Smell Loss or Smell Distortions - Why and What Exactly Happens?

Animation goes over why and what exactly happens when the sense of smell changes, whether complete loss occurs (anosmia) versus phantom smells (phantosmia) or distorted smells (parosmia). Collective, these smell orders can be classified as types of dysosmia. The smell sense is due to about 400 different olfactory receptors. Quite a bit more than the 3 photoreceptors used in vision. A given smell perception is due to a specific combination of activated olfactory receptors just like how a par…

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Snoring & Concerned about Sleep Apnea... But Don't Want to do a Sleep Study?

Go2Sleep Smart Wring There are many individuals who snore... but only a percentage of those who snore actually suffer from a sleep disorder like obstructive sleep apnea which has health consequences. Ideally, a formal sleep study should be performed to determine if any medical sleep issue is present given snoring is one of several symptoms that may suggest an underlying problem. However, it is not uncommon that such snorers do not want to see a doctor let alone get a sleep study done.  For su…

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Suspect You Have Hearing Loss... But Hearing Tests Come Back Normal?

Hidden hearing loss or acquired central auditory processing disorder or CAPD is characterized by greater than normal difficulty understanding speech in a noisy environment, for example a loud restaurant… but all hearing tests come back normal. This condition is due to the brain having difficulty separating out relevant speech from other competing sounds whether random noise versus multiple speakers. There is nothing wrong with ear itself and its ability to hear the sounds. The problem is the b…

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Facial Fracture Repair Animations

Facial fracture repair is part of any ENT's residency training. Fortunately, with seatbelt use and protective headgear for athletes, severe facial fractures are no longer very common. Typically, most facial fractures are minor and usually do not require any surgical repair. But, such fractures still do occur and are performed at tertiary care trauma centers where facial fracture repairs are commonly performed by ENT, plastic surgery, and/or oral-maxillary facial (OMF) surgeons. Although I (…

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One-Sided Hearing Loss Caused by Brain Tumor (Animations!)

Average hearing loss by gender and age. Normally, nerve hearing loss occurs at a steady symmetric rate as one gets older. One ear should NOT suffer hearing loss at a faster rate compared to the opposite side. The image shown to the side displays average hearing loss based on gender and age.  As such, if one ear is hearing significantly worse (known as asymmetric sensorineural hearing loss ), there is cause for concern that there may be something unusual going on (assuming no earwax or ear flu…

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Surgical Removal of Eyelid Cancer

As an ENT, we have been trained to removed all sorts of cancerous and non-cancerous lesions of the face whether the cheek, lip, or even the eyelid! However, there are certain locations on the face where even if trained to remove such lesions and reconstruct the surgical defect, it is best left to be performed by experts even more specialized than ENTs. The eyelid is one such location where lesions are best removed by the true experts known as "oculoplastic surgeons." Their background…

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