ENT Treatment
Ear Infections
Ear pain, also known as otalgia or earache, is pain in the ear. Primary ear pain is pain that originates inside the ear. Referred ear pain is pain that originates from outside the ear.
Ear infections are more common in children. In fact, it is the most common infection in infants and toddlers. If your child has an ear infection, it may be difficult to detect. Here are some things you may notice about your child:
Pulling or tugging on the ears
Increased fussiness, especially at bedtime
Fails to startle at loud noises or does not consistently respond to name
Eating or drinking abnormally
Ear Infections Treatment
Acute ear infections present with ear ache which may be very severe and tenderness with the patient wincing on touching the pinna. There may be ear discharge and blockage as well. Over the counter pain killers can be taken to provide temporary relief of the pain. A visit to an ENT specialist will diagnose the site of infection and medicine will be prescribed accordingly.
Chronic ear infections may require surgical correction of the ear drum perforation as well as the mastoiditis or inflammation that needs to be cleared as well.
Eardrum Injury:
An ear drum rupture is a small hole or tear in your eardrum, or tympanic membrane. Ear infections, pressure changes, and injury are common causes of eardrum ruptures. A ruptured eardrum can heal without any invasive treatment, and it rarely leads to permanent hearing loss. Get the ear examined by an ENT specialist to see the extent of damage including hearing loss and to understand
Eardrum Injury Treatment
Treatments for eardrum rupture are mainly designed to relieve pain and eliminate or prevent infection.
Patching
If your ear does not heal on its own, your doctor may patch the eardrum. Patching involves placing a medicated paper patch over the tear in the membrane. The patch encourages the membrane to grow back together.
Antibiotics
Antibiotics can clear up infections that might have led to your eardrum rupture. They also protect you from developing new infections from the perforation. Your doctor may prescribe oral antibiotics or medicated eardrops. You may also be told to use both forms of medication.
Surgery
In rare cases, surgery may be required to patch the hole in the eardrum. A surgical repair of a perforated eardrum is called tympanoplasty. During tympanoplasty, your surgeon takes tissue from another area of your body and grafts it onto the hole in your eardrum.
Home Remedies
At home, you can ease the pain of a ruptured eardrum with heat and pain relievers. Placing a warm, dry compress on your ear several times daily can help. DO NOT PUT ANY OIL OR DROPS INTO A RUPTURED EAR DRUM. It will interfere with the spontaneous healing process.
Treatment of Clogged Ear
Clogged or plugged ears refers to “a feeling of fullness or pressure in your ears” due to obstruction of eustachian tubes (that results to positive or negative pressure in the middle ear) that connect the nose and your middle ears.Clogged ears might be accompanied with some earache, ear pain, dizziness, popping or crackling sound, muffled sense of hearing, etc.
The ENT doctor will examine your ears and may need to carry out an impedance audiometry test and pure tone audiometry test to assess the hearing loss, negative pressure etc .
Wax or cerumen collection is the commonest cause of ear blockage. Wax does not need cleaning unless it blocks the canal and causes pain, hearing loss or blockage. Soft wax can be removed by your doctor painlessly by the right instruments and suction. Hard wax needs softening with drops before it can be removed.
Treatment For Thyroid Problem
The thyroid gland is part of your endocrine system, which produces hormones that coordinate many of your body’s functions. Many diseases of the thyroid gland need treatment with the endocrinologist and ENT surgeon working in tandem to treat you.