Fauquier ENT Offering Immune Testing to Determine if You are High Risk for Severe COVID-19 Illness

Are you at high-risk or in a vulnerable category for COVID-19? The CDC outlined certain risk factors for severe COVD-19 illness, such as 65 years of age or older, serious heart conditions, diabetes, obesity, liver or kidney disease, and / or immunocompromised health (immune deficiency). Immunocompromise would allow an employee to stay at home and qualify for pay under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act  passed on 3/18/20. This additional benefit is separate from any paid time off you hav…

4/15/2020 0

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Molecular Diagnostic Testing of Infections of the Ears, Nose, or Throat

Our office has recently incorporated molecular diagnostic testing in order to identify and treat stubborn infections of the ear , sinuses , and/or throat. Traditionally, germ identification is determined by cultures whereby a swab of pus is plated on a growth medium. A microbiologist than evaluates these plates and provides a report of what germ has grown out visually. In other situations like strep or mono , the test specifically looks for unique proteins that identify the germ (and ignores…

5/02/2017 0

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Inner Ear Disease Possible Cause for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)?

Image courtesy of Tuomas_Lehtinen at  FreeDigitalPhotos.net A loyal blog reader alerted me to an interesting research suggesting that inner ear disease may be a causative factor of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Apparently this association  made the news in April 2015. SIDS is when a baby without any obvious health issues inexplicably and suddenly dies while sleeping. This risk is mainly present within the first 12 months of life. Although all new parents are informed to institute…

7/24/2015 0

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How Accurate is Food Allergy Testing by Blood vs Skin Prick?

A great new allergy research paper came out in Jan 2014 comparing the accuracy of skin prick versus blood testing for food allergies. In summary, skin prick edges out blood testing in terms of accuracy, however mainly in terms of specificity. Sensitivity of both methods of testing is pretty comparable. However, blood testing tends to give more false-positives (test says you are allergic when you really aren't) compared to skin prick. Blood testing may be more convenient and may prov…

1/20/2015 0

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Diagnostic Test for Laryngeal Sensory Neuropathy (Chronic Cough)? SELSAP

Patients who suffer from a persistent chronic cough  undergo a tremendous amount of testing, trials of medications, and seeing numerous specialists to try and make the cough go away. Ultimately, the cough may be found due to a rare condition called laryngeal sensory neuropathy which is treated with anti-depressant and even seizure medications. This nerve also may contribute to other chronic throat symptoms including globus ,  throat-clearing , phlegmy throat , and  swallowing issues as well…

6/06/2014 3

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30% of Patients with Reflux will NOT Respond to Medications

Specifically, patients who are suffering with throat symptoms of reflux will often not respond to proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) medications. Such throat symptoms include  throat-clearing , phlegmy throat , cough , hoarseness, and globus . Known as LPR (laryngopharyngeal reflux), a study was done measuring the pH at the throat level after 4+ weeks of twice daily PPI. This retrospective study found that although 67.4% had symptom normalization, 32.6% of patients showed no subjective or ob…

3/24/2014 0

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How to Describe Hoarseness?

At heart, physicians are science geeks. And when it comes to a raspy voice , one can go truly bananas in how exactly to describe how a raspy voice sounds. For the layperson, when asked to describe a hoarse voice, one often gets imprecise answers to a question most feel ridiculous... I often get a blank look with an answer that goes something like "You know... raspy... it's not clear." Unfortunately, such a description is inadequate. Even when using more descriptors like deeper…

11/16/2013 0

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Accurate Hearing Testing Using an iPhone

There is an iPhone app called " EarTrumpet " that apparently can provide accurate hearing testing... almost as good as a professionally administered test ( conventional audiometry ) and certainly as good (if not better) than medical-quality automated testing machines (ie Otogram ). Created with the assistance of the ENT department at the University of California, Irvine... According to one study , this iPhone application provided results as good as one administered by an audiol…

9/22/2013 0

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At Home Allergy Testing

Recently, a new at-home allergy test can be found on store shelves throughout the United States as well as Amazon.com . It is called " MyAllergyTest " produced by ImmuneTech Corporation and it is FDA approved. The way it works is that you place a few drops of blood into the collection kit which is than mailed to a lab in a pre-paid, pre-addressed envelope. Results are than obtained via internet or by certified mail in about one week. What's tested? Only ten things (IgE only…

6/08/2013 0

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Kim Kardashian Gets Allergy Testing

Celebrity Kim Kardashian of Keeping up with the Kardashians reality TV show underwent allergy testing with Dr. Mirmelli. Allergy testing was accomplished via skin prick (our office performs allergy testing by blood draw instead called immunocap ). She apparently was allergic to her pet cat... Kim apparently decided to let her pet cat Mercy go... a decision in contrast to what most cat-allergic people do. Watch the video .

3/13/2013 0

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Hearing Aid Styles and Colors - There Are Many!

It is not uncommon that a patient with hearing loss interested in hearing aids  mistakenly believe there's only TWO hearing aid styles . The kind that goes in the ear and the kind that goes behind the ear. Although that is true, there are more different variations of both types that catches many people by surprise. Image taken from NIH There also seems to be a generational gap in what style is preferred by patients. "Older" folks in their 60's or older prefer the…

7/06/2012 0

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New Video on Newborn Hearing Testing

Given how often we see newborns in need of hearing testing , we have produced a video showing how the two main types of non-verbal hearing tests are performed today: Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) and Otoacoustic Emission (OAE). Given newborns can not communicate whether they can hear or not, such hearing tests depend on the ability to detect nerve signals transmitting sound information from the ear all the way to the brain. This type of test is much like an EKG which can detect the el…

2/15/2012 0

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Oral Exam Using a Finger

For a good physical exam, physicians use their senses (eyes, ears, nose) to detect disease processes that may not necessarily be obvious to a lay person. Beyond these obvious senses, fingers and hands are also utilized to feel for unusual bumps or masses that may not be obvious to the naked eye. Take a neck mass for example. Neck masses may not be necessarily visible, but by feeling the neck, may become obvious. To use an analogy, a bowling ball under a mattress may not necessarily be obviou…

9/25/2011 0

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New Video on Esophageal Manometry and 24 Hour Multi-Channel pH and Impedance Testing

Our office has created a new video describing what a patient goes through when they undergo esophageal manometry as well as 24 hour multi-channel pH and impedance testing. This test is often ordered when a patient is suspected to be suffering from reflux , whether acid or non-acid , or is possibly suffering from abnormal muscle activity of the esophagus. Symptoms that a patient may experience that may lead to such testing include: - phlegmy throat - lump sensation in the throat - chr…

7/12/2011 1

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New Video Produced on Non-Sedated ABR/OAE Testing

Our office has produced a new video on non-sedated ABR/OAE hearing testing. Such testing traditionally required sedation as the patient was required to be absolutely still and quiet in order to obtain accurate test results. However, new technology now enables such testing to be performed without sedation. Furthermore, given the testing can be performed wirelessly, the patient can stand and walk around. Absolute quiet is also no longer necessary and the patient can actively play and even eat…

2/12/2011 0

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Can A Person Have Allergies Even if Allergy Testing Comes Back Negative?

YES!!! But how can that be?!! Well, here is the simplified answer. When allergy testing is performed whether by skin prick or blood testing ( RAST ), one is testing to certain specific proteins known to cause allergic reactions in majority but not all patients (these are called major allergen). Patients need to remember that for a given allergy like CAT (or tree, mold, dust, etc)... there are millions of proteins (minor allergen) that have the potential to cause an allergic reaction in peo…

12/09/2010 0

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For $349, Test Your DNA for 100+ Hereditary Diseases

Image from Wikipedia A company called Counsyl claims to be able to test an individual's DNA and determine the risk of passing on over 100 hereditary diseases to future offspring for $349 (or free with insurance). Such hereditary diseases they are able to test for include the commonly known cystic fibrosis to more rare conditions like Nijmegen Breakage Syndrome. The full list can be viewed here . Though many of the diseases listed are associated with ear, nose, throat problems, the li…

1/30/2010 0

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Multichannel Intraluminal Impedance (MII) Testing for Non-Acidic Reflux

Image by Wikipedia As far as we know,  Virginia Hospital Center's Heartburn Center in Arlington, VA and now Fauquier Hospital are the only places in Northern Virginia that offers 24 hour Multichannel Intraluminal Impedance (MII) testing to look for non-acidic reflux. Oftentimes, this test is combined with pH probe testing and manometry to measure the more traditional acid reflux as well as esophageal motility. MII testing is extremely important to evaluate those patients with persis…

12/07/2008 0

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www.VirginiaHearing.org

Fauquier ENT has offered hearing tests, hearing aids (dispensing and repairs), custom ear molds, and assistive listening devices for over a decade. In order to better promote and make our community aware of what we offer, a new web address has been created called: http://www.VirginiaHearing.org This web address will take a person directly to our audiology section of our main website ( www.FauquierENT.net ).

11/16/2007 0

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Hear Better & Improve Your Quality of Life!

What to Expect With Hearing Aids There are three important rules to remember. First : the most important thing to remember is that “We hear with our brain, not with our ears”. Second : hearing aids will not restore normal hearing. Hearing aids help your damaged auditory system work as well as it can. Third : hearing aids are only half of the process towards better hearing. You will be learning to listen and process sound again. Everything will sound different. Voices will be louder and c…

11/15/2007 0

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