Ear Pain Due to TMJ Video

Not infrequently, a patient presents to the ENT clinic with complaints of ear pain convinced there must be an ear infection . However, on exam, the ear itself appears completely normal! What could be going on? Often, the ear pain is actually not because of an ear problem, but due to a disorder of the temporo-mandibular joint otherwise known as TMJ. The pain gets referred to the ear. This video demonstrates how the TMJ can cause ear pain . Treatment typically entails soft diet, ib…

11/17/2017 0

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Human Ear Contains a Built-In "Ear Plug"

According to one Australian researcher , by just chewing a gum or singing/talking loudly, one could be protecting your ears from noise-induced hearing damage. How??? It is not common knowledge that the human ear contains two muscles that attach to the middle ear bones called the stapedius and tensor tympani muscles. The middle ear bones, composed of the malleus, incus, and stapes, are what transmits sounds from the eardrum to the cochlea which allows a person to hear. The stapedius muscle…

12/01/2011 3

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Xylitol (Natural Compound) to Prevent Recurrent Sinus and Ear Infections?

Image by Lauri Andler from Wikipedia I only recently became aware of a natural sugar compound called "Xylitol" from a colleague Dr. Russell Faust. I certainly have never heard of it during medical school or surgical training. This naturally-occurring sugar substitute apparently has all sorts of anti-bacterial as well as anti-fungal properties and has been known to doctors and scientists but hardly marketed or promoted in any fashion. However, the importance of this compound …

6/29/2011 0

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Chewing Gum Improves Memory?!!

Image by Mayr from Wikipedia I came across interesting research that hinted at the possibility that chewing gum improves tasks that require memory recall. This was first suggested in a study published in 2002 in the journal Appetite where chewing gum was found to selectively improve aspects of memory in healthy volunteers. The researchers took seventy-five adults and separated them into three groups: those that chewed gum during a twenty-minute test of memory and attention, those that mim…

8/25/2009 0

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