Ear Tube Placement in Kids without Sedation

Our office routinely performs  traditional  ear tube placements in the office, without sedation, starting from the age of 12 years. For those younger than 12 years,  ear tube placement  typically requires general anesthesia, not for pain reasons, but because in order for the procedure to be performed safely, the child has to be totally still. However, a new device called Hummingbird TTS allows for the possibility for ear tube placement without sedation in younger kids. Why? The device allows …

11/19/2018 0

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New Video Showing When and How to Use Ear Drops

Given antibiotic ear drops are one of the more common prescriptions ENT doctors prescribe, this video explains how to properly use ear drops both in kids in adults in 5 steps to treat mild swimmer's ear infections (otitis externa) as well as middle ear infections with or without drainage (assuming hole or tube is present in the eardrum). Step 1: Lean the head over such that the affected ear is pointed straight up. Step 2: Pull the ear gently towards the top and back part of the…

6/23/2018 0

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Cartoon Showing What Surgery Day is Like from a Child's Perspective

Too often, parents expressed to me that online surgery videos like tonsillectomy and ear tubes were too "violent" for them to watch with their child. What is needed is a video that they can watch safely with their child that shows what will happen from a child's perspective, but rated G. No blood, no cuts, and no grossness included. Due to such requested demand, I finally created two videos that can be considered "kid-safe" showing what surgery day will be like fo…

11/10/2017 0

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Video Showing What Surgery Day is Like from a Child's Perspective (Rated G)

Too often, parents expressed to me that online surgery videos like tonsillectomy and ear tubes were too "violent" for them to watch with their child. What is needed is a video that they can watch safely with their child that shows what will happen from a child's perspective, but rated G. No blood, no cuts, and no grossness included. Due to such requested demand, I finally created a video that is "kid-safe" showing what surgery day will be like for them thru their …

10/21/2017 0

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Types of Ear Tubes

Ear tubes are placed whenever adequate ventilation of the middle ear is compromised and unresponsive to medications. Such situations include chronic ear infections , eustachian tube dysfunction , hearing loss due to fluid, etc. Once the decision is made to place an ear tube, the surgeon has many choices of ear tubes that could be placed. There are three main "classes" of ear tubes: grommet tubes (A), intermediate tubes (B), and T-tubes (C). When selecting what class of tube to pl…

6/06/2015 0

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Why Is Eustachian Tube Balloon Dilation to Treat Eustachian Tube Dysfunction Slow to Catch On?

Eustachian tube dysfunction  is a phenomenon whereby a person is unable to  pop their ears  to relieve symptoms of ear pressure, clogging, or fullness. It is much akin to the ear pressure a person experiences when flying, but at ground level. Traditionally, treatment of this condition involved medications like steroid nasal sprays and prednisone along with active valsalva (watch video below). Once medical treatment has failed,  ear tube placement  has been the step of last resort. However,…

11/13/2012 35

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