[Alandriel (OP)]

[if this better belongs in a different forum please do zap it along... I could not make up my mind]


This is menthol (I just found out....)

it comes from this


.... and sometimes makes this


but I disgress..............


Menthol – synthetic or natural is widely used today e.g. in cough medicines (eases throat irritation), as an antipruritic, topical analgesic etc.

I know about menthol’s ability to chemically trigger cold-receptive sensors in the skin to produce a cooling sensation without an actual drop in temperature. Cool, aye (literally !) []

But how does inhalation and or application of menthol work to have a decongestant action?

I’ve wondered many times and again tonight as I put a few drops in a bowl of hot water and stuck my head over it covered by a towel to ease my cold. It works – I know it does, but how exactly? Surely it's more complicated and interesting than just a simple trick of sensors.....

[lyner]

Might this get an answer in another forum?
I'd love to know more.

[JimBob]

I'll just ask again - why does the (menthol) loose its flavor on the bedpost over-night so someone will answer this question.

[paul.fr]

Menthol is supposed to be a mild anaesthetic, beyond that the answer i do not know.

[Alandriel (OP)]

Perhaps this will fare better in a different forum  []

Dear resident mods where do you think shall its new residence be?
Where resides the highest probability to find an answer....

[JimBob]

As you wish, my dear, Presto!

[JimBob]

OK - Who are you trying to fool. You already know the answer to this question - you answered this yourself, Alendriel. Or is senility setting in??

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=350.msg130084#msg130084

 []

Your OK, we all do it.