Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with ent

Why do I have to clear my throat so much?

Anonymous — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:23:02 -0800

Why do I have to clear my throat all of the time? When I'm speaking, my voice often becomes croaky to the point where I can't speak normally without sounding like Tom Waits on his deathbed. This is normally resolved by me clearing my throat rather audibly (ahem-uh-huh-hem!), after which I can speak fine again. I might have to do this five or six times in an hour long presentation. I'm not spitting out or swallowing phlegm, my voice is just unusably scratchy until I clear my throat. Occassionally, clearing my throat does nothing, and I'm left with a voice that can barely speak. This happens with my normal conversations, too, not just presentations. My occupation sometimes requires extensive public speaking (hence the anonymous), but I still have the problem of having to clear my throat even when I don't have a lot of speaking to do.

Gargling with salt water seems to improve my ability to speak, as does drinking tea and sucking on lozenges. If I sleep well, there is a slight improvement, sometimes.

Is the throat-clearing serving the function of removing phlegm? Should I see a ENT? Have you had similar problems? How did you manage the problem?

Look into my...ear

bilabial — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:51:38 -0800

YANMD filter. I have had an earache for...a long time. I need a super low cost ENT type visit in the miami/fort lauderdale area. I've been taking ibuprofen and benadryl to faciltate sleeping at night. This was fine with me until it stopped working.

I'm under employed and uninsured (working 11-15 hours/week, had a hopeful job interview today). Minute Clinic at cvs (a drugstore chain here in Florida) is the cheapest option I can find, but at $62 for the visit, that's just not affordable. I do not have a credit card. I'm not in need of emergency room care, so please don't suggest I go there. I'm not currently enrolled in college classes, so utilizing campus health is not possible.

My google fu is failing me and at the moment my ear hurts so badly that chewing is uncomfortable. I can't put this off until I get health insurance or find a winning lotto ticket in the gutter.

I have a broward county bus pass and a bike. I could use the Miami buses. I might be able to get a ride someplace from a friend. So, transportation is a challenge, but less of a barrier than money.

Is there a clinic with a sliding scale? Does anyone have a doctor friend in Miami who could look into my ear and say, 'yup that's infected.' (I've had a lifetime of ear infections. I'm 70% certain that's what it is. Of course, I'm not a doc, and even if I were, I'm not physically able to look into my ear. So my guess at what the problem is doesn't amount to much. What I know is, it hurts and before I consider drinking myself to sleep, I need to see a doctor.)

Finding doctors in NYC

cosmic osmo — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 12:48:29 -0800

What's the best way to find doctors in NYC? I have a couple of non-urgent but nagging health concerns I'd finally like to see a doctor for. I don't have have a PCP at the moment (I'm a bit too old--22--to see my pediatrician, and I had my college's health center to use for the last couple of years, so I never really bothered having anyone at home). I'm looking specifically for a dermatologist, an ENT, an ob/gyn, and I guess I should probably find a GP, too (even though I will probably end up using the ob/gyn as my PCP). I do see a psychiatrist and a neurologist on a (semi) regular basis, but it seems kind of random to get recommendations/referrals from completely unrelated fields of medicine, if they even do that kind of thing.

What I've been doing so far is cross-referencing my insurance company's list of in-network providers with NY Magazine's Best Doctors list from this year and come up with a couple of overlaps, but that seems like an arbitrary way to do things. I've seen RateMDs.com but there's very little useful information on there. Getting recommendations from friends has been pretty unsuccessful.

So...anyone have a dermatologist/ENT/ob-gyn/GP in the Manhattan/Brooklyn area that's really fabulous they'd like to recommend? Advice for improving my doctor search? How did you end up with your doctor? Should I get a GP first and let them take care of the referrals?

Help with sinus ear pressure

rbf1138 — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 13:51:20 -0800

I have ear sinus pressure, muffled hearing, and general discomfort in one of my ears. Help me find some relief until my doctor's appointment. About 2 weeks ago, sound in my left ear started to sound muffled. I'd experienced this i nthe past once or twice before, and had gone to the ENT and just had some wax removed (from overuse of Q-tips). I figured this was the case now, and so I went to my campus health services, where the doctor told me my ears looked clean, it was likely a sinus issue, and some Sudafed would clear it up.

Yesterday it had been about 2 weeks since this started -- and after taking Sudafed -- it had not gone away. For whatever reason, I felt like it had gotten slightly worse, and tried some earwax drops to see if it did anything. Well, all it seemed to do was create even more pressure in my ear, and even more trouble hearing anything. Since yesterday, my ear has felt full with liquid, completely muffled, and incredibly uncomfortable.

When I burp or yawn, it opens up a bit for a few seconds. I called and scheduled an appointment with an ENT on Monday, but this is making me mental, and was wondering a. is there anything I can safely try to relieve the pressure until Monday, and b. what procedure(s) is the doctor likely to try?

Thanks.

Tonsillectomy or sinus surgery or both?

ictow — Thu, 29 May 2008 13:05:30 -0800

I am a classic example of poorly-designed nose and throat, and I want to fix it. But my ENT doesn't have any advice and I don't know what's going to do the trick. Post-nasal drip, rampant sinus infections, tonsillar crypts (and accompanying gross white debris), snoring, permanent stuffy nose, coughing up phlegm. It's a hoot. I've tried allergy medicine and neti pots, and while both help a little, I'm never in the clear. I was at the ENT today and he said that despite all of my symptoms none are so bad that it's clear what needs to be done. It's been a dream of mine to get my tonsils taken out, and they're what I've blamed, but now I'm nervous that it might be some crabby sinuses causing the ruckus and the tonsillectomy will result in bupkis. I can get a CT scan that might provide answers, but I'm on a cafeteria insurance plan and am reluctant to spend $400 unnecessarily. I know I don't have any polyps. So any IANAD-advice from people who have been there? What worked, what didn't?

My ear is clogged - it isn't wax -- and I'm frightened.

John Kenneth Fisher — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 22:59:13 -0800

Something is really wrong with my ear - It feels very clogged, very stuffed, and I can't hear out of it well at all - It isn't wax, after a week of trying over the counter wax removal stuff, I went to a Doc who confirmed that my ears were clean and not waxy - so it must be stuffed up on the other side, and she gave me some prescription decongestant. She said it would clear in 24 hours or so - That was Saturday. It's very unpleasant, and with it not going away, it's actually really scary - and with my work hours, I can't get back to the doc until the weekend at the earliest. Anyone have thoughts, suggestions, anything? I'm really quite desperate at this point.

My jaw is making my ear hurt.

junkbox — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 13:09:07 -0800

What sort of specialist should I visit to examine/treat me for TMJ? For the last few years, I've been experiencing intermittent pain centered in the cartilage in front of my right ear. I also think I have some mild hearing loss in this ear, which may or may not be related to the pain. I finally went to my PCP, and a nurse practitioner examined me, said everything inside my ear looks perfectly normal, mentioned the possibility of TMJ, and referred me to an ENT specialist.

I feel pretty sure that my pain (and maybe the hearing loss as well) is related to TMJ; I have a history of jaw-grinding, the pain responds well to heat/warmth, etc. Should I go ahead and see an ENT, or is there a better type of specialist who would be more qualified to treat me?

Although I have a physician's office, my trusted PCP is unavailable for a few months. I turn to the collective wisdom of AskMe to explore alternatives to the nurse practitioner's recommendation of an ENT.