New Drug Restores Hearing After Noise-Induced Hearing Loss

Researchers in New Zealand published a research paper where they describe significant restoration of hearing after hearing loss sustained after loud noise exposure with injection of a drug called 'ADAC'... at least in rats.The drug (adenosine amine congener) activates adenosine receptors in cochlear tissues resulting in recovery of cochlear function. Early treatment starting six hours after noise exposure was the most effective and provided greater...

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RANDOM: A Human Life-Cycle Video in 90 Seconds

Title says it all... Wish more commercials strike a more human chord like this one did with me. NPR Radiolab did something similar with an "audio" life-cycle of a baby babbling to a young woman talking in about 90 seconds as well, though for the life of me, I can't remember which episode did th...

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Video: Chopstick Enters Nose and Pierces Brain in Child

A reader recently emailed me this amazing AP video of a 14-month-old toddler who was playing in the kitchen when he fell, sending a chopstick up thru his nose and into his brain. Surgeons were able to remove the chopstick and the child did just fine.However, it is quite likely this child has now permanently lost his sense of smell (anosmia) since the smell nerve is located where the chopstick entered the brain (cribiform plate). There is no way to "fix" nerve damage in this area after it has occurred (at this time).Such trauma like this is unfortunately...

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Laryngeal Sensory Neuropathy (LSN) Chronic Cough Treatment Failure

Laryngeal sensory neuropathy (LSN) is a recently described condition felt to cause a chronic cough in patients when treatment for everything else (allergies, asthma, reflux, etc) has been evaluated and managed. Treatment for this condition is with neuropathic medications including neurontin, elavil, lyrica, nortriptyline, etc.In the past few months, I have seen a few patients referred to me with chronic cough treated with these medications with minimal...

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Coffee Decreases Risk of Head & Neck Cancer

Researchers at University of Utah found that regular coffee drinkers who drank more than four cups of coffee a day had a 39 percent decreased risk of two types of head and neck cancer: oral cavity and pharynx cancers. In the study published in the journal of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, they found however, that coffee did not decrease the risk of laryngeal cancer. Coffee contains over 1,000 different chemical compounds, including...

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One-Size-Fits-All Injection that Can Cure Allergies!

Cytos Biotechnology has recently completed patient trials that suggests that a one-size-fits-all allergy injection can alleviate and potentially cure allergies, asthma, eczema and other allergy conditions including even food allergies!This innovative medical treatment is known only as CYT003-QbG10. It is composed of pieces of synthetic DNA similar to those found in the bug that causes tuberculosis. The DNA fools the body into thinking it is under...

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The Perfect Computer for Healthcare and Electronic Medical Records

So I've been using computers in the healthcare setting for over a decade now. First at Yale than Duke. I've been thru the Veteran's Affairs Medical Center using Vista (New Haven, CT; Durham, NC; Asheville, NC; and Portland, OR). I've been at 5 different community hospitals on both the West and East Coasts. I've used all the different flavors of electronic medical records (EMR) in all these different locations/settings. I'm now using (not by choice)...

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Strange But True (And Disgusting) Stories in ENT

True Story #1There was an ENT named Dr. Lloyd Storrs of Lubbock, TX. He used to save all the earwax he removed from patients. With the collected earwax, he would heat it to melt it, strain it, cool it down, and then heat it again to make an unique earwax solution he would give to patients suffering from ear canal seborrhea with cerumen. Only 2 drops per week worked.Strange but true... in fact, he wrote a paper about it. Read it here.True Story #2Earwax,...

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Fauquier ENT Recognized by Organized Wisdom

Fauquier ENT has been selected by the healthcare website "Organized Wisdom" Medical Review Board as a top contributor helping people discover the best health information online. Pretty cool! Check out our profile he...

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Fauquier Free Clinic for Free Medical & Dental Care

Did you know Fauquier County has a Free Clinic where medical and dental services are provided directly to patients for free and does not bill patients or deny services for lack of payment?Furthermore, if you need any CT scans, x-rays, bloodwork, MRI scans, etc, all these testings are also provided for free! If you need to see a specialist, such as ENT (or pulmonary, endocrine, rheumatology, ID, etc), clinic visits/appointments are also for free with...

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Hollywood! Otolaryngology is Cool, Isn't It?

So there are lots of television shows on ER physicians (ER, Chicago Hope), general surgery (Gray's Anatomy), OB & pediatricians (Private Practice), plastic surgery (Nip/Tuck), ID doctors (House), etc etc.What about shows/movies where an otolaryngologist is the star? Any thoughts on this lapse by Hollywood?Of course, there's Dr. McSteamy on Grey's Anatomy who started out as an ENT, but than is mainly portrayed as a plastic surgeon.What's up with...

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Sunscreen CAUSES Skin Cancer?!!

On May 24, 2010, a study was released by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) stating that more than half of all popular sunscreens may actually increase the speed at which malignant cells develop and spread skin cancer because they contain vitamin A or its derivatives retinol and retinyl palmitate. In fact only 39 out of more than 500 products examined were considered safe and effective. Tumors and lesions developed up to 21 percent faster in lab...

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Help! My Ears Feel Clogged / Full (Eustachian Tube Dysfunction)

This blog article has been removed. You can find the entire article on the Fauquier ENT website he...

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Better Air Filter Than HEPA? It's Called ULPA

HEPA is widely considered the gold standard when it comes to air filtration, especially for those patients suffering from allergies. What many people may not realize is that there are air filters even better than HEPA called ULPA.HEPA removes 99.97% of particles 0.3 micrometers or more.ULPA removes 99.999% of particles 0.12 micrometers or greater.ULPA is correspondingly much more expensive.Here are some HEPA filters sold on Amazon.com: Here is an ULPA unit sold on Amazon.c...

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Voice Sounds Different After Tonsillectomy and/or Adenoidectomy!

Every so often, I hear a parent state that their child's voice/speech sounds "different" after undergoing tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. Beyond sounding less nasal which is expected, the other comment is sounding higher pitched or more feminine.This observation is especially true when dealing with a male school-age child.The reason for this voice (or really speech) change is because the upper airway is much larger and more resonant after the tonsils...

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Blood Type Group O Associated With Higher Rates of Post-Tonsillectomy Bleeding

In the July 2010 volume of International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology, researchers in Ireland published an interesting finding that 63% of bleeding after tonsillectomy were in patients with Blood Type O. The general population Blood Type O is only 55%.Although the authors were careful to state that this finding does not demonstrate causality, this association does suggest that patients with Type-O blood are more likely to suffer from...

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iPad Use In the Medical Clinic and/or Hospital For the Surgeon Doctor

To read what I consider the perfect computer for healthcare, click here.UPDATE 10/25/10: Watch video of using MediTech on the iPadTo give a little background, I am a ENT (otolaryngology-head and neck surgeon). I see patients in all sorts of environments including the hospital, operating room, and outpatient clinic. In the hospital, I use MediTech and PACS while in the clinic I use NextGen. Admittedly, I was not entirely convinced the iPad would ever...

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Kids Who Eat Fish and/or Live On a Farm At Less Risk of Allergies Later in Life!

Researchers in Germany who have followed thousands of families with children have discovered that children who eat fish before the age of 9 months had less allergies 4.5 years later than children who did not eat fish at the same age.Furthermore, they found that school-age kids living on/near a farm were two-thirds less likely to suffer from hay fever or asthma than children with no exposure to a farm.These studies will be published soon. Read the...

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Bitter Taste Syndrome (Pine Nut Mouth, Artichoke Effect, Pineapple Tongue, Tomato Tongue, etc)

Ever eat something or brush your teeth after which everything tastes bitter or metallic?This phenomenon is called bitter taste syndrome and often occurs after certain eating foods or after brushing the teeth. The altered taste lasts anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks.Common food culprits include toothpaste, pine nuts, tomatoes, artichoke, pineapples, and certain medications.Not everybody experiences this problem which is felt to be due to misfiring...

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Earworms (The Song That Is Stuck In Your Head)

An earworm is when there is a tune that gets stuck in your head that lasts for minutes to hours. It wasn't really much interest for scientists to study until recently when they were able to determine the "characteristics" of a good earworm. In a study published in the British Journal of Psychology in November 2009 titled "Earworms ('stuck song syndrome'): Towards a natural history of intrusive thoughts", they found that the best earworms are:- Repetitive...

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Fauquier ENT Social Media Update

I have had a few readers comment that our office should offer twitter, have a facebook page, or some other social media outlet...My answer is that we actually already do! So here's the full list along with subscribers (as of June 8, 2010) for each and link.YouTube Channel (1,865 Subscribers)http://www.YouTube.com/FauquierENTWe get about 250,000 hits a day on YouTube!!!Facebook Page (80 Friends)http://www.facebook.com/FauquierENTTwitter (267 Followers)http://twitter.com/fauquierentBlog...

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Why Eating Asparagus Causes a Smelly Urine... You Know Who You Are!

About 50% of the population experiences a very foul smelling urine after eating asparagus. For those in the know, the odor is compared to rotting cabbage, ammonia, rotten eggs, etc. In fact, the smell is so foul, even the culprit person who is urinating can barely tolerate it himself!For awhile there was an argument in the scientific community whether this phenomenon was due to a smell disorder or a urine problem...Hypothesis #1:EVERYBODY's urine...

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Dr. Chang Featured in TV Medical News Program on CBS 6/5/10

On May 21, 2010, a video crew came to our office to film a segment on Dr. Chang and what he does (or rather a very small part of what he does) as an otolaryngology-head and neck surgeon.Dr. Chang along with 9 other practices were featured in a medical news television show "American Health Front" that aired on June 5, 2010 at 7PM on Channel 9 (WUSA-TV CBS).The main focus of what Dr. Chang talked about are the different causes of nasal obstruction and their treatment including:AllergiesSeptal DeviationTurbinate HypertrophyAdenoid HypertrophyNasal...

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New Video on Botox Injection for Spasmodic Dysphonia

A new video has been created and uploaded to our practice YouTube Channel describing botox injection for spasmodic dysphonia.Two views are shown in the video... the first is what a patient sees as well as another view of what it looks like from inside the throat. Check it out!Dr. Chang performs botox injections for spasmodic dysphonia every Friday afternoon. He also performs botox injections for facial wrinkles, torticollis, migraine headaches, TMJ, etc. Click here to see the full li...

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New Webpage on Large Adenoids: Symptoms and Treatment

A new webpage has been created on problems associated with large adenoids and how it can be treated. Large adenoids cause all sorts of symptoms that may be confused for other etiologies including:• Nasal obstruction• Nasal congestion• Nasal sounding speech• Runny nose (rhinitis)• Snotty nose• Colored drainage• Allergy like symptoms• Ear pain, clogging, stuffiness• Cough• Post-nasal drainageCorrection of the large adenoids (medications or surgery)...

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Pulsatile Tinnitus Caused by Ear Tumor (Glomus Tympanicum)

The New England Journal of Medicine published a case report in June 2010 titled "Glomus Tympanicum" where a woman with a right pulsatile tinnitus is described. The pulsatile tinnitus was due to a tumor called glomus tympanicum.The article includes a picture as well as video. If you watch the video carefully, you can actually "see" the pulsations.The only way to treat this tumor is surgical excision by a neuro-otologic surgeon.Read more about pulsatile...

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USA Today: Article on Vocal Cord Paralysis Causing Breathy Voice

On June 1, 2010 USA Today published a story titled "Lost your voice? It could be vocal cord paresis." The story discusses how vocal cord paralysis can cause a breathy type of hoarse voice. The paralysis, if idiopathic, is suspected to be caused by a virus, just like Bell's Palsy causes a facial paralysis or a bad cold can cause a loss of smell. Listen to what a breathy voice sounds like due to vocal cord paralysis here.Treatment for this rare...

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