that I was suffering from including sinus problems, allergies, GERD (gastroesophageal reflux) and snoring. I went to various doctors and none of them seemed to connect the dots between all of these problems. I was given a lot of treatments over the years, most that provided temporary or minimal relief. Dr Josephson gets it. His treatments are right on and have offered me significant relief already. The combination of east and western medicine is perfect. He thinks of everything with balance. This book is an absolute must for all people that suffer from sinus problems, allergies, asthma, snoring sleep apnea and GERD. I bought a few copies and have given them out to friends. Everybody seems to love the book. This book and Dr Josephsons treatment have made a huge difference in my life already.