Hi,
good or bad, I could reach better results with packing. Also, for me it was very helpfull to use packing while diving CW (FI, ..). The benefits in theses cases are trivial, I think.
I haven't heard of anyone among my friend, who had hurt her-himself because of packing. I saw BO a few times because of packing too much, but this also depends on the person.
I think, we should ask Tom about the possible long term dangers of packing, because he really use very strong packing. He mentioned in an interview, that he would be examined by doctors to check, if there is no hurt in his lungs, because of his extreme packings.
Jee