A blocked nose is not only annoying, but is extremely discomforting. Several reasons can be held responsible for it and common cold is certainly not the only one. Some other reasons include:
1. Flu
2. Allergy
3. Sinus

Therefore, the remedial measures for blocked nose vary, depending on the cause that led to it. Some of the ways by which you can redress this problem are:

Use a humidifier: Sinusitis is often held responsible for a clogged nose, a condition that is almost always accompanied by severe pain. In such a situation, placing a humidifier in a room proves to be extremely beneficial. This machine treats blocked nose by converting the water to moisture. This fills up the room and significantly increases the humidity of the room. Therefore when you breathe, the humid air soothes the inflamed blood vessels in the nose and helps you to breathe properly.
Take a hot shower: When you find it difficult to breathe, a quick hot shower can go a long way in curing the discomfort. The logic that operates is the steam generated from the hot shower thins the mucus and also considerably reduces the inflammation in the nose, allowing you to breathe normally.
Drink lots of water: Though the suggestion may seem incredible, drinking water actually helps in un-blocking that blocked nose. When you drink a lot of water, the mucus in the nostrils is thinned, at the same time it pushes back the accumulated fluids, thereby curbing the condition of blocked nose.
Using a saline spray: This is one of the most ancient and trusted ways of treating blocked nose. By administering a saline or a nasal spray, the moisture in your nostrils increases and radically diminishes the inflammation.
Use warm compresses: Using a warm compress has been the most reliable form of medication in times of high temperature and also at times of blocked nose. The compress that was dipped in hot water, when placed on the nose and forehead helps to unblock the nasal passages. The soothing effect of the warm compresses reduces the inflammation and facilitates the process of breathing.

Blocked Nose: 5 Remedies For It!

A surgical procedure that is done to alter a deviated septum is called Septoplasty. When the cartilage in the middle of your nose is deviated and is out of position, it can create problems like pain in the nose, problems in breathing and nosebleeds. Septoplasty aims to correct the alignment of the septum so as to improve the airflow and rectify any breathing problem. This surgery is generally an outpatient procedure and can be done with general or local anaesthesia.

The septum is the cartilage that causes the division between the two nostrils. When the alignment of the septum falters, it is called a deviated septum. If the septum shifts to one side, then the size of one of the nostrils reduces and causes breathing troubles. Some people are born with a deviation in the septum, but often times it can be caused by an injury to the nose as well. Surgery is the only means to correct this deformity.

What are the risks associated with septoplasty?
Septoplasty is a major surgery, and just like any other surgery, it has its risks. The risks may include heavy bleeding, adverse reaction to anaesthetics used or infection of the site of surgery. The other risks that are associated with septoplasty include

Profuse bleeding
Decrease in olfactory senses
Change in the shape of your nose
A perforation in the septum
Temporary sensation of numbness of facial area due to the effects of anaesthetics
Collection of blood in the nasal space, which needs special medical attention to be drained out
Sometimes the symptoms such as blocked nose, bleeding etc. may persist even after undergoing the surgery.
How to recover from the surgery?
After the surgical procedure, your doctor may ask you to take precautions in order to reduce the chances of swelling and bleeding. Depending upon the severity of the surgery, your doctor may advice you to abide by all of the restrictions such as:

Curbing on activities such as aerobics and jogging which can put strain on your body. This precaution is practiced to maintain normal blood pressure in order to avoid nosebleeds
Do not blow your nose
Avoid wearing clothes that you have to take off by pulling over your nose to avoid brushing against it
Put your head on an elevated platform when sleeping

Septoplasty - Procedure and Recovery!

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?

One of the irritating conditions that can affect the mouth of a person is sores, which can be quite painful. These sores can affect anyone of any age group or gender. Sores may make it difficult for a person to eat, speak or even swallow. Here are a few ways through which you can get rid of mouth sores quickly or at least alleviate the symptoms to lessen the pain:

1. Topical Products - There are various types of creams and lotions which are available in the market as over the counter drugs for treating or at least lessening the symptoms of mouth sores. Some of the common chemicals used to treat the sores are Fluocinonide, Benzocaine and Hydrogen peroxide.

2. Food and nutritional supplements - In many cases the sores are caused within the body due to deficiency of nutrients such as Zinc, Vitamin B12 or B6 and the doctor may prescribe special medications to supplement the need for those within the body.

3. Rinses - Certain special types of oral rinses are prescribed by the doctors when treating mouth sores. Most of the rinses prescribed by the doctors have a steroid, namely dexamethasone, which proves to be effective in the treatment of mouth sores.

4. Cauterizing or destroying sores - In certain cases where topical or oral treatments haven't worked it may be necessary to correct it by cauterizing or using a special device to burn and destroy the sore so that new tissues can grow in its place.

5. Oral medications - Certain oral medications may be prescribed for sores which are caused due to underlying physical conditions such as ulcers.

6. Avoiding spicy food - Spicy foods are also a leading cause for canker sores as it may cause chemical imbalances within the stomach as well as inside the mouth and hence should be avoided as much as possible.

7. Improving general oral hygiene - Regular brushing, flossing, and proper oral care will definitely reduce the chances of getting oral sores.

7 Ways to Get Rid of Mouth Sores

Acute sinusitis is a type of infection of the sinus. It involves an infection or inflammation of your sinus membranes. The most common symptom of sinusitis is that you have trouble draining mucus from your nose. The sinus is the cavity around the nasal passage and it may swell up when this condition occurs. Usually, the symptoms are temporary. However, sometimes, especially if you suffer from chronic sinusitis,medical intervention is required.

Saline Nasal Spray: This is a spray you put into your nose several times a day to clean your nasal passages.
Nasal Corticosteroids: There are many types of nasal corticosteroids. They include fluticasone, budesonide, mometasone, beclomethsone. These nasal sprays not only help to treat inflammation, they help prevent to prevent inflammation as well.
Aspirin: This is a type of OTC pain relievers and they help relieve the pain of acute sinusitis. Acetaminophen and ibuprofen are two other OTC pain relievers which can be used instead of aspirin.
Antibiotics: Antibiotics are usually not required and should never be taken without the doctor's prescription. However, sometimes the doctor may recommend it if he thinks there is a bacterial infection or if the symptoms progress rapidly.
Immunotherapy: Immunotherapy is given when allergies are the reason you are having acute sinusitis. It is rarely needed, however.
Surgery: For sinusitis symptoms which are chronic or occur frequently, nasal surgery may be the best option for permanent relief. A number of different surgical procedures can be used to treat acute sinusitis such as balloon sinuplasty, endoscopic sinus surgery etc.

Treatment of Acute Sinusitis

Don't wait any longer, manage your Otologist/ Neurotologist online with a Lybrate doctor today

Consult for Otologist/ Neurotologist - Online and Easy!

FilterClear All

COMMON SPECIALITIES

COMMON ISSUES