When is Your Throat Pain, a Serious One?

Throat pain mainly occurs due to two conditions-'sore throat' or 'strep throat'. Often the terms 'sore throat' and 'strep throat' are used interchangeably, but they don't indicate the same thing. While a sore throat is a condition mostly followed by common cold, runny nose or congestion; strep throat is a bacteria-induced infection. The bacterium called Streptococcus is responsible for strep throat.

The most common reason behind a sore throat is a viral infection like flu or cold. So, if you've a sore throat that is caused by virus, there is no reason to worry as it can be treated easily. But if you are suffering from strep throat or streptococcal infection, then antibiotic drugs for additional treatment will be required to avoid complications.

Signs and symptoms of a strep throat (which indicates that your throat pain is serious and needs attention) include:

Pain while swallowing food
Sore throat which usually persists for more than 48 hours
Small red spots at the roof top of your mouth
Swollen and red tonsils at times with streaks of pus or white patches
Fever
Swollen, benign lymph nodes in your neck
Headache
Rash
Body aches
Vomiting or feeling of nausea, especially amongst younger children

When these signs and symptoms become noticeable, you need to promptly visit your doctor for test and treatment. And, if the reports indicate strep throat, then your doctor will prescribe you some oral antibiotics to reduce the complications and severity of symptoms so that it doesn't spread to others. You are advised to follow your prescription properly and stay indoors for at least a day after starting your medication.



When is Your Throat Pain, a Serious One?

BPPV or Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is a major cause of vertigo. This is a condition that gives a sensation of head spin all of a sudden. It also results in dizziness in brief episodes. The severity level can vary from intense to mild. BPPV is triggered with certain changes of the head position. Although BPPV is bothersome, it isn t serious unless there is a chance of a person falling abruptly because of the head spin. There are ample treatment options available to address this problem.

Symptoms of BPPV
BPPV includes some of the following symptoms:
a. Loss of balance
b. Dizziness
c. Feeling of the surrounding spinning
d. Vomiting and nausea
e. Rhythmic movement of the eye

When to seek medical attention?
If dizziness is accompanied with one of the below-mentioned symptoms, it is time to urgently seek medical attention and get vertigo addressed for good:

Hear loss
Tingling or numbness
Fever accompanies with severe headache
Arm or leg weakness
Problems with vision
Difficulty in walking
Becoming unconscious
Causes of BPPV:
If there is on known cause associated with BPPV, the condition is termed as idiopathic BPPV. In most of the cases, though, BPPV is associated with a severe to minor blow to the head. Other causes include an injury to the inner ear, prolonged sitting position in a fixed posture, even migraine pain is at times associated with BPPV.

What are the risk factors?
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is likely to occur in the age group of 50 and above, this being said it can happen at any age in case of any injuries. Statistically, it is found that the likelihood of BPPV is more in women than men. Head injury of any sort is by far the most likely reason of BPPV.

What are the tests and diagnosis involved?
A doctor is likely to perform a physical examination followed by a series of tests. Some typical signs that a doctor looks for include the following:
Ability to control eye movement- especially side to side movement

Symptoms of dizziness
In case it is difficult to spot the symptoms, a doctor might suggest video- nystagmography or electronystagmography. It helps to track irregular eye movement. An MRI can also be prescribed to study the cross-sectional images of the body and the head.

Treatments associated with BPPV:
BPPV mostly go away within months or weeks on its own. If however, it still persists, a doctor can suggest Canalith Repositioning- series of small movements that helps to counter BPPV. For extreme cases, a doctor might advise a surgery for blocking the portion of the inner ear that might be causing the problem. It guarantees close to a 100 percent fix to BPPV.

Vertigo / Dizziness - When To Seek Medical Attention?

What is a foreign body (FB)?
Foreign body or FB is an object or piece of extraneous matter that has entered the body by accident or design. It is common to see certain items getting stuck in the ear, nose or throat especially, in young children. While most of the time they do not raise an alarm, however, sometimes they can lead to severe consequences like rupture of the eardrum or even choking.

How do FBs affect ear, nose and throat?

Children over 9 months develop an ability to pick up objects. As they explore the environment around them, they tend to put items such as peas, beans, marbles, beads, cotton, paper, etc, in their mouth, nose or ears. Similar trend may be seen in adults with mental disorders.
Trauma/ fall/accident can force FBs like rock, pebbles into the ear, nose or throat.
Adults while riding a bike or sleeping on the ground (campsites) can have insects: flies, ants, roaches fly into the nose or ear.
Choking occurs when FBs block the airway, common reasons are: not chewing the food properly, diseases like Parkinsonism, drinking alcohol or certain drugs that slowdowns the process of swallowing.
Managing FB in the ear, nose and throat

Foreign bodies in the ear
Symptoms: Pain in the ear, discharge or bleeding from the ear, feeling of fullness or pressure in the ear and dizziness and nausea in extreme cases.

Management: 

Make sure the patient is sitting in an upright position, pull the pinna or outer semicircle of the ear towards the back. This can help you see the object clearly and also loosen it to wiggle out. If you can see the object clearly, use a tweezer to grasp the object and gently remove.
In case a live insect gets trapped inside the ear lie down and place few drops of warm vegetable or baby oil. Use oil only if symptoms of eardrum perforation like pain, bleeding/discharge from the ear is absent.
Tilting the head to the affected side can facilitate gravity to dislodge the object.
Foreign bodies in the nose:
Symptoms: Pain and difficulty in breathing from that side of the nose.
Management: Keep the uninvolved nostril closed by pressing a finger against the side of the nose and gently ask the person to blow from the affected nostril.

Foreign bodies in the throat:
Symptoms: Choking, inability to breathe and speak 
Management: Perform Heimlich maneuver: abdominal thrusts, if trained otherwise, it is advised to call for medical help immediately.

How can you prevent foreign bodies from entering your ear, nose, throat?

Discourage talking, playing, laughing when food is in the mouth.
Do not give whole grapes, popcorn, nuts to children below 3 years.
Keep small objects out of reach of small children.
Teach children to avoid placing objects into their nose, ears.

Presence Of Foreign Bodies In Ear/Nose/Throat - How It Can Be Managed?

Acoustic neuromas are tumors that develop on the nerves connecting the ear to the brain. Being non-cancerous in nature, they do not spread to other parts of the body. However, they are characterized by symptoms such as gradual or sudden hearing loss, more pronounced with either of the ears, a ringing sensation in the affected ear, weakness, facial numbness and dizziness.

Causes:

Acoustic neuroma can be of two types: one is sporadic in nature and the other is associated with a condition known as neurofibromatosis type II (NF2). NF2 is basically an inherited disorder identified by benign growth in the nervous system. NF2 being a rare disorder, makes the sporadic type the dominant one. Although the causes behind this type of neuroma are still unknown, long term exposure to radiations, especially around the neck and the head, could be one of the most important triggering factors.

Treatments:

Once the diagnosis is done, treatments for acoustic neuroma depend on the growth and size of the tumor.

Diagnosis with the help of monitoring: Small tumors exhibiting no such symptom or slow signs of growth need to be monitored with the use of hearing tests and regular imaging. In case, the MRI scans are able to trace any sort of development on the part of the tumor or if the tumor poses subsequent difficulties, opting for treatment becomes the need of the hour.

Stereotactic Radiosurgery: Also known as Gamma Knife, radiosurgery is a treatment method wherein controlled radiations are used to treat tumors, thus doing away with the need of making any incision.

Surgical Removal: Surgery performed under general anesthesia is directed towards removing the tumor; that helps to preserve the facial nerve and thus inhibit facial paralysis and hearing loss. The tumor is usually removed either through the ear or through the skull.  

Experiencing Dizziness? It Could Be A Sign Of Acoustic Neuroma

A nasal polyp is a growth within the nasal cavity, which may cause problems with your health. Smaller polyps don't tend to create any problem, but larger ones can cause breathing difficulty, sneezing problems, losing the sense of smell and a dampening of taste as well. Conventional medicine usually prescribes surgery, but homeopathy has effective cures to reduce the polyp and lessen the symptoms over time.

Cures for nasal polyps in homeopathy

 Phosphorus: this medication is especially effective if you have nasal polyps that bleed. This is effective with people who have a tall and slender build and tend to develop a thirst for cold water as the polyp grows within them. The polyps may bleed regularly and also block the nostrils in such a way that they get a circular motion when breathing. 
 Lemna minor: this medicine is very effective when there is an intense level of nasal blockage and you are experiencing anosmia or a loss of the sense of smell. These kind of nasal polyps tend to worsen during the wet season and can even cause a thick white discharge from the nose which has a foul smell.
 Calcarea carbonica: useful in the cases of people who are overweight, some homeopathic doctors tend to prescribe this medication in cases where a person may be quickly affected by seasonal changes, such as hot to cold or cold to hot weather. Other symptoms where this medication is applicable are:
 Frequent sneezing
 Profuse sweating during the night
 Sore nose
 Small amounts of white discharge
 Nostrils are mostly dry
 Conium maculatum: this medication is very effective if you have a dry nose, which seems to get sudden discharges irregularly. Instead of a loss of smell, you may develop a more acute sense of smell. If the patient is suffering from frequent sneezes and complains of nasal blocks in the morning, conium can be an effective remedy
 Sanguinaria canadensis: this medicine is know be a great remedy primarily for polyps, which are right sided or occur within the right nostril of the nose. Some of the symptoms where sanguinaria canadensis is very effective are:
 Profuse amounts of nasal discharge
 Frequent sneezing
 Swollen nasal membrane
 Right sided headache along with right sided blockage of nostrils.

Homeopathic Medicine for Nasal Polyps Treatment - Safe Remedies

Doctors believe that tonsils and adenoids have a hand in helping the body fight infections. A common problem children face is enlargement of these organs.

Even though most cases of adenoid and tonsil enlargement subside naturally after a few days, in some instances of the disorder, severe symptoms may force you to seek treatment for your child. Here is a look at some complications from an enlarged adenoid and tonsils.

Complications:

  Hearing loss and chronic infection in the ear is a common complication. This occurs when the enlarged lymph tissue blocks fluid transfer in the ear.
  Sinus infections that recur over time
  Sleep apnoea is a common side effect of adenoid and tonsil disorders. This leads to difficulty in breathing while your child sleeps.
  Weight loss is an indirect consequence of enlargement in these lymph tissues. Your child may not be able to eat properly due to the pain experience while swallowing

In case of severe complications, doctors will recommend getting the adenoid and tonsils removed from your child s body. Coblation is the best option in such a case.

What is coblation surgery?

Coblation stands for controlled ablation. It is a minimally invasive surgical procedure where an electrical handpiece is used to  burn  the affected tissue in the throat of children. Extremely low temperatures rectify the problem by  burning  the affected tissue. When the coblation method is used to remove both the tonsil and the adenoid lymph tissues, the procedure is known as Coblation Adenotonsillectomy.

The coblation method has replaced the older method where metallic surgery instruments were used for the removal of these tissues. Such crude methods often resulted in post-operative complications, especially in children.

Here are some benefits of Coblation Adenotonsillectomy:

  Less bleeding during the surgical procedure, limiting dangers to the child s health
  Less pain and discomfort post the surgery for the child, which leads to faster recovery
  Decreased risk of haemorrhage post-surgery

Consult an ENT specialist to know more about Coblation Adenotonsillectomy. They will be able to clarify any doubts you have regarding your child s safety during the procedure as well.

Adenoid & Tonsil Problems In Chlidren!

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