Hello gentlemen. I’ve been enjoying a few medicated snuffs lately and thought I’d share my thoughts on them, and see what suggestions people can make for new ones to try, also to give some input on which are the most heavily medicated, and which are lighter. I’m talking about the most traditional ones here, just having menthol in it doesn’t count. Crumbs of Comfort is out, for example, but Hedges is in. So my thoughts first. Hedges is the most heavily medicated I’ve tried so far, I’d be interested to try one stronger but mostly through curiosity, I don’t think I’d actually need one stronger. Really does blast the old sinuses. Good as an eye opener in the morning, but I wouldn’t have much of it except when drinking, or to clear out a bunged up nose. McChrystals is nice, but not as nice as Hedges. Very similar, not as strong, drier as well. Wilsons No.99 is in much the same vein, and to my nose somewhere between the two. Very pleasant and uplifting, on the dry side, and a good hit of eucalyptus. So which now should I try- are there any that are significantly less mentholated than these? They all seem to get the noz running pretty soon after use, I need the hankie pretty quickly with these. Would a less medicated one stay up the hooter longer? And which are the strongest- any stronger than Hedges? Finally, are there any of historical importance that I should try?
This is a great post as I would like to know the answers to these questions Steerpike has asked. I suffer from Chronic Sinusitis…no prescribed or over the counter meds sprays have worked. The Pharmasist suggested medicated snuff so after getting some recomendations from some users on Youtube, I randomly placed an order for the most popular medicated snuffs.
@Stoogsy: you might want to look at surgery as another option–maybe there’s a way to clear your passages without needing a medication (even a pleasant medication like snuff) I think the strongest one I’ve tried is McChrystal’s J.I.P.–a very little dab will do ya. I think it’s slightly stronger than Hedges, and not as dark. I love Hedges though. Also be forewarned that for some people (myself included) using medicated snuff is like using dristan or otrivin–it clears you up temporarily, but your nose thinks it’s under attack and produces even more mucous, creating a “rebound effect”. I find McChrystal’s O&G to be the worst for this, but maybe I just have an allergy to camphor. All medicated snuffs have that effect on me to some degree, so I try to use them judiciously. I imagine that if I were to try using them more to solve a sinusitis problem I would just make the problem worse. There are probably others here with happier experiences, though. I seem to be prone to rebound, having abused otrivin as a kid (though that gives me street cred when I’m in the pen).
The basic menthol lineup goes something like this: Menthol, Chinese Menthol Crystals, Eucalyptus, Camphor, Peppermint, Spearmint, and Wild Mint. Wilsons of Sharrow has an excellent collection of snuffs representing many combinations of these.I enjoy a good menthol once or twice a day and have found that a pinch of Scotch or Toast will help with the “rebound effect” swelling that most menthols create. Worthy of note are the snuffs from India, most of which contain a small amount of menthol, spawning the idea of adding a dash of your own to a favorite mix. In the 1800’s Catarrh snuffs were popular and some may still be found on E-Bay and the likes. I would not recommend using them though as the ingredient may be questionable i.e. morphine, cocaine, opium, etc…
@Mike B: Speaking of Otrivin and its abuse, just how much does one need to use of this stuff before he is considered an abuser? I ask because its the only thing that keep me clear long enough to get a restful sleep and so have been using it every night for about three weeks now.
Stoogsy, if you keep that up, you will permanently damage your sinuses. Snuff does not do that. IMO, those kinds of drugs should be more restricted than morphine, cocaine, and amphetamines.
@Stoogsy - I agree with @Tc2642: Neti Pot! Nothing helps with sinusitis more than a nice rinse with a Neti pot, believe me. As for the medicated snuffs, I rather like JH Wilsons 99 for its strong lavender note (at least, to me that smells like lavender) and O&G for the citrusy touch, but nothing clears up my head like Dingler Magnet Menthol - that I look like the only fan of on the boards, for some reasons =) Hedges I just can’t tolerate - I had to give it away. Probably it’s the type of menthol (WoS SM500 has a bit of that horrible, burnt-rubbery note as well, but nowhere as strong).
@stoogsy: I’ve been there many times. When I was a kid I didn’t just spray the stuff–I tipped it back and poured a bit down my nose. I had to use it more than once just to make it through the night. To me, the abuse line is crossed when you need to use it more than three days. The question is what to do now that you have the rebound. If you’re anything like me, you can’t just stop because that would mean a night of no sleep. I would recommend avoiding all perfumed and mentholated snuffs until the problem clears up–get to know your new friend High Dry Toast. At night, I would try a neti pot (they can be found at any health food store, presuming you live in a country with such stores). Lie down for 15 minutes at night. If both of your sinuses are still plugged, try a Breathe Right strip (found at drug stores). They are little bandaids that go on your nose and lift open your nasal passage slightly. Get the sensitive skin ones, as the regular ones can make your nose alcoholic red after a while (speaking from experience there). If the Neti Pot and the Breathe Right strip don’t work, spray the otrivin in ONE nostril only. Pick the one that would be on top if you have a favourite side to sleep on. Use a minimal amount of spray on this side, and eventually your other side will clear up. You can then wean yourself off of it completely once your bottom nostril is clear (though you may have to sleep on your other side for a while). If that still doesn’t work, get surgery.
Something thats a bit counter intuitive is the way that menthols can cause severe congestion for some users. If you find that happens but still want a head clearing type snuff try a strong plain variety. I find snuffs such as HDT, Dholakia white or even an SP can all be very head clearing.
Thanks Mike, great advise…great advise from everybody. I just went out and got myself a NeilMed Neti Pot and some not so strong ‘Otrivin Junior’ to start the weaning. I’ve bookmarked some vids on Youtube on the use of the Netipot, lets see how we go. I’ld prefer not to try surgery.
Also before surgery, I’d reccomend eliminating all dairy products from your diet. These can cause considerable congestion. The catch is that it takes about 3 weeks to notice the effects.
I vote for American Scotch snuff as the best sinus relaxer to use after menthols.
Camphor and Mild is easily my favorite medicated. Clears my sinuses, doesn’t clog me up and the aroma is heavenly. I like menthols, but they rapidly increase mucous production and make my nose run.
I’ve just been enjoying some Samuel Gawith “Dr Verey’s Medicated” which I recieved in the post yesterday. Unlike any of the medicated varieties I’ve tried. Menthol is almost non existent, and there’s some kind of spice in here which I’ve realised is clove, maybe there’s a hint of cinnamon too. Very pleasant indeed, but not a menthol rush at all. It came very dry, too dry for my tastes, so I added a few drops of water through the hole and shook it up well, poked it about with a wire and allowed it time to rehydrate in my pocket, seems to have done the job. Are all the SG snuffs this dry or is this an old box which has been on the shelf for a long time?
The SG tap boxes are invariably dry and I would go with the vacuum sealed tins for freshness.
Don’t miss WIlsons of Sharrow Honey Menthol and Super Menthol. Honey Menthol is really unique and the only snuff I buy in bulk. Super Menthol has a nice citrusy tone and has quite a good kick in nicotine and menthol, though I wouldn’t recommend it for all-day use. It has some similarities to the Medicated 99… In my opinion, all other WoS Menthols and Medicateds are inferior to these two and to the snuffs you mentioned.
WoS Honey Menthol, Toque Menthol and Hedges are my favorites in this category, although there are a lot of other good ones. If you want to try something that’s lighter on menthol, you may want to sample some Indian snuffs. Most of them use a very slight amount, just enough to give a mild cooling effect.
UPDATE, E.N.T. APPROVES THE USE OF TOBACCO NASAL SNUFF : I just had my first follow-up appointment with my Ear, Nose & Throat Surgeon who perfomed my Radical Neck Disection back in Oct 2010 to remove 48 Cancerous Lymph Nodes ( I’ll spare you the gruesome details, suffice to say that every day above ground is a bonus from this point on. ) This is why getting a good night sleep to help recovery from several surgical proceedures was important to me…anyway…he has said if I can controll the use of the Otrivin Junior and limit it to one spray per nostril just before bed each night in order to get a restful night sleep, I can continue for another month so long as its only before bed and after using the Neti Pot. During the day I am OK to use a small ammount of Snuff limited to no more that 1 to 2g per day only as required to clear nasal passage so long as the snuff is kept fresh, pinched with clean fingers but thrown out if there is any sign of the snuff being rancid. The snuff is in preference over the steriod sprays like Rhinicort or Nasonex. Snuff on gents
This is merely a guess, but I would think the majority of snuffers probably don’t use more than 2g per day. That would be emptying a 10g tin in 5 days, which seems like quite a lot of snuffing to me. I’m sure there are exceptions, but I doubt there are many.
@PipenSnusnSnuff I stand corrected. He said “1 or 2 pinches per day or as required to clear the nasal pasage”.