Hearing Problems: 
Allergy Problems:
Pediatric Problems - Answers Why does my child's ear ache? The most common cause of earache in a child is "Otitis Media", or inflammation of the middle ear. It is the most frequent diagnosis recorded for children who visit physicians for illness. It is the most common cause of hearing loss in children, and may impair learning capacity and even delay speech development. However, if it is treated promptly and effectively, hearing can almost always be restored to normal. What are the symptoms:
What causes otitis media? Sometimes the eardrum ruptures, and pus drains out of the ear.
But more commonly, the pus and mucus remain in the middle ear due
to the swollen and inflamed eustachian tube.This is called middle
ear effusion or serous otitis media. Often after the
acute infection has passed, the effusion remains and becomes chronic,
lasting for weeks, months, or even years. This condition makes one
subject to frequent recurrences of the acute infection and may cause
difficulty in hearing. The surgeon selects a ventilation tube for your child that will remain in place for as long as required for the middle ear infection to improve and for the eustachian tube to return to normal. This may require several weeks or months. During this time, you must keep water out of the ears because it could start an infection. Otherwise, the tube causes no trouble, and you will probably notice a remarkable improvement in hearing and a decrease in the frequency of ear infections. Otitis media may recur as a result of chronically infected adenoids
and tonsils. If this becomes a problem, your doctor may recommend
removal of one or both. This can be done at the same time as ventilation
tubes are inserted. When do tonsils have to be removed? If surgery is necessary, it can be done safely on an outpatient basis. Your child will miss about one week of school following surgery. Chronic infections in the adenoids can also cause recurrent ear infections, and recent studies have indicated that an adenoidectomy can be very helpful in those situations. Allergies or intolerances to antibiotics may influence the exact number of infections required prior to surgery. The decision for surgery involves many factors, including the evaluation
of the throat, the ears, lymph nodes in the neck, a history of allergies
to antibiotics or a peritonsillar abscess, and possibly the results
of other tests such as x-rays and throat swabs. Initially, you and your doctor will discuss where the surgery will be done. This will be dependent not only on you and the doctor's preferences, but also on your insurance plans. Our office staff will help you in determining what facility fits within your insurance plan. For information on Valley Ambulatory Surgery Center's unique approach to pediatric surgery, access their website at www.valleyambulatory.com. back to the top Nasal and Sinus Disorders - Answers What causes a nosebleed? Recurring nosebleeds can be attributed to several causes:
Most nosebleeds (epistaxis) are minor nuisances. But some are quite alarming, and a few are even life threatening. Nosebleeds are classified into two different types.
Which type
of nosebleed did I have? Posterior nosebleeds are more likely to occur in older people, persons with high blood pressure, and in cases of injury to the nose or face. Anterior nosebleeds are common in dry climates or during the winter months when heated, dry indoor air dehydrates the nasal membranes. Dryness may result in crusting, cracking, and bleeding. This can be prevented if you place a bit of lubricating cream or ointment about the size of a pea on the end of your fingertip and then rub it inside the nose, especially on the middle portion of the nose (the septum). A saline nasal spray will also moisten dry nasal membranes. If the nosebleeds
persist, you should see your doctor. Using an endoscope, a tube
with a light for seeing inside the nose, your physician may find
a problem within the nose that can be fixed. He may recommend cauterization
(sealing) of the blood vessel that is causing the trouble. Some people are born with a poor sense of smell or taste. Upper respiratory infections, nasal allergies, sinusitis, or nasal obstruction from polyps or a deviated nasal septum are often blamed for smell and taste disorders. Sometimes a certain medication is the cause of the disorder, and improvement occurs when that medicine is stopped or changed. Although certain medications can cause these disorders, others-particularly anti-allergy drugs- seem to improve the senses of taste and smell. The loss of
the sense of smell and taste may often be restored by eliminating
the sinusitis, septal deviation or polyps, or controlling the allergies
that caused the disorder.  Sinusitis is an inflammation of the membrane lining of any sinus. Acute sinusitis is a short-term condition that responds well to antibiotics and decongestants; chronic sinusitis is characterized by at least four recurrences of acute sinusitis. Either medication or surgery is a possible treatment. Signs and symptoms
of sinusitis may include facial pain or pressure, nasal obstruction,
discolored nasal discharge, headache, fatigue, diminished sense
of smell, pain in the upper teeth, cough, fever, bad breath, and
an aggravation of asthma. The initial treatment for sinusitis is usually 2 weeks of antibiotic therapy accompanied by decongestants. Inhaling steam or nasal saline spray is often recommended to alleviate the sinus congestion and help moisturize the nasal passages. Warm compresses are also useful in relieving facial pain. Patients who
experience a repeated pattern of infections in their sinuses may
have chronic sinusitis. These patients require a full examination
in our office by one of our physicians, and may be referred for
other diagnostic tests including allergy testing, nasal endoscopy,
or a CT scan of the sinuses. Sinus surgery enlarges the natural opening to the sinuses and removes areas of obstruction, resulting in the normal flow of mucus. back to the top What does sinus surgery entail? Basic sinus surgery is performed through the insertion of an endoscope, a very thin fiberoptic tube, into the nose. In the majority of cases, the surgical procedure is performed entirely through the nostrils, leaving no external scars. The procedure is usually performed under general anesthesia and is done as a same day surgery, not requiring an overnight stay. The patient
usually returns to normal activities within four to seven days;
full recovery takes about four weeks. What's
new in sinus surgery? For more information
on this technology, see section What's New on the home page. Some patients suffer from chronic nasal stuffiness that may be due to chronic breathing problems that don't respond well to standard medical treatment. The blockage may be related to structural abnormalities inside the nose or to swelling caused by allergies or viruses. There are several
causes of nasal obstruction. A deviated septum (the partition
between the nostrils) can be crooked or bent as the result of abnormal
growth or injury. This can partially or completely close one or
both nasal passages. The deviated septum can be corrected with a
surgical procedure called septoplasty. Evaluation
is necessary to determine whether the nasal bones have been displaced,
or just fractured or broken. If the nasal bones are markedly displaced,
surgeons often will attempt to realign the bones into a straighter
position under local or general anesthesia. This is usually done
shortly after the injury, so that the bones don't heal in a displaced
position. If the fracture doesn't "pop" back into place,
corrective nasal surgery may be required so that the injury doesn't
compromise breathing. This procedure is typically done on an outpatient
basis.
What causes hearing loss? What are the types of hearing loss? There are three types of hearing loss:
Conductive hearing losses can be treated in a variety of
ways, depending on the problem. For example, adequate hearing can
often be restored by removal of wax from the ear canal, drainage
of fluid from the middle ear (placement of tubes in the eardrum),
repair of a perforated eardrum, or middle ear bone reconstruction.
However, there are times when medical intervention cannot restore
hearing adequately and the patient is referred for evaluation for
a hearing aid. How is a hearing aid selected? After your hearing evaluation, you and your audiologist are ready to select your hearing aid. Together you will decide which style of aid is really best for you, which features you need, and whether you need one or two hearing aids. Most of the hearing aids fitted today fall into one of four styles that range from behind-the-ear models to the smallest units that fit completely within the ear canal. The term "hearing aid" seems outdated today, as most
devices are actually small computers that fit right into the ear.
Thanks to electronic technology, many revolutionary valuable features
are available for hearing aids. Some of these may be right for you.
Discuss your options with the professionals at Fox Valley Ear, Nose,
and Throat. Should I clean the earwax out of my ears? Under ideal circumstances, you should never have to clean your ear canals. However, we all know that this isn't always so. If you want to clean your ears, you can wash the external ear with a cloth over a finger, but do no insert anything into the ear canal. If you suffer from earwax blockage, our physicians can prescribe
various numbers of home treatments that can be used to soften the
wax. If those are not effective, he may prescribe eardrops designed
to soften the wax, or he may wash or vacuum it out. Occasionally,
our ENT specialists may need to remove the wax using microscopic
visualization.
Allergy Problems - Answers How will I be tested for allergies? Allergy testing is done to help gather specific information so your doctor can determine what you are allergic to and how to provide the best treatment for your allergy. A common test used to determine the allergic sensitizations of a patient is called the RAST test. This is a test that is done with merely a blood sample. The results are not affected by any medication a patient may be taking. Fox Valley Ear, Nose, and Throat uses the RAST test
as their primary allergy testing technique as it is very sensitive
and specific for allergy diagnosis. It has also been found to be
very helpful in our practice in diagnosing food allergies. Which allergens will I be tested for?
All of these allergens are typically made of proteins, and the
RAST test will identify those proteins to which you might
react. |
