Winter is passing and you can finally enjoy an outdoor jog instead of logging miles on the treadmill; unless you’re one of 18 million Americans suffering from spring allergies. Sneezing, coughing and watery eyes can make it difficult to enjoy the nice weather, but these simple tips will make outdoor exercise during the spring easier.
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What is the Ringing in my Ear?
Have you ever experienced ringing, buzzing or hissing in your ear? Approximately 50 million Americans have experienced a mild to severe form of tinnitus. While many people think tinnitus is an actual condition, it’s actually a symptom of an underlying condition.
Everything you need to know About Earwax
Earwax is produced by the glands in the ear canal to trap small particles that could potentially harm the eardrum. While everyone produces ear wax, certain factors, such as the size of the ear canal and age, can impact the amount of ear wax produced.
Frequently Asked Questions about Balloon Sinuplasty
Many people have never heard of balloon sinuplasty. However, millions of people suffer from the very condition that this procedure can treat.
Sinusitis is a common condition that involves chronic inflammation and infection of the sinuses. This can lead to a wide variety of symptoms like headaches, face pain, sneezing, and pressure in the face and nose. Those with chronic sinusitis find themselves depending on over-the-counter medications, steroids, and antibiotics to treat the condition. However, this is only a temporary fix, and in most cases, sinusitis will come back again and again.
Causes of a Sore Throat When Exercising
Sore throats when exercising can have two main causes. Nasal obstruction and acid reflux. Poor flow of air through the nose makes it harder to oxygenate especially during a workout.
We are inclined to open our mouths to breathe better, especially when we are out of shape. Though many of us who are in shape find it more comfortable to breathe through the mouth especially when the nose is not working properly. Mouth breathing, however, can make the throat dry and for some people the throat can feel sore as the dry air can be irritating. The mouth is meant to eat through and talk through, the nose is for breathing. We are born as obligate nose breathers and our nose is our air filter and air moisturizer.
Sore throats during exercise can also be caused by chronic acid reflux that you’re not aware of. Silent reflux can cause chronic sore throats, hoarseness and clearing of the throat. Working out soon before you digest your food can allow acid into the back of the throat as you jump up and down, this will cause pain in the throat. Many of us make thick protective mucous to coat the throat and protect from the acid but some of us don’t have enough and throat soreness is a result. Try waiting 3 hours after eating for your workout, cut down on highly acidic foods. If this is not enough you can try an OTC reflux pill 1 hour prior to exercise. If not improving then see your doctor.
Schedule a Recurring Sore Throat Consultation
If you have recurring sore throats, contact Madison ENT & Facial Plastic Surgery on Madison Ave in NYC. Give us a call at (212) 213-3339 or book an appointment online.
Protecting Your Hearing
One of our most valued senses is our hearing. For most of us it’s our means of communication, the way to appreciate music and how we sense the environment around us. The hearing system has 3 areas; the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear.
Why am I Snoring?
According to The American Academy of Otolaryngology, about 45 percent of adults snore occasionally. Though snoring can affect anyone, it is most common in men and people who are overweight. Snoring once and awhile is perfectly normal, but snoring on a regular basis can disrupt both your sleep patterns and the sleep patterns of those around you.
What is sleep apnea?
Sleep apnea is a night time event whereby a person will stop breathing at night and their oxygen saturation will go down, this waking the body and disturbing healthy sleep. There are variations in severity with this issue. Not all patients who snore have sleep apnea. When the patient has sleep apnea, the body is not able to go through a normal sleep cycle. The sleep cycle goes from light stages of sleep to very deep stages of sleep to REM, or dream sleep, and cycles back up and down through these stages of sleep through the night. Interruptions of this cycle can be stressful on the body, not allow the brain to re-energize and re-oxygenate and put undue stress on the heart and the lungs in order for them attain enough oxygen for the vital organs. With sleep apnea the red blood cells crave oxygen and the heart and the lungs have to work harder and pump more to get enough oxygen in the blood stream. This can lead to high blood pressure and an increase in pulmonary pressure.
What is chronic sinusitis?
The sinuses are air cavities in the skull that are surrounded by bone and lined with mucous membranes. Mucous membranes are the “skin” that covers the inside of the nose and the sinuses. This membrane has glands that produce mucous and has hair cells called cilia that move the mucous and filter the air. The job of the nose is to warm and filter the air that passes through the nose during breathing. The sinuses and the nasal cavity produce 1 liter of mucous daily. This naturally moistens the nose and throat and helps in the initial process of food digestion. When the mucous gets trapped in the sinuses and or the sinuses are not breathing well, sinus pressure and possibly sinus infections will occur. People who have poorly breathing sinuses do so because of variations in normal anatomy that narrow the natural sinus doors, if the doors are narrow then air does not get into the sinus as well as it should and mucous cannot get out of the sinus as well as it should. Those individuals that have structurally narrow sinus doors are more prone to sinus symptoms when exposed to allergens, viruses or simple changes in our barometric pressure as these factors increase nasal swelling and block the doors even further. When mucous gets stuck and the sinuses are blocked, the sinus lining will swell and cause pressure over the affected sinus. Sinus patients can often predict the when we will have precipitation as they have an increase in sinus pressure. The sinuses are located over the forehead, between the eyes, over the cheeks and behind the nose. Sinus symptoms are usually located over the sinus that is inflamed at the time. It is common to have pressure between, under, over and behind the eyes with sinus symptoms as the eyes are surrounded by the sinus cavities. Not everyone with chronic sinusitis has trouble breathing through the nose and not everyone with trouble breathing through the nose has sinus problems. Not everyone with chronic sinus pressure gets recurring sinus infections. Those affected by their sinuses each have their own pattern of symptoms that they will describe with variations of what was discussed above.
Should You or Should You Not Use Q-tips
When purchasing a box of q-tips we usually have one plan for use in mind, even though there are no instructions on a box of Q-tips on how to clean your ears. The instructions for use range from cleaning the grout between your tiles, make up-removal and the cleaning of electronics. Unfortunately we live in a litigious society and ear trauma with a q-tip is the “fault of supplier not the user”. If you tend to produce a lot of ear wax, and you know who you are, then q-tips are a bad idea. They will push the wax in further, block the hearing and make it harder to eventually remove. There are over the counter ear cleaning kits which are affective for many people, read the directions carefully before you use them. Some people will do ear candling with some very good success, but remember the people performing ear candling do not look in your ear to confirm whether or not you have wax to remove. Many patients will have successful wax removal by their primary care physician. If these methods are unsuccessful for you then a visit with your local ENT will do the trick.