Taking A Look At The Purpose Of Ear Nose And Throat Doctors In The United States
If you are having trouble with your ears, nose, or throat, it is highly advisable that you go into see a local and well regarded ENT doctor. An ENT doctor is one who specializes in matters of the ear, nose, and throat, as the name suggests. The ENT doctor will be able to treat children as well as adults, and you are likely to get a referral to go see said ENT doctor by your primary care physician once they themselves have exhausted all treatment options and potential diagnoses. An ENT doctor is very much a specialist and should not be seen just for any old medical problem. But if you have a problem relating to – you guessed it – the ear, nose, or throat (or a combination of all three), going in to see an ENT doctor is likely to be your best bet for getting an accurate diagnosis and developing a proper treatment plan.
Problems with the ears, ranging from infections to hearing loss, are very common all throughout the United States. In fact, ear infections are present among the majority of children by the time that turn three. Typically, ear infections can be treated with a round of antibiotics and nothing further, but some children are especially prone to them and get them so frequently and severely that they begin to build up an immunity to the antibiotics that they are given, ever in need of stronger and stronger ones. While these very strong antibiotics might be effective at eliminating the infection, they can cause other problems, such as stomach upset, in those who are taking them, particularly if the child is very young.
After your child has had a certain number of ear infections, it is likely that you pediatrician will give you a referral to go see an ENT doctor. Many ENT doctors will recommend the placement of tubes, which will help the ears to drain and relieve the child of the constant pain and infection that they have been experiencing. The placement of said tubes is technically a surgical procedure, but it is one that only takes about ten to fifteen minutes and has very few complications. In fact, the tubes will usually naturally fall out on their own after about a year of being places, and the vast majority of children will not need another set of them.
Hearing loss is another common ear related problem in the United States, with around fifteen percent of all those over the age of eighteen having some level of hearing loss. Hearing loss can occur for a number of reasons. For one, some people are simply born with it and have a degree of (sometimes worsening) hearing loss their entire lives. Age is another factor for hearing loss, with twenty five percent or so of those who are over the age of sixty five having a degree of hearing loss that has become, in many ways, debilitating. Going to an ENT doctor can be helpful in such cases, as the hearing loss can be assessed and then the patient can be fit with a hearing aid if it is decided that the use of one will help. For many people, hearing aids allow them to function with more ease in the world as a whole, allowing for an increased ability for communication, something that is absolutely essential for the day to day lives of the majority of people living here.
Ear nose and throat doctors can also help you to deal with problems of the throat. For instance, if you need your tonsils removed, it is likely that you will be referred to an ear nose and throat doctor. Such ENT doctors can also help patients suffering from cancer of the vocal cords, a type of cancer that affect as many as ten thousand people in just one year – in just this one country alone. Cancer can be a terrifying and life altering thing, but working closely with an ENT doctor will not only reassure you, but will help you to have the best possible outcome after your course of treatment.
