Dr. Mace B. Brindley M.D.

Ear-Nose and Throat Doctor (ENT)

601 West Highway 6 Suite 106 Waco Texas, 76710 Show map

About
Contacts & Locations

About

Dr. Mace Brindley is an ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctor, also known as an otolaryngologist, practicing in Waco, Texas. Dr. Brindley specializes in diseases and disorders of the ear, nose and throat as well as other parts of the head and neck. Such structures an ENT may work on include the sinuses, larynx (voice box) and mouth in addition to the ear, nose and throat. There are seven areas of expertise that an ENT might specialize in, and these are: allergies; facial reconstructive surgery; head and neck; laryngology; otology/neurotology; pediatric otolaryngology; and rhinology.

Dr. Mace B. Brindley M.D.'s Videos

Education and Training

Unviersity of Texas Galveston

Univ of Tx Med Branch Galveston, Galveston Tx 1973

Texas A&M University, TX 1973

Board Certification

American Board of Otolaryngology- Otolaryngoloy

OtolaryngologyAmerican Board of OtolaryngologyABOto

Provider Details

MaleEnglish

Dr. Mace B. Brindley M.D.

Dr. Mace B. Brindley M.D.'s Expert Contributions

My Answers

My child has frequent ear infections. Why is this happening?
We see this all the time. Unfortunately, not all ear pain is caused by the ears. If the child has ear pain, but his ear exam performed by an otolaryngologist, and his audiogram/tympanogram are completely normal, then the ear pain is not being caused by your child's ear. Pain from your teeth, jaw and tonsil can all radiate pain to the ear. Unfortunately, when patients present to the ER, urgent care or even their primary doctors and complain of ear pain, often the physician (or nurse practitioner) will "see fluid". It's basically the power of suggestion. The patient says it hurts and the healthcare provider sees fluid or infection that is not really there. If your child is really getting that many ear infections, then he/she may benefit from tubes. In order to meet criteria though, first they need to have one abnormal tympanogram to prove that the infection/pain is really from the ear. Typically, a tympanogram will be abnormal for at least a week (sometimes up to 6 weeks after an infection). What I do is have these patients follow up with me as soon as they can after the next ear infection/ear pain. Normal tympanogram, then we know it is not the ears, but pain from elsewhere. If that tympanogram is abnormal, then can proceed to putting tubes in the child's ear and hopefully prevent all of the ear infections. If you put tubes in the child's ear, but the pain is caused by the teeth, or the tonsils, then the ear pain will persist and the child will have had a surgery that they really did not need. READ MORE
My daughter is 2 years old and is highly sensitive to any kind of sound. Is that normal?
It could be normal, some children (and adults) can be more sensitive to loud sounds. Alternatively it could be a sign of hearing loss. Patients with hearing loss often suffer from hyperacusis (sensitivity to loud sounds). I would have her hearing checked. If abnormal, it could be simply fluid in the middle ear causing the hearing loss and you can reverse the hearing loss by getting rid of the fluid. Or the hearing test may show sensorineural hearing loss which is not reversible. It is still worth finding out because correcting the hearing loss with hearing aids will help her speech development. READ MORE
I used a neti pot with hot water. Will this cause a reaction in my nose?
Using warm or even hot water should be fine (as long as it is not uncomfortably hot). The most important thing is that you want to use distilled water. Tap water has minerals in it that can irritate the nasal mucosa. More concerning is that some tap water can contain amoeba which do no harm to you if you swallow them (i.e., drink or cook with). However, if you rinse your nose out with tap water containing an amoeba, the organism can latch on. READ MORE
Why is my tongue hurting and burning?
Unfortunately you may be developing what is called “burning tongue” or “burning mouth” syndrome. Most often seen in women, more often around menopause (but can occur whenever). Usually with no physical findings. Often urgent cares and primary care providers treat it as a yeast infection but it isn’t and the antifungals don’t help. It sometimes is caused by vitamin and mineral deficiencies and will get better with vitamins (I’ve never seen it but supposedly can help). Can be seen with anemia. Sometimes symptoms get better with treatment of that. Often none of these things help. Can sometimes treat with medications for neuropathy (which is basically what it is) like neurontin or elavil. Theses sometimes help but not always. In cases when it occurs around menopause sometimes hormone replacement helps. In some cases, unfortunately nothing helps. But in these cases, often the symptoms resolve spontaneously, but this can take years to happen. READ MORE
Can you get strep throat without tonsils?
It is still possible to get strep throat even after a tonsillectomy. It is less likely but still possible. Often patients who still get strep throat after undergoing tonsillectomy still notice that their symptoms of strep throat are not as severe as they were before the tonsillectomy. One reason you can still get strep throat is that you still have other tonsil tissue in your throat. The palatine tonsils are the ones that are removed with a tonsillectomy, but you actually have lingual tonsils as well. These can be removed as well, but are less likely to be removed as they do not cause problems as often as the palatine tonsils. Also sometimes while performing a tonsillectomy, small pieces of tonsil tissue can be left behind. These tonsil remnants can get infected, or can grow over time which leads some patients to say that their "tonsils grew back". Also some doctors over the years have advocated only taking out part of the tonsils because this is usually less painful than a complete tonsillectomy. Unfortunately many of these patients ended up having to have their tonsils removed twice as their symptoms persisted even after the first, partial tonsillectomy. READ MORE
I had a balloon sinuplasty and symptoms are coming back. Do I need it again?
That depends on a lot of factors. Balloon sinuplasty is a good procedure and can help people significantly, but it also reimburses well, so there are a lot of physicians out there that are performing the procedure on patients that really do not need the procedure. Specifically patients who have what is called atypical facial pain. Patients with atypical facial pain have facial pain and pressure that patients often think are sinus infections. But their CT scan, when they are symptomatic are completely normal. If you balloon these patients, for unknown reasons, their facial pain improves temporarily, but it does come back (usually sooner than 4 years though). So you could be having a relapse of symptoms because you have atypical facial pain which is like a migraine but located over the face. If this is the case you need to see a neurologist. One other option (and more likely given that your symptoms were better for 4 years) is that you are having sinus infections in one of the sinuses that was not ballooned. You can't balloon the ethmoid sinuses, and your surgeon may have only ballooned the affected sinuses. For instance say he ballooned both your frontal sinuses, but on the scan your maxillary sinuses looked normal, so he didn't balloon your maxillary sinuses. Now you could develop maxillary sinusitus. Another option is that your ballooned sinuses have scarred down. This is not very common and probably not the cause, but you can't tell without a CT scan. Another option is that you have nasal polyps that were removed during the first case. IF you had nasal polyps removed, they typically grow back. How quickly they recur depends on a lot of factors. But a polyp can block a sinus that was successfully ballooned in the past and has not scarred down, and this blockage will cause a sinus infection. Pretty much the only way to tell what is going on is to see your ENT physician, undergo a nasal endoscopy in clinic and perhaps a CT scan. READ MORE
Are these crackling sounds in my ear from TMJ?
It likely could be your jaw "popping" that is causing the sound. Another option could be that you have a lot of wax in your ear. When you move your jaw the shape of your ear canal changes s tiny amount. If your ear is filled with wax, then this wax can plug up when your ear canal changes shape and cause a crackling or popping in your ear. Most likely the tm joint though. If someone looks in ear with otoscope and your ear is completely clear of wax, then most likely tmj. READ MORE