Tinnitus is the ringing in the ears in the absence of any external sound and the ringing heard is not related to any external source. Tinnitus is a symptom due to underlying ear disease.

Epidemiology

Worldwide 10%-15% of the population suffer from tinnitus and those suffering from ear-related problems are 85% of the population.

How do we know whether it is subjective or objective tinnitus?

Subjective tinnitus is the sound which only the patient hears and objective tinnitus is the sound which others can hear as well along with the patient. Ninety-five percent of the people suffer from subjective tinnitus due to problems in the inner, middle, and outer ear whereas rest 5% suffer from objective tinnitus which is due to any structural defect in the ear, neuromuscular condition, or a tumor in the head, neck, and brain.

Causes

Prolonged exposure to loud sound for a long duration can cause permanent damage to the ear, whereas exposure to a sound for short duration may restore hearing back.
Middle ear infection.
Injury to ear.
Age-related hearing loss: Hearing gets hampered with age which starts around 60 years of age. Hearing loss can lead to tinnitus.
Meniere s disease: It is an inner ear disease; tinnitus is an early symptom
Earwax: Normally earwax protects ear canal from dirt. When it accumulates, wax gets built up causing blockage leading to hearing loss.
Emotional stress Diseases of the heart
Drugs, such as aspirin, antidepressants, quinine, cancer medications, and diuretics.
Temporomandibular joint disorder
Acoustic neuroma
How to deal with it?

First, treat the underlying cause.A patient suffering from tinnitus should be counseled every 15 days. It reduces the stress onto those who are suffering from tinnitus and will boost up the patient.Tinnitus maskers/hearing aid is helpful in ignoring tinnitus frequency. Maintain your cardiovascular health with regular exercise, yoga, meditation, and medicines which control blood pressure. All these factors can help prevent tinnitus.

Can tinnitus be fatal?

It can vary from mild to severe which can cause distress such as interference with sleep and normal day to day routine activities. It can affect patient psychologically so much that patient goes into depression and can commit suicide.

How to evaluate tinnitus?

It can include an audiogram (hearing test), measurement of acoustic parameters and some of the imaging studies to be performed.

A pure tone hearing test is to be performed to find out the cause. Acoustic measurement of tinnitus includes measuring several parameters like frequency, the range of frequency, bandwidth, and loudness in dB above hearing threshold.
Residual inhibition helps indicate how useful tinnitus maskers would be.
Imaging studies like magnetic resonance angiography and Transcranial Doppler are to be performed to find out the underlying cause.

Tinnitus - What Causes It?

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?

A nosebleed also called epistaxis medically is normally not dangerous, but if you are old nosebleeds come with a number of risks. Treating a bloody nose incorrectly can only make it more dangerous, because of prolonged bleeding. Before we explain the ways to stop nosebleeds, let s take a look at its causes:
Nosebleeds usually start from just inside the entrance of the nostril. But, why? Because the blood vessels here are quite fragile and are also prone to rupture easily. This is the reason why children suffer from nosebleeds so easily. Other common reasons are

A blocked nose due to colds
Picking one's nose roughly
Blowing one's nose
Injuries
Use of cocaine
A nosebleed usually lasts for about 10-20 minutes and is usually easy to treat. But in some conditions, this bleeding can be profuse and last longer like in cases of 

Heart failure
Blood clotting disorders
Due to 'blood thinning' medicines
Hypertension
Bleeding can sometimes also happen in areas further back in the nose due mostly to injuries and disorders of the nose.

Treatment
Usually, nosebleeds can be stopped using simple first aid.

Sitting up straight helps, especially along with tipping your head forward. It is vital that you don t tip your head backwards as this can allow the blood to go down your throat and cause vomiting. And this can make your nosebleed worse. So, take care to spit out the blood in your mouth and not to swallow it.
To stop a nosebleed, pinch the soft, cartilaginous part of your nose using your thumb and forefinger. Spraying your nose with a medicated nasal spray before pinching it can help the bleeding to stop faster. Apply pressure for 10 minutes to get results. Check if your nosebleed has stopped after 10 minutes if it s not; apply pressure for another 10 minutes. Nosebleeds usually stop after 10 to 20 minutes of pressure.
Use an ice pack to your nose and cheeks. This will constrict the blood vessels in the nose and stop the nosebleed.
Use a saline- or water-based nasal gel inside your nose to stop bleeding.
Remember not to blow your nose or insert anything into your nose for at least 12 hours after your nosebleed is over.
If the bleeding doesn t stop even after 20 minutes of applying direct pressure, it s prudent to rush to a doctor. He will treat your nose to stop the bleeding.
In a few rare cases, the bleeding is so severe that a blood transfusion is needed, and surgery may be needed to stop it.

Nosebleed - How It Can Be Stopped?

The tonsils are soft tissue masses which are located at the back of your throat, usually at the pharynx. The tonsils are masses which are part of the lymphatic system that helps fight infections. However, tonsils can themselves become inflamed and cause a lot of pain. Tonsillectomy is a procedure to remove the tonsils and relieve pain.

Why is tonsillectomy performed?
A few decades back, tonsillectomy was a routine surgery performed to relieve any pain within the tonsils. This method of treatment however has changed over the past few decades as pain medications for inflammation have improved vastly. However, tonsillitis is still performed in many cases wherein it tends to cause acute problems. Some of the cases it is applicable in are:

Chronic bad breath problems caused by recurrent inflammation of the tonsils
Recurrent sore throats caused by tonsillitis
It is also done along with dental surgery for correcting teeth with imperfect positioning
Abscess formation in the mouth
Upper airway being obstructed due to inflammation, thus causing difficulty with sleeping, snoring, or causing sleep apnea (irregular breathing during sleep)
Ear infections being regularly caused by inflammation of the tonsils
Other reasons why it may be recommended
Tonsillectomy may be also be recommended when there are no indications of problems but tonsillitis and other infections keep cropping up too regularly. This affects children and can make them sick or keep them in pain regularly. Some of these other indications are mentioned below:

Tonsil infections and inflammations happening too frequently within a year
Tonsillitis is caused by bacterial infection wherein the antibiotics aren t effective
Formation of pus in the form of an abscess within or around the tonsils which keep forming even after repeated drainage or administering antibiotics
Possible complications and risks
Like any other form of surgery, tonsillectomy has certain risks associated with it as well. However, these are very rare. Some of these risks and complications are mentioned as follows  

Swelling of the mouth: The tongue and the soft palate or the roof of the mouth may swell, resulting in breathing difficulties an few hours after the surgery.
Infection: As is the case with any surgery, infections may occur in rare cases, which may require further treatment.
Adverse reactions to anesthetics: Many patients exhibit an adverse reaction to anesthetics and may develop symptoms such as a headache, nausea, muscle soreness and frequent vomiting.
Bleeding during surgery or healing: Although it is rare, bleeding during and after surgery has been reported after all sorts of procedures and it may occur with tonsillectomy as well. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult an ENT specialist.

Tonsillectomy - When Should You Go For It?

Ear discharge may occur due to several reasons. Injury or trauma to the ear canal, a ruptured ear drum or an infection in the middle ear may be the most common causes of ear discharge. Eczema, swimmer s ear and other skin irritations may also lead to this problem. While there are some simple home remedies to treat this disorder, always consult an ENT specialist if the discharge does not stop after the application of those treatments. Let us look at some common ways to treat this disorder.

Use gravity: While this method does not treat ear discharge per se, it does help in draining the fluid build-up in the ear. Just lie down on your side keeping the affected ear parallel to the ground. Use your finger to create a vacuum inside your ear and drain the fluid inside it. The finger must be clean. You can also use a cotton wad for this purpose. Another way could be by simply lying on your side with a towel under your ear.
Use a warm compress: This treatment promotes the flow of ear discharge to its outer part, thereby alleviating the pain. Dip a clean piece of cloth in warm water, wring the cloth as much as you can and then place it around your ear for 2-5 minutes. Lie down on your side.
Inhale steam: Inhaling steam, opens up the Eustachian tube, thereby promoting the flow of the trapped ear discharge. Simply mix a little bit of eucalyptus oil with some water, boil the mixture and inhale the steam. Tilt your head to one side so that the fluid drains out. Do this exercise for 5-10 minutes. Cover your head and the water with a towel to prevent the steam from escaping. Repeat this exercise as needed.
Use vinegar and rubbing alcohol mixture: Vinegar and rubbing alcohol have excellent anti-microbial properties. Mix equal parts of white vinegar and rubbing alcohol. Put some drops of the mixture in a dropper. Lie down on your side with the infected ear upwards. Insert some drops of the solution with the dropper in your ear. Wait for 10 minutes and then drain out the ear discharge by tilting the infected ear to the other side. Repeat this exercise twice a day for better results.
Use garlic oil: Crush 2-3 garlic cloves and extract its oil. Use a dropper to put 2-3 drops of this extract into your affected ear. Tilt the head to one side so that the juice settles down. Now hold a dryer next to the infected ear and let the warm air blow inside it. Repeat this exercise twice a day for better results.

Ear discharge - 5 Ways to Manage it at Home!

Laryngitis is referred to as the inflammation of the vocal cord or the larynx situated in the throat either due to it s over usage or certain infections. This condition spreads rapidly and does significant damage to the larynx. Laryngitis can be acute or chronic. If not diagnosed timely, laryngitis can cause significant problems in the respiratory system such as experiencing trouble while breathing. Laryngitis can be treated with antibiotics and with other home remedies such as gargling with warm salt water, giving your voice some rest and drinking sufficient water (around 2-2.5 liters) in a day to keep dehydration at bay. Make sure you avoid any caffeinated beverage and alcohol if such a condition develops. In urgent cases of laryngitis, a prescribed dosage of corticosteroids and antibiotics can provide relief.

Causes
The causes of laryngitis depend considerably on the form of laryngitis. If the laryngitis is of acute nature, then it might have been caused due to an infection and it tends to go away after suitable treatment. In the case of chronic laryngitis, the inflammation is caused due to a frequent exposure to irritants. This condition has long sustained effect and tends to be painful. The causes of laryngitis are as follows:

Apart from viral and bacterial infections, an acute form of laryngitis can be caused due to the impairment of the vocal cord as a result of constantly talking or screaming at a high-pitched voice.
Acid reflux (acidity) and frequent instances of sinus infections can cause chronic laryngitis.
Excessive consumption of tobacco and alcohol might cause chronic laryngitis.
Constant exposure to toxic chemicals might cause chronic laryngitis.
In some cases, prolonged huskiness of the throat might be a symptom of a serious underlying medical condition such as cancer or vocal cord paralysis. In such a case, you should seek medical attention as soon as possible.
The symptoms of laryngitis are as follows:

A constant sensation of dry throat which might lead to permanent impairment of voice
Persistent sensation of titillation in the throat coupled with a persistent dry cough
Significant pain while swallowing food
Feeling of fullness in the throat
Severe pain in the throat

Laryngitis - Signs You Are Suffering From It!

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