The Forgotten Side of Medicine
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How DMSO
Cures Eye, Ear, Nose, Throat and Dental Disease
Many of those "incurable" conditions respond remarkably to
DMSO
Oct 31, 2024
•DMSO can often significantly improve one’s vision, treat conditions
such as macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, and at times allow blind
individuals to regain their sight. It is also often very helpful for sore and
strained eyes and relieves excessive irritation and inflammation, along with
many other eye conditions (e.g., cataracts).
•DMSO frequently treats a variety of ear conditions such as tinnitus, hearing
loss, airplane ear, and a variety of infections inside the ear (e.g., otitis
media).
•DMSO
often is very helpful for sinusitis and a variety of infections of the nose and
throat. Likewise, it is extremely helpful in dentistry, both for cleaning the
mouth (e.g., by preventing bleeding gums), and by allowing the mouth to rapidly
heal after dental surgeries.
•In this article, I will review the evidence supporting each of those uses,
along with the data demonstrating the safety of these methods of DMSO
administration and instructions on how to do them.
DMSO is a
phenomenally effective medicine that can treat a wide variety of common,
debilitating, or incurable conditions, which allowed it to rapidly take the
country by storm (as both the public and the medical community saw its results
and rapidly embraced it). Unfortunately, the widespread enthusiasm behind
something that completely changed medicine and allowed people to care for
themselves independently was unacceptable to the FDA. For the next two
decades, the
agency went to incredible lengths to suppress it (e.g., it actively
defied Congress for
over 16 years) and eventually made DMSO become a Forgotten Side of
Medicine.
Note: extensive data shows that DMSO is a very safe substance with negligible toxicity.
In turn,
one of the truly ironic things about this was that many of those who attacked
DMSO later needed it. For example, the pioneer of DMSO discusses how Former
President Lyndon Johnson sought his help in 1971 —after his FDA commissioner had
just spent almost three years weaponizing the FDA against anyone wishing to use
DMSO (which in turn set the stage for many of the police-state tactics the FDA
would illegally use against natural medicine in the decades to come).
Note: in the previous article I erroneously
stated this conversation took place in 1981 not 1971 (at which point LBJ was
deceased).
I have now received hundreds of unbelievable reports from readers (which
can be read here) of what DMSO did for them—many of which are almost identical to what
people reported fifty years ago before the FDA wiped DMSO off the map.
For context, the majority of those reports were for the most common uses of
DMSO, such as chronic pain, acute injuries, and arthritis (discussed
further here). However, as discussed here, DMSO is also immensely valuable for a variety of circulatory and
neurological disorders (e.g., varicose veins, hemorrhoids, Down Syndrome, and
Parkinson’s)—all of which readers here reported significant improvement from.
Likewise, (as discussed here) DMSO also helps various autoimmune conditions.
In this article, I will focus on another group of conditions DMSO was
found to be extraordinarily effective—those within the head.
Note:
headaches were covered in a
previous article and will not be discussed here.
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Cause or Effect?
There are two common ways to view medical problems someone has—as a
specific disease process of a particular part of the body or as one
manifestation of a systemic issue. Neither approach is entirely correct, as in some
cases, you need one more than the other, but our medical system is very much
biased towards the first one.
This, I
would argue is in part because this makes medicine easier to practice (e.g., a
specific set of symptoms goes with a specific drug rather than having to go the
extra mile to figure out what is causing a nebulous set of symptoms), and in
part because it makes it possible to sell far more patentable medicines (as by
viewing each symptom as a different disease, far more diseases exist to market
products for). Unfortunately, this also frequently lends itself to a
situation where modern medicine “treats the symptoms rather than the cause.”
I
personally believe that most chronic disease processes can have a variety of
ways they manifest throughout the body. Typically the manifestation you see is
a result of a pre-existing weakness in the body being the first spot to give
out after a stressor is put on the entire body (e.g., one of the most common
symptoms individuals with COVID vaccine injuries had was a pre-existing site of
minor inflammation or an old scar becoming highly inflamed). Similarly, I
believe this paradigm answers a critical question medicine never quite
addresses—why do some people get so sick from the same thing that others
quickly shrug off?
In turn,
I’ve tried to focus on the forgotten areas of medicine that I believe often
underlie various seemingly unrelated disease processes. For example, I believe
that microcirculation is critical for health, but since it is not easy to
measure, our focus instead has gone to blood pressure—which
while sometimes useful for determining circulatory health, often is not. In
turn, I’ve provided a variety of strategies for improving the microcirculation
(e.g., improving
the physiologic zeta potential). Beyond cardiovascular health improvement,
many readers here who did that reported a variety of other chronic symptoms
also having noticeable and unexpected improvement.
Note: all the previous also holds true for the
cell danger response—a defensive mechanism cells go into where their
mitochondria shut down that
can only be treated by finding a way to coax the mitochondria out of it.
DMSO is
also a systemic agent that has the ability to address some of the common root
causes of disease. Because of how dramatically it helps injuries, arthritis,
and chronic pain (of which I’ve received many remarkable testimonials from
readers you can read here),
those are its typical uses. However before long, many patients on DMSO would
report some other chronic issue they never thought could improve also begin
getting better (which likewise, many
readers here have noticed). These reports caused the early pioneers of DMSO
to begin researching other novel uses of DMSO.
In this
article, I will look at the variety of remarkable benefits that have been observed
for DMSO for conditions within the head. These
results, I believe are a product of DMSO:
•Being able to increase microcirculation and treat
circulatory or neurological disorders(e.g.,
strokes, traumatic head injuries, spinal cord injuries, and dementia or mental
disability).
•Being able to re-awaken cells that were dormant
or on the verge of dying due to a previous
stressor.
•Being able to increase parasympathetic activity.
•Having strong anti-inflammatory properties.
•Having anti-bacterial properties.
•Being able to easily pass through
biological membranes without harming them and
spread throughout the body (while also carrying anything mixed with it
into the body).
DMSO and the Eyes
Many DMSO users have noticed that their vision improved while they used
it for something else (e.g., see this, this and this testimonial from a reader here), which in turn inspired physicians
to begin applying it to the eyes of patients with vision problems.
Note: to my knowledge, every route of
administration for DMSO except intrarectally has been researched. Of these, the
only one that ever caused issues was nebulizing it (as rats who regularly
breathed DMSO eventually developed toxicity). As a result, the DMSO field has recommended against nebulizing it,
although I periodically read cases of individuals who had a positive response
to nebulized DMSO
Ocular DMSO Distribution
The logic behind putting DMSO in the eyes is that a much stronger dose
can get to the eyes than what would arise from systemic applications of DMSO.
To evaluate DMSO’s distribution (and that of its metabolic breakdown products),
radioactive forms of DMSO (DMSO synthesized from either 35S or 3H or both) were placed in animals and then their entire bodies were
monitored for radiation emissions.
In one study, it was noted that while DMSO tended to distribute evenly throughout
the body (typically being at a lower concentration in the tissue than in the
blood), in the iris and ciliary body, it matched the blood’s concentration,
while in the cornea (the surface of the eye), after 2 hours it was 2.2 times
higher than the blood in rabbits and 4 times higher in rats. In other words, DMSO specifically
concentrates in the cornea when administered into the body (after which it
rapidly cleared), suggesting that DMSO is indicated for treating corneal and
uveal diseases.
Note: concentrations did not increase with repeated administrations (indicating
DMSO does not accumulate in the body).
More
importantly, that study helps to explain why consuming DMSO can often directly
impact and improve eye health.
Conversely, in
another study, rats eyes were exposed to DMSO, and it was found regardless
of the route of administration or the concentration used, DMSO rapidly cleared
from the eyes:
Note:
DMSO has also long been
used to preserve corneas,
which will be transplanted to someone else, again indicating that DMSO is
relatively non-toxic to the cornea.
DMSO Eye Safety
Since the
idea of putting DMSO into the eyes understandably makes one uneasy, I’ve tried
to locate all the safety data relating to this. Regarding the systemic
administration of DMSO, there was a longstanding concern that DMSO could
(temporarily) change the refractive index of the eyes. This finding was found
in certain animals at very high doses of DMSO but never, despite extensive
evaluation, found in monkeys or humans (e.g., see this
study). For those interested, I summarized all the data on DMSO induced
lens changes here,
and the most detailed summary I found of exactly what changed in animal lenses
can be found here.
Note: in
humans, when DMSO was taken each day at 3-30 times the standard dose
(achieved by covering the entire body in DMSO), 9% of participants experienced
burning or aching eyes. This (like the previously mentioned effects) I suspect
is due to the fact DMSO will concentrate in the cornea, but at the same time,
realistically will never be an issue for a DMSO user because the effect only
appears at very high doses (and has no real consequence besides the temporary
irritation).
A few animal
studies have been conducted which evaluated the effects of applying DMSO
directly to animal eyes. The
most detailed study put various combinations of steroids, 15% DMSO, or
a saline placebo into rabbit’s eyes. A wide range of parameters inside the eyes
were studied (e.g., regular body weights, intraocular pressure, retinoscopy,
ophthalmoscopic, and biomicroscopic examinations alongside dissection of the
eyes and examinations of their contents) alongside ones outside the eye (e.g.,
urine volume, urine composition, blood work, autopsies of organs) were then
assessed. From this, it was found that 15% DMSO created no adverse
effects, but did:
•Increase
urine volume—DMSO alone increased it by 14.6%, while when added to varying
concentrations of fluocinolone acetonide (a steroid), it increased by 4%, 29%,
or 58% (which again illustrates that DMSO moves into the bloodstream after
being applied to the eyes).
•Cause a
slight decrease in urea in the aqueous humor of the eyes (which was small
enough that it may have been due to chance).
•Decrease intraocular pressure (which is often quite helpful for the eyes).
Additionally,
this study also applied 30% and 100% DMSO to rabbit eyes. In both cases, no
evidence of change was seen in any part of the eye (the iris, cornea, lens,
retina, conjunctiva, and lids), but 100% DMSO was observed to cause temporary
lacrimation (tearing).
A
separate paper on the known toxicology of DMSO also noted that:
•A Draize
eye test (applying DMSO to an animal’s eye and keeping it on the eye) resulted
in a slight conjunctivitis (eye irritation) which disappeared after 24 hours.
•One study found ocular instillation of 0.1 ml of 100% DMSO in rabbits caused
reversible irritation of conjunctivae, while another author failed to observe
this effect.
•Administering
high doses of DMSO to rats (14.5g/kg) through the air resulted in hyperemia and
eye inflammation.
.
•In humans, two drops of greater than 50% DMSO applied to the eye caused a
temporary burning sensation and vasodilation; concentrations of less than 50%
exhibited no toxic effects.
Another
study found that DMSO gave eye drops at 66% concentration to four
patients, and one of the four experienced a temporary burning each time the
drops were applied. Likewise, varying degrees of irritation and burning
occurred as higher concentrations were used. However, no damage (as shown by a
fluorescein stain) occurred to either their eyes or the animals in the study
after ocular DMSO applications.
That same study also gave 4 rabbits 90% DMSO to the eyes six times a day, and
then after 2 weeks, DMSO at 66% six times a day. At 90%, 2 of the rabbits
experienced a temporary severe conjunctival injection (red eyes from swelling
and inflammation of the blood vessels in the eye), but no keratitis
(inflammation of the cornea) or damage to the lens was observed, and of the 6
total rabbits who received ocular DMSO, 3 had some degree of conjunctival
irritation from DMSO.
I will
now discuss two human studies that evaluated both the safety and efficacy of
applying DMSO to the eyes, both of which found no toxicity from doing so.
DMSO and Eye Inflammation
One study reported giving topical DMSO to 108 patients (for a total of 157
eyes) at a higher concentration than others used. That author noted that no
toxicity or eye issues were observed, including in patients with pre-existing
eye issues (e.g., 8 glaucoma patients who frequently had their intraocular
pressure rise when given a steroid did not have it rise from DMSO and likewise
17 patients with pre-existing cataracts did not have them worsen from DMSO).
In that
study, of the 43 whose results were listed in detail, 3 had improved vision
(including one who was blind prior to DMSO treatment). Additionally, 4 severe
cases of episcleritis (which had previously failed to respond to the use of
corticosteroids) all responded to DMSO topically, and 4 cases with chronic
corneal edema all exhibited some improvement on this regime. Other types of eye
inflammation were also studied (e.g., conjunctivitis, keratitis, and uveitis).
Still, the therapeutic response was more varied, leading to the investigator
concluding more standardized approaches needed to be developed to assess DMSO’s
benefits.
Note:
somewhat similarly, I received a report of a
dog that developed an eye ulcer from a scratch, making the dog blind, and a
veterinarian wanting to remove the eye to spare the dog from further suffering.
The owner however, went against the vet’s advice, and after a month of applying
DMSO, it was cured and the dog’s sight returned.
Retinitis Pigmentosa and Macular
Degeneration
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP)
refers to a group of genetic disorders that cause gradual vision loss (starting
in the periphery). It results from rod cells in the eyes not secreting a
substance that prevents cone cells in the eye from dying (through apoptosis).
It affects 1 in 4,000 people and is thought to be incurable, with the exception
of one subtype of RP (comprising between 0.3-1.0% of cases), which has
a $850,000 gene therapy that works about half the time (although
others are in the pipeline).
Since RP
is “incurable,” it immediately caught a few doctor’s attention that their
patients with it had
their vision improve while receiving DMSO for something else. This prompted
a series of clinical studies a
preliminary 1973 investigation that found DMSO did indeed help this
condition.
That author then published a larger 1975 study where
he shared:
When his
DMSO treatment was started (February 10, 1972), this patient could see hand motion
only with his right eye, and had a visual acuity of 20/200 (Snellen) in his
left eye. Five days later (February 15, 1972), his vision was measured as 20/70
+ 1 in the left eye, and he could count fingers at 5 ft with his right eye.
Three months later, his visual acuity was 20150 in the left eye. This patient has continued his treatments daily, except for a 1-week
trial interval without DMSO. He noted that his vision began to get worse during this interval, and
when he restarted treatment, his vision returned to the level he had just
before discontinuance. His most recent visual acuity measurement (January 2,
1974) is still 20/50 in the left eye, and he is able to count fingers at 6 ft
with his right eye.
Following
this, 50 more patients with RP or macular degeneration received DMSO applied to
the eyes, of whom 22 had improved visual acuity, 9 had improved visual fields,
and 5 had improved dark adaption, 2 continued to worsen, while the rest noticed
no changes in their vision (which could potentially mean DMSO stopped the
degenerative process).
To
evaluate for toxicity, the eyes were examined through serial fundus photography
and slitlamp photomicrography, and no adverse tissue reactions were noted.
Patients often reported temporary stinging (usually 20 to 30 sec) and
occasional burning and dryness of the skin of the lid (likewise a reader here reported
when applying DMSO to the eyes, they have a temporary stinging which quickly
disappears, while another
reported no issue with using a DMSO eyewash).
Additionally,
patients in this study also reported a “glare or blur effect” in their vision
that was often accompanied by an increased sensitivity to light, or
photophobia. This typically lasted for a few days to weeks, after which it
disappeared and was replaced with an improved ability to get around at night, and
improved visual acuity experienced as better perception of contrast.
The
author also stated they had initiated a controlled clinical study and were in
phase III clinical trials with the FDA (which is where the above data
originated from), but I could not figure out what happened to it.
Note: the
author of that paper suspected
that DMSO was helping here by rescuing dormant cells in the eye which would
otherwise eventually die.
Conversely, a
follow up controlled study was unable to detect a clear benefit for
DMSO in patients with retinitis pigmentosa, did find a complete lack of
toxicity from applying DMSO to the eyes.
Human Case Studies
In
addition to those two studies, a variety of individual case histories support
DMSO’s value for the eyes.
One
author reported on DMSO being used by Stanley Jacob for more severe
cases of eye damage such as:
•A man
who had been blind for more than 30 years after having dynamite explode in his
face who started seeing flashes of light after applying DMSO to the head.
•A man
who lost sight in the right eye (along with other functions of the eye like
focusing) and gradually lost it in the other after an almost fatal impact by an
automobile while skating down the road. After trying DMSO for hair loss, he
noticed a sensation in the back of his right eye, so Stanley Jacob decided to
try applying DMSO to that eye, eventually settling on a high concentration
(that stung for several minutes, caused tears, and left the eyes bloodshot for
about 20 minutes). After this, sight rapidly returned to the right eye.
•A man who had been blind for many years in one eye (only able to distinguish
light and dark) regained his sight in that eye with DMSO (e.g., he demonstrated
this by walking unaided in public areas and describing objects and events while
his good eye was covered).
•A man
who was almost blind (leading to him being completely dependent on others like
his wife to take him anywhere, cut his meat or keep his house clean) after a
year on DMSO regained his sight and no longer needed assistance to do anything
(which was of great relief to his family).
Note:
these results led to Jacob testing DMSO on a series of patients with incurable
blindness. Sadly, in many cases (which ophthalmologists had pronounced
incurable), regardless of the remarkable results, the ophthalmologists tended
to insist there was either no improvement or it was just a coincidence.
Ophthalmologist
Norbert J. Becquet, M.D., of Little Rock, Arkansas, reported to the American
Academy of Medical Preventics (AAMP) in May 1980 that he had great success
using DMSO in treating cataracts and other eye problems. "I've treated two
hundred patients in the last year for macular degeneration, macular edema, and
traumatic uveitis…In using DMSO, glaucoma drugs are potentiated, including
those required for treating wide-angle glaucoma. But DMSO alone is better for
macular degeneration.
Note:
AAMP is now called ACAM, and other ACAM physicians at that meeting also stated
that DMSO treats cataracts and glaucoma. Additionally, in
a recent article, I discussed DMSO’s value for treating uveitis (so it will
not be discussed here).
Another
author who has worked with many doctors using DMSO reported that
they’ve found applying DMSO to the eyes seems to help with a variety of vision
issues and eye pain, and that typically, there will be a stinging sensation for
30-40 seconds after applying DMSO to the eyes, after which the eyes typically
feel better than before treatment. Likewise, he also cited a Los Angeles doctor
who had several patients who were able to read fine print more easily after
only one week of applying DMSO to their eyes.
Note:
that author also frequently applies DMSO to his own eyes when they feel tired
and notices an immediate and rapid improvement. Likewise, one
reader here who started taking DMSO for Parkinson’s noted they had
less discomfort due to more eye irrigation.
In
one case he cited, a 90 year old man who was unable to read (due to macular
degeneration and other eye problems) who was treated daily with DMSO eye drops
(along with oral DMSO) and after a month, could resume reading his books (along
with thinking more clearly, and his whole body feeling better).
In
another case, a 78 year old man had a variety of eye problems that were
making it difficult for him to walk around his home. His doctors told him that
since there was nerve damage to his eye, nothing could be done, and he should
not waste his money on any unproven treatments. However, that man decided not
to give up and convinced another doctor to try applying DMSO to his eyes (along
with oral DMSO). At the start, he was 20/200, then in two weeks 20/100, two
weeks after that 20/70, and then eventually 20/50 with glasses, allowing him to
regain his independence (which persisted along with him being in excellent
health for a man in his 80s).
Similarly,
a reader here who had always been nearsighted reported
that after taking DMSO internally for a few months, they stopped being
able to see clearly through their glasses and then realized their vision had
normalized (e.g., they could see the smallest print quite clearly) and had not
needed reading glasses since.
Another author reports that patients on DMSO sometimes report an improvement in
their eyesight as an unexpected but pleasant side effect (e.g., he cited a
woman no longer needing her glasses the morning after she took DMSO). He found DMSO was often helpful
for macular degeneration.
Note: the
most common terminology for this condition (age-related macular degeneration)
is AMD. Had I realized at the start that this was also the abbreviation of “A
Midwestern Doctor,” I would have chosen a different name (and likewise, that is
why I always refer to the condition as macular degeneration rather than AMD).
That
author reported success using DMSO to treat eye conditions such as, macular
degeneration, macular edema, uveitis (inflammation of the middle structures of
the eye) due to trauma, cataracts, glaucoma, and various retinal
diseases.
In turn,
many DMSO doctors would use DMSO for perplexing eye conditions when they
weren’t sure what to do. Likewise, readers here have reported that DMSO helped
with a variety of other challenging eye conditions. For example:
•A
firefighter injured his upper eyelid after some hot tar fell on it,
which caused chronic inflammation that did not respond to any treatment from
his doctor. After 10 years, he tried topical DMSO, and within a week it was
gone forever.
•A
reader has a very rare condition (less than 200 cases have
been reported) that causes the eye to randomly spasm and jump all over the
place (which makes it very difficult to drive) and is thought to be linked to
migraines or concussions (both conditions I associate with impaired blood flow
in the head). It’s considered to be essentially incurable, but after reading
this series, he decided to try using DMSO applied as an eye drop and found it
would stop the episodes.
•One
reader who found DMSO helped many other symptoms they had, began
applying DMSO drops to the eyes because they had symptoms of a vitreous
detachment (floaters and flashes), and afterward noticed that they had less
floaters and flashes, resulting in a clearer field of vision.
DMSO and
the Ears
To establish
the safety of DMSO in the ear, a study gave
the eardrums of 10 volunteer prisoners five drops of 50% DMSO (in water) or 60%
DMSO (in glycerin) three times per day for 74 days. During each application,
they first laid on their side (with the ear facing up) for 15 minutes, then had
a cotton plug placed in the ear so they could stand up but not have the DMSO
leak out (which was then removed an hour later). Various tests and examinations
were performed, and no signs of toxicity were detected besides a transient
decrease in white blood cells (which regressed on its own and may have been
related to a circulating infection in the prison). Once that study established
the safety of putting DMSO directly into contact with the ear’s tympanic
membrane, a variety of other studies were conducted utilizing a similar
approach.
Note: a 2014 rat
study found that applying 1% DMSO to the middle ear did not cause any
adverse changes to the inner ear, while a
zebrafish study found DMSO did not injure the hair cells in the ear.
Impaired Hearing
I believe
poor hearing often results from impaired circulation to the ear, and in turn,
you will sometimes encounter people who report their hearing improves as a side
effect of DMSO usage. For example, after reading an
earlier article about how to use DMSO to heal circulatory disorders
(e.g., strokes) and starting oral DMSO, this
reader reported:
Within 5
days several things were noticeable a) I pass water far more easily, b) my
hearing accentuated, c) my eyesight improved somewhat, d) my mind was that much
sharper and e) my blood pressure dropped from 160/90 to 150/80 and I just sense
my heart is that much better.
Likewise,
I recently spoke to a friend of Stanley Jacob who told me that he had success
in treating hearing loss with DMSO and that they vaguely remembered Jacob had
also treated cases of tinnitus with it.
Tinnitus
Like
macular degeneration, most of the treatments I have come across that help
tinnitus also improve circulation to the affected sensory organ. Additionally,
I have seen many signs suggesting tinnitus is linked to excessive sympathetic
activity (e.g., many other treatments I’ve seen help tinnitus address this
component of the disease), which again argues for DMSO’s role in this condition
(as by
being an acetylcholine esterase inhibitor it increases parasympathetic
activity).
While
numerous patients with tinnitus have reported DMSO helped them (or their
tinnitus improved incidentally from DMSO), I only know of one study that
formally evaluated it.
In
it, fifteen
patients with tinnitus of unknown origin were selected for
a study (while 2 hearing voices and 3 with tinnitus preceded by
acoustic trauma or an aneurysm of the internal carotid were excluded). Each had
tinnitus for a prolonged period (6 months was the shortest amount of time) and
had not been able to adapt to the noise. At baseline, their characteristics
were:
Following
one month of receiving a spray with DMSO and a few other drugs, all
significantly improved.
Note: this improvement was sustained for at least a year.
The increase in tympanic membrane temperature coinciding with an
improvement of tinnitus made the investigators suspect poor blood flow (which
DMSO improves) was linked to tinnitus. Likewise, in the four patients who only
had occasional symptoms, they reported their symptom reoccurrence was tied to
exposure to cold weather in the morning, further strengthening the circulatory
hypothesis. Additionally:
A notable
improvement was observed in the patients who at the beginning of the treatment
had suffered from dizziness and positional vertigo. The insomnia of eight
patients disappeared, and seven slept better. There was also improvement in
headache and otalgia (the latter was not related to temporal-maxillar
articulation). Very noteworthy was the modification in the
sensorial-neural hypacusis of some of the patients, as expressed subjectively
by the patients and confirmed by audiometric examination.
Note:
at the
1974 symposium, this author also presented a paper on how DMSO could be
used to treat hearing loss.
Another
author reported on a clinic in New York City that treated a number of
tinnitus patients with DMSO. They noted that in most cases, their ear noises
were immediately reduced with DMSO, and that in most cases, the patients were
permanently cured within a month, and if it recurred, a second course of DMSO
would typically eliminate their tinnitus much faster than the original
treatment. Additionally, in many cases, the patients did not report they had
tinnitus until they shared that systemic administration of DMSO had improved
their tinnitus (which then was fully improved with targeted DMSO treatment).
Airplane Ear (Aerositis)
Some
individuals have immense difficulty tolerating altitude changes (to the point their eardrums can
rupture), which in some cases follows an infection that inflames the
Eustachian tubes, making them unable to open and accommodate the pressure
changes created by increased elevation (which can be extremely painful—I know
people who stopped flying because of it).
In 1967, a former president
of the Aerospace
Medical Association reported that DMSO could treat aerositis and
aerosinusitisby spraying into their noses.
DMSO and
Head Infections
One
ENT doctor observed that DMSO would often significantly calm
inflammation from an infection in the head (including severe ones that were
difficult to treat with antibiotics). However, the improvement often only
lasted for 2-4 hours. However, when he mixed DMSO with an antibiotic, it
frequently eliminated the infection in a dramatic fashion (e.g., the eardrum of
an otitis media patient would begin shrinking in 10-15 minutes)—especially if
the infection was treated early. Unfortunately, because of how rapidly the
symptoms often improved, it often caused patients not to follow up when they
needed to for the subsequent treatment.
Note:
mixing an antibiotic with DMSO increases its potency, in part because it more
easily travels into the body (e.g., in this study, the antibiotic was dissolved
in DMSO, directly applied to the eardrum, and then was able to enter the ear),
partly because DMSO has its own antibacterial properties, and partly because
DMSO decreases antibiotic resistance in bacteria (which will be discussed later
in this series).
Additionally,
he also found:
•Because
of the marked drying up activity of DMSO, a subsequent treatment with a
high-fat cortisone ointment was sometimes necessary to use afterward when
treating otitis media.
•For irritating nasal infections or inflamed hair follicles, that the feeling
of tension and pain significantly diminished within half an hour of DMSO and
typically, 2-4 applications were required.
•That
infections of the throat (e.g., tonsillitis) required internal applications of
DMSO onto the inflamed area (rather than from the outside) and that cases with
edema frequently had dramatic results (e.g., edema of the uvula often
disappeared within hours).
•Significantly
facial injuries (all of which had accompanying hematomas and included 2
traumatic hematotympanums and 2 hematomas of the nasal septum) had excellent
responses (e.g., the hematomas and swelling distinctly improved on the first
day, and the healing process as a whole was reduced to about half to a third of
the average time and the 2 nasal septum hematomas did not require an incision
or lead to colliquation).
•Three
patients who had lost their smell were treated with DMSO. One had a striking
response and immediately regained it; the other two had temporary improvements
after each administration of DMSO.
•Many patients with stomatitis apthosa (canker sores) have a good
response to DMSO. Unlike the other applications, 60% DMSO (applied as a spray)
was used.
He then
compiled all of his cases:
Various
disorders included: 4 acute facial paralyses (2 improved), 4 herpes simplex (3
improved), 2 chronic Herpes zoster otitis (both rapidly improved), 2 Parotitis
(both improved), 2 phlegmons of the mylohyoid (both improved) and 3 anosmnias
(all improved).
Note:
most of the poor responses in otitis media were in chronic cases. Of the 27, 4
had a “very good” response, 13 had a “distinct improvement” (but generally
relapsed in a short time), 10 had “no change” and 1 became worse.
A
similar Russian study gave
DMSO with success to 69 children (37 girls and 32 boys) with otitis media and
17 with maxillary sinusitis. In the otitis media cases, 30-50% DMSO (sometimes
mixed with an antibiotic) was poured into a cleaned ear (under slight pressure)
and typically passed through the eustachian tube into the nasopharynx (throat).
In suppurative otitis media, there was a rapid cessation of pussy discharge
from the ears, a return of hearing, and a normalization of the blood. In
purulent inflammation of the maxillary sinus, 30-50% DMSO was given by
injection, and cures were achieved in 4-8 days in the majority of cases, with
the treatments usually lasting long term.
Finally,
one approach for treating middle ear infections is to puncture the ear drum
with a needle and drain it. Since this is quite painful, this
doctor decided to try swabbing a drop of DMSO mixed with tetracaine
against the ear drum, as DMSO both
potentiates local anesthetics and can allow them to pass through the
eardrum without needing to puncture it (which would be immensely painful for
any child). In turn, at the 1966 annual meeting of the American Academy of
Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology, shared that had done this one 107 patients
with serous otitis and 50 with purulent otitis media, of whom 80% had no pain,
and 20% only had slight pain.
Puncturing a child’s ear almost always requires putting them under anesthesia,
which makes the procedure more costly and has its own set of complications, so
having a way to perform the procedure while avoiding anesthesia would be of
great benefit.
Sinusitis
DMSO has
often been observed opening blocked nostrils within a few minutes due to its
antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects, which allow it to reduce swelling
in the sinuses and promote the healing of inflamed tissue. In addition to the
previously mentioned studies where it showed benefit for sinusitis:
•A large DMSO study included
7 female patients (aged 43-66) who had had sinusitis for 1 week to 9 months and
received DMSO. Of them, 2 had a good response to it, and 5 had an excellent
response. Likewise,
•In 1965, Merck sent out guidance to their investigators on what they had learned from treating
approximately 4,000 patients for up to 18 months. In it, they mentioned one of
the conditions DMSO had shown efficacy for was sinusitis and that “A dilute
solution to the nasal mucosa has resulted in the discharge of a great deal of
infected material from the sinuses and relief of pain.”
•A 1992 Russian study found administering 10% DMSO to the sinuses followed by local
oxygenation, within 2 years, 49 out of 52 children had a complete recovery
(including all cases of maxillary sinusitis) whereas many controls receiving
standard treatments did not.
DMSO in Dentistry
Many people find DMSO to be an excellent mouthwash or toothpaste, and
when DMSO is used on the gums, they are much less likely to bleed.
Additionally, DMSO can often relieve pain from a toothache until a dentist is
seen, and pain in the oral cavity can be alleviated by swilling the mouth with
a DMSO drink solution.
Likewise,
some dentists in practice find DMSO (or DMSO combined with an antibiotic) very
helpful for pain, infections, and swelling in the mouth, as well as for saving
teeth that are starting to loosen from periodontitis. In turn, three authors
have reported on dentists using DMSO in their practices:
•Stanley
Jacob reported on a Portland dentist who specialized in restorative
work and found that applying DMSO after a dental procedure consistently
eliminates the pain (from intrapulpal inflammation) that some patients often
experience after dental (even in those who have undergone a full day of restorative
work.
•Another
author reported other dentists use DMSO in a similar manner (e.g., for
pain, infections, and swelling issues or after teeth extractions—where it is
either applied to the gum or outside on the cheek or on the jaw next to the
extraction site) and frequently combine it with other medications (e.g.,
antibiotics). Additionally, he cited a dentist in New York who applies DMSO to
areas that will be x-rayed to prevent the damage the x-ray could cause (as DMSO
has been shown to
do this).
•Another
author reported that pioneering dentists are dropping DMSO into empty
tooth sockets after extractions, especially those for wisdom teeth, as it stops
post-extraction swelling.
A variety
of papers have also been published on DMSO’s value in dentistry:
• A 1969 Polish study
followed, this evaluated 32 male and female patients (ages 18-45) with
periodontal disease. In 13 of the patients, the disease only involved bleeding
and swollen gums. In the other 19, the oozing and painful pockets of infection
extended deep into the gum, sometimes involving the dental nerve, bone, and
loose teeth. After cleaning and repairing the teeth as much as possible, the
patients were treated with DMSO every other day for 7-10 treatments.
Compared to controls, this resulted in “remarkable improvements.” Specifically, there was a total
elimination of pain, decreased bleeding, and gum adherence to teeth in those
patients with superficial disease. At the same time, those with deep infections
reported less inflammation and disappearance of painful symptoms, but none of
them had very loose teeth firm up.
Note: a
preliminary version of this study can be found here.
Following
this, many others were also written outside of America:
•The earliest one I know of was
conducted in 1968 and showed DMSO improved the pulp of monkey’s dental
teeth. Three weeks later, that author then published a study that found DMSO
improved 75% of pulpitis cases, while DMSO plus oxyphenylbutazone (a drug for
gout) or chloramphenicol improved 85% of cases, while placebo only improved 50%
of cases, and five months later published another paper on
using a DMSO combination for pulpitis.
Note: this author conducted controlled studies on using DMSO for pulpitis
for 10 years (e.g., he also published this, this, this, and this study).
•A 1981 Russian study found
DMSO mixed with azathioprine treats periodontosis.
•A 1981 Russian study mixed
DMSO with oxacillin and ectericide was able to significantly accelerate the
healing of a dry socket (an unhealed wound following a dental extraction).
•A 1983 Russian
study of 222 people (176 had acute serous limited pulpitis and 46 —
chronic fibrous pulpitis) found 70% DMSO placed into cavities was effective in
98.4% of acute cases and 89.3% of chronic cases, and that in most cases, this
benefit persisted. Additionally, of 9 of the 16 cases with chronic fibrotic
pulpitis benefitted from DMSO.
•A 1983 Bulgarian study found
15% DMSO mixed with a herbal extract treated periodontal disease.
•A 1986 Russian study found
a DMSO containing paste treated deep caries.
•A 1987 Russian study showed
how DMSO mixed with indomethacin can treat generalized periodontitis
•Another 1987 Russian study found
DMSO helps deep caries and acute focal pulpitis
•A 1988 Russian study found
of adolescent patients found DMSO plus procaine treated chronic parenchymatous
parotitis (inflammation of the salivary glands).
•A 1993 Russian study found DMSO plus short-acting insulin and 5% calcium pantothenate
(B5) safely treated 42 patients ages 23 to 62 with chronic parenchymatous
parotitis.
•A 1998 Russian study found 50% DMSO with 2.5% orthophene stopped type I and type II
autoimmune inflammation in the periodontium.
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Applying
DMSO to the Head
While
applying DMSO to the body will often create positive effects on conditions in
the head since DMSO spreads through the body, it is often necessary to apply
DMSO directly to the area where the issue occurs so a higher concentration of
DMSO can reach the area. In turn, many of the principles for using DMSO I’ve
highlighted throughout this series hold true for the local applications to the
head, but there are also a variety of unique considerations.
For example, people often will have things on their faces they do not want to
transmit in the body such as:
•Contacts
•Metallic residues from the nose pads of glasses.
•Make-up
•Dyes or chemical cleaning products in the hair.
Because
of this, things like contacts must be taken off before using DMSO and you
should ensure the area it is applied to has been cleaned beforehand if any
chemical residue may have been left there.
Note:
it’s also important that each thing you use to dilute DMSO is also chemical
free (so don’t pour it with plastic spoons, don’t use plastic droppers, and be
sure to use purified water to dilute it).
Likewise,
the face is one of the most sensitive parts of the body to DMSO, so typically
topical applications need to be started at a low concentration and gradually
increased rather than a high concentration of DMSO immediately used on the face
(especially stronger gels), as otherwise the skin may get irritated and make
the user not want to use DMSO.
In the
final part of this article, I will discuss the protocols that have been
developed for each of the conditions listed throughout this article (e.g.,
macular degeneration, tinnitus, sinusitis, aerotitis, and dental hygiene),
where to source the best DMSO for doing so alongside some other related
approaches I’ve come across over the years that I’ve found really help these
conditions.
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Source: https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/p/how-dmso-cures-eye-ear-nose-throat?hide_intro_popup=true
