Home Remedies for Swimmer's Ear (aka Acute Otitis Externa)

Swimmer's ear is an infection of the skin lining the ear canal. Swimmers are prone to this kind of ear infection, though even non-swimmers can get it as well mainly due to sweating. This condition medically called "acute otitis externa" is very painful and once experienced, most people will do whatever it takes in order to avoid experiencing it again. Preventative ear drops have been developed over the years to help prevent or treat swimmer's ears, but most commercial ear …

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Smell Training to Help Restore Lost Sense of Smell

It was recently brought to my attention that olfactory training may help restore a lost sense of smell particularly after a viral upper respiratory infection or head trauma where no physical nasal obstruction is present. Olfactory training is analogous to physical therapy used to help restore limb movement after a stroke. Much of the basis found over the possible benefit of olfactory training stems from German research published in 2009 and later supported by a 2020 meta-analysis . One group…

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Gardasil Vaccine Now FDA Approved to Prevent Throat Cancer

On June 12, 2020, the FDA has (finally) approved an expanded indication for the Gardasil-9 vaccine for the prevention of throat and other head and neck cancers caused by the HPV virus. This vaccine was originally designed to prevent cervical cancer, but is now indicated to also prevent vulvar, vaginal, and anal cancers [ link ]. This FDA approval is long overdue given throat cancer due to the HPV virus is THE most common cause of throat cancer for young adults under 50 years of age... eve…

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Top 5 Causes of the Itchy Ear [VIDEO]

A very common problem for which patients see an ENT is the chronic itchy ear. There is no pain... it's just that the ear canal itching is so very annoying and persistent. There are 5 very common reasons for this particular complaint and fortunately, they are all fairly easy to treat. Watch the video to learn more!

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Can Cholesterol Statin Drugs Prevent Sinus Infections?

Lipitor is one example of a common statin drug Prior to 2020, I would have said that it would be preposterous to think that cholesterol medications can influence chronic sinus infections in any way. But a 2020 study published in Laryngoscope determined that statin drugs actually decrease the frequency of chronic sinus infections. Nobody understands why that may be. The effect is relatively small, but definitely present. The population based study found that in those taking a statin, ch…

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ENT Reviews Numerous Medical Scenes from Film and TV [VIDEO]

Over the past few weeks, I have created several videos on YouTube critically reviewing numerous ENT-related medical scenes from TV and film including Grey's Anatomy, House, Chicago Med, Private Practice, Family Guy, The Heat, Cardiac Arrest, etc. ENT topics covered include nasal spray addiction (above) as well as videos below covering emergency trach/crics , severe nosebleed management , otosclerosis , and a severe headache due to Sluder's neuralgia. Depending on how well thes…

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