Dr. Don Paul Setliff, M.D.

Usually this complication resolves with time and requires no intervention.

A common cause is trimming the nasal hairs at skin level. Don’t do that. If after taking that precaution you still have the problem, Bactroban ointment will cure them. It’s the only topical antibiotic that works and is available by prescription.

Worthless

Ear pain is very common when kids have erupting teeth. You might get a second opinion.

Let it evaporate.

Whenever you notice a significant change in your hearing.

You most likely have an infection of the ear canal, which is also called External Otitis, or “swimmers ear.” The treatment is antibiotic ear drops. If you see a general doctor or nurse practitioner or emergency room doctor, most of them will put you on oral antibiotics, which are completely unnecessary. The best antibiotic ear drops to use are Cortisporin 4-5 drops 4
times a day for 4 days, or ciprodex five drops every 12 hours for 5 to 6 days. The use of Q-tips is far and away the most common cause of External Otitis. Heat application is a good way to alleviate the pain.

If you are that miserable, you should contact your surgeon and ask him what can be done. Going to the emergency room is a waste of your time, as the ER doctors know next to nothing about sinus surgery or the appropriate post-op care. The ER is going to charge you thousands of dollars for them to call your surgeon when you can call him from home at no cost.

Your shortest and safest route to resolving the problem is to make an appointment with an ENT doctor. The only thing Q-tips are good for is increasing business for ear doctors. It’s very likely that your infection was caused by Q-tip use. The package warns you not to insert in ears, but nobody reads it.

That depends on what you mean by a "sinus infection." The problem is that so many people have different concepts as to what constitutes a sinus infection. Some practitioners refer to ordinary colds as "sinus infections," even though colds are actually upper respiratory infections (URI's) that affect the nose, sinuses, throat, and sometimes the bronchi. The common cold and influenza are caused by viruses, do not respond to medications, and do resolve on their own, usually after 7-20 days, although a cough caused by a URI can take as much as three months to gradually resolve.

The sinus infections that ENT docs treat are usually those caused by bacteria or fungi. These infections are entirely different from URI's and generally do not resolve without medications and/or surgery. They are characterized by pus being blown from the nose, perhaps a foul smell, and sometimes pain in the area of the infection. Symptom duration can be weeks, months, or years. Acute sinusitis can be painful. Chronic sinusitis may or may not be painful.
Antibiotics usually cure bacterial sinusitis, but results vary with the case. Polyps sometimes develop and cause nasal congestion or obstruction if the infection goes untreated long enough. Contrary to conventional medical dogma, oral anti-fungal medications are quite effective at suppressing and often curing fungal sinusitis. They are at least a valuable complementary treatment to surgery.

Most patients with sinus infections do NOT complain of headache, contrary to the impression given by TV commercials. Incidentally OTC decongestants never even had clinical trials done and are classified by the FDA as "possibly effective." Another pearl to know is that we do NOT breathe through our sinuses; we breathe through our noses.

In general, ear canals itch because of lack of lubrication. Patients who complain of itching almost never have any wax in their ears on examination. Some are skillful with Q-tips (not recommended) and remove it all. Others are not so skillful and not only remove the wax but traumatize the thin, delicate skin of the ear canal. As the skin heals, it itches, so they reach for the Q-tips again and scratch, incurring more injury. Eventually, the compromise to the barrier function of the skin may become severe enough that painful infection results. (Otitis externa).
In general ears that do best are ears that are left alone. But if you never use Q-tips, it may be that your ears just don't make any wax but just have dry, itchy canal skin. A couple of drops of mineral oil or baby oil can give relief. In general, ears that do best are ears that are left alone. The main benefit of Q-tips is to keep ear doctors in business!

You may have just noticed it a week ago, but it's been happening your entire life. The eustachian tubes go from the back of your nose to the middle ear. Their function is to equalize any pressure difference between the middle ears and the environment. The tubes stay closed, except when you swallow, they open for a split second and then close again. This happens because there is a small, delicate muscle that runs between the eustachian tube and your soft palate. So get used to it; it's not going away.

Nosebleeds are more common in the winter because they are caused by dryness, and heated air is dry air. It's very simple: There are small veins immediately beneath the mucous membranes. When the mucous membranes dry out, they crack, exposing the wall of the small veins. The warmed air then dries out the wall of the vein, which cracks and leads to nosebleed. If you can afford to add humidification to your central heat (assuming you have that), the nosebleeds should improve. Cold medicines also contribute to nosebleeds, due to their drying effect. The combination of cold medicines ("decongestants") and dry, heated air form a big invitation to nosebleeds. Persistent nosebleeds are an indication for an ENT consult to rule out the possibility of a rare intra-nasal tumor.

Most likely of no medical significance. Normal tonsils can vary a lot in appearance.

If you have no other symptoms, very unlikely.

As long as the wax doesn't obstruct the canal, it is of no significance. Some of the most commonly seen ear problems are the result of people "cleaning" their ears, usually with Q tips. As wax is formed, the top layers dry and fall out of the ear, in small pieces that you may not see. The top layer of the ear canal skin is constantly and slowly migrating toward the opening and carries wax with it. If there is excessive visible wax, wipe it away with a tissue. Leave the canal wax alone. If she is having trouble hearing, visit an ENT doc.

I don't know when this question was written, but yes, you should always consult a physician for persistent ear pain. If severe, consider going to an ER if you can't get in to see an ENT physician, or it's a weekend or night. Your chance of getting a definitive exam and diagnosis and the correct treatment is MUCH greater with an ENT. In most ENT offices patients in acute pain are seen as walk-ins, regardless of the schedule, so just tell the receptionist what's happening.

Persistent ear pain is always best examined by an ENT physician, as soon as feasible. There are many possible causes. About half of all ear pain is from ear disease, usually infection.

Not complete deafness, but temporary muffled hearing until the infection has resolved.

A good preventive is to instill 3-4 drops of a mixture of one part vinegar and three parts water into each ear after prolonged swimming. Vinegar is acetic acid, usually about 11% by volume, so diluting it to 2 to 3 per cent creates an acid pH in the ear canal, which discourages bacterial infection.