Severe Sore Throat Due to Abscess Formation: Peritonsillar Abscess or Retropharyngeal Abscess

Strep throat and tonsillitis can cause a bad sore throat. However, when an abscess develops, the sore throat can truly be terrible and unresponsive to antibiotics. Throat abscess comes in two different flavor. The most common is the peritonsillar abscess . More rarely, a retropharyngeal abscess can develop. The pain can be so bad that these patients often go to the ER. Such throat abscesses often require surgical incision and drainage in order to resolve.

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Thyroid Nodules and Thyroid Surgery

Thyroid nodules are a not uncommon (and unwelcome) finding that elicits anxiety in many patients, especially given the possibility of cancer. These videos describe how a thyroid nodule is worked up and treated. Although Dr. Chang no longer treats thyroid nodules, many endocrinologists, ENTs and general surgeons are trained to evaluate and manage thyroid nodules.

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3 Different Videos on Facial Paralysis

Facial paralysis is one of the most disconcerting events that may happen in a person's life, especially given it's disfiguring appearance to others. Otherwise known as Bell's Palsy, it is felt to be most often due to an viral infection of the facial nerve, though it may also be due to other etiologies including cancer, Lyme Disease, etc. Here are 3 different videos describing different aspects of the facial nerve and its related dysfunction.

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Stellate Ganglion Block to Resolve Long COVID Symptoms Including Smell/Taste Loss

There has been a smattering of anecdotal research (with slightly more media coverage) that even a single stellate ganglion block (SGB) may resolve long COVID symptoms afflicting the central nervous system (CNS) including any smell or taste loss within minutes . Long COVID CNS symptoms include brain fog, poor memory, inability to focus, fatigue, etc. Repeat SGB injections typically do not appear to be necessary as the improvement appears to be durable. However, because there is no clear explanat…

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How is Pain Controlled After Tonsillectomy in Kids and Adults?

Pain control after tonsil surgery is an important topic given how common this surgery is. Furthermore, pain control directly influences post-operative complication rates, mainly dehydration and bleeding. With poor pain control, a patient will not hydrate as well as they should leading to a dry throat which further exacerbates the pain. With a dry throat, it increases the risk of bleeding just like chapped lips can lead to cracked bleeding lips. This video goes over how pain is controlled af…

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Why are There So Many Different Treatments for Snoring?

This animation explains why there are so many different treatments for snoring (and sleep apnea ). Also explains why one treatment may cure snoring for one person, and not work at all for another. Check out our online store for snore-related products broken down by anatomic cause. On a different note, I have started to make my own medical animations including this one as I slowly picked things up over the years. I created this animation using vector 2D illustrations with flow and cross-dis…

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