Do I Have a Sinus Infection? 6 Signs It's Not Just Allergies

Especially in the spring when everyone seems to be sniffling from pollen, a sinus infection can easily be dismissed as nothing more than allergies. If you’re feeling congested, here are a few ways a sinus infection differs from allergies and a cold.

What is a Sinus Infection? 
Medically known as rhinosinusitis, a sinus infection is an infection that develops in your nasal cavities, chest, lungs, or respiratory system.

Identifying a Sinus Infection

1. Pain in Your Sinuses
Unlike a cold, which feels like pressure, a sinus infection can actually hurt. Normally, patients will experience pain in their forehead, upper jaw, and teeth.

2. Nasal Discharge
It’s definitely the topic no one wants to talk about, but it’s also one of the best ways to identify a sinus infection. During allergy season, it’s normal for your nose to run a little, but that discharge will typically be clear. If you have a sinus infection, it will likely be yellow or green.

3. Sinus Headaches
The inflammation and extra fluids that collect in your sinuses can quickly cause a sinus or pressure headache. Typically, they’re worse in the morning and begin to subside in the afternoon.

4. Sore Throat or Hoarse Voice
As the discharge from your sinuses begins to drip down the back of your throat, it can cause your throat to become irritated and inflamed.

5. A Fever
Infections and fevers go hand in hand. If you think you have a sinus infection, look to see if you have a fever. But it's important to remember that it is possible to have a sinus infection and not run a high fever, so you shouldn’t rely on the thermometer alone.

6. Fatigue
If you’re getting enough sleep but still feeling tired during the day, it could be another symptom of a sinus infection.

If you think you have a sinus infection, the specialists at Florida ENT can quickly and accurately cure your symptoms. We encourage you to give our Sinus & Facial Plastics Institute a call to schedule an appointment. To schedule an appoint, give us a call at (877) EAR-NOSE! 

Programmable Hearing Aids Can Improve Sound Quality

Coming to terms with hearing loss can often be difficult. Denial is one of the main reasons people suffering from hearing loss rarely seek treatment. In America, nearly 15 percent of the population (48 million people) suffer from some degree of hearing loss. However, out of that 15 percent, less than 10 percent will be treated.

Despite what most people think, difficulty hearing does not only affect your ability to communicate, it can also increase your risk of dementia, depression, and falling.

Because of this, raising awareness of cost-friendly, programmable hearing aids is important now more than ever. Programmable hearing aids are much different than typical hearing aids. Traditional hearing aids would do nothing more than amplify sound — all sound. This was more troublesome than helpful to many people who needed a more customized approach. That is what programmable hearing aids now offer.      

The benefits of programmable hearing aids:

• Their batteries last much longer. Some devices have batteries that can last for as long as 4 years without ever needing to be replaced or recharged.
• The technology is newer and more advanced.
• Sound can be amplified or softened at the touch of a button.
• The device can recognize and understand different situations (like being in a restaurant, concert, or church service) and self-adjust how the user perceives sounds.

Hearing loss can be caused by a number of things, however the most common causes are:

• Old age.
• Frequent and consistent exposure to loud noises.
• Chronic ear infections.
• Head or inner ear trauma.
• A virus or disease.

At Florida ENT, we are committed to helping patients who suffer from hearing loss and inner ear damage. Utilizing the latest advances in medicine and state-of-the-art techniques, our goal is to treat our patients with comfort and compassion. To learn more about the services we provide, please call us today at 407-944-3340 to schedule an appointment.

The Benefits of a Turbinate Reduction

Turbinate hypertrophy is an enlargement of the turbinates. What does all that mean? Really, it’s just a fancy way of saying the cartilage that separates your nostrils is a little larger than it’s supposed to be. While it may not seem like a big deal, that divide is in charge of some pretty important stuff — like cleaning and humidifying the air as you breath. And if it’s too large, it’s probably not doing its job correctly. If you’re considering a turbinate reduction here’s what you should know.

Reasons for a Turbinate Reduction

An enlarged turbinate can cause serious health problems. Most often, people with an enlarged turbinate suffer from:

• Chronic nasal congestion
• Difficulty breathing through their nose
• Recurrent or chronic sinus infections
• Chronic nosebleeds
• Migraine headaches
• Sleep apnea
• Snoring

Turbinate Reduction Options

Depending on the severity of your turbinate, you may require one of three possible procedures:

• Turbinectomy: During a turbinectomy, part or all of the inferior turbinate is removed. For this procedure, the patient would be placed under general anesthesia and a microdebrider would be used to shave the tissue down.

• Turbinoplasty: Instead of removing the turbinate, like in a turbinectomy, a turbinoplasty will reposition the affected bones within your nose.
• Radiofrequency or Laser Ablation: Each procedure is performed slightly different, however both use a form of energy to shrink the turbinate to a healthier size. This procedure is the least invasive of the three.

The Benefits

After a turbinate reduction, patients have been known to breathe easier, sleep better, and experience less frequent respiratory infections.  

If you’re considering a turbinate reduction, make sure to consult the experts at Florida ENT. We can quickly and accurately assess your symptoms and design a treatment plan that is specialized to your needs. To schedule an appoint, give us a call at (877) EAR-NOSE!

How to Properly Care for Piercings

For more than 5,000 years, people have used body piercings for a multitude of reasons, from religious and spiritual, to cosmetic. No matter what the reason, one things remains the same across every country and culture, you have to take care of a piercing properly! Whether you just got your first stud or are well versed in the world of piercings, here are a few ways to make sure your new jewelry doesn’t get infected.

Before the piercing

Before the needle even touches your ear, you could be setting yourself up for a potential infection. Plenty of ear piercing places will use an earring “gun” to pierce your ear. This gun uses a lot of unnecessary pressure to push the piercing through your ear and can cause potential tissue damage. Plus, because it's so bulky, it's difficult to really sterilize. Instead of a gun, request that your piercer uses a sterilized needle.

After the piercing

Now that you have your brand new piercing, it’s incredibly important that you care for it properly — both so that you retain your good health and so that your new piercing looks great! These are a few rules you should be following:

• Turn the earring only when it's wet and sterile.
• Use soap and water or saline solution to clean a piercing. Rubbing alcohol can dry it out and cause it to take longer to heal.
• Wash your hands before you touch or change your piercing.
• Change or wash your bedding every few days. If you got a body piercing, you should wear loose, flowing pajamas to bed so that you don’t run the risk of pulling at it through the night.
• Visit your doctor if you notice something is wrong. If your piercing is bleeding or incredibly sensitive, you may have an infection or other problem that needs to be addressed by a professional.

Florida Ear Nose Throat & Facial Plastic Surgery Center is an otolaryngology/facial plastics practice committed to providing our patients with the highest quality and personal care, as well as most advanced technology by a Harvard trained, double boarded facial plastic, head, and neck surgeon.

How Immunotherapy Can Help Alleviate Allergies

What does having allergies really mean? While yes, we all know it means you probably sneeze or have itchy, watery eyes when you come in contact with an allergen (most commonly an animal or dust). But an allergen is actually an abnormal response of the immune system when you come in contact with a foreign substance. This led researchers to explore the idea of creating a treatment that would work with the immune system to help prevent allergy attacks. Then, in 1981, immunotherapy for allergies were created.

What is immunotherapy?

Immunotherapy is the prevention or treatment of a disease with substances that stimulate an immune response. Probably the most common form of immunotherapy comes in the form of vaccines. When you get a vaccine, your doctor injects a small or weakened dose of a virus into your body, so that you can easily fight it and make the antibodies that will prevent you from catching the real virus in the future.

Immunotherapy has been used for years to fight everything from cancer to measles. Now, it can also help treat allergies. Just like a vaccine, “allergy shots” are injected into your body with the thing you are allergic to (pollen, dust mites, mold, or pet dander).

How does immunotherapy work?

At first, you’ll receive a shot once or twice a week for six months. Each week, the dosage will increase slightly. After six months, you’ll only need the treatment once or twice a month. If you respond well to the treatment and are experiencing less symptoms, you will continue getting the shots once a month for the next several years.

Sublingual Immunotherapy (SLIT) vs. Traditional Allergy Injection

Traditional allergy injections are shots that are injected into your body (most typically your arm). Sublingual Immunotherapy (SLIT) places an allergen under your tongue. This method has been shown to reduce a patient’s sensitivity to the allergen. SLIT can also be used to treat airborne and chronic, non-severe food allergies.

If you're suffering from allergies this spring or summer, we encourage you to make an appointment at Florida Ear Nose Throat. We offer the most advanced allergy screening, allergy management, and immunotherapy treatments available. To schedule an appointment, give us a call at (877) EAR-NOSE!  

New Technology Offers Hope for Those with Sleep Apnea

“I don’t drink coffee at night, I get eight hours of sleep, and I go to bed at the same time every night, so why am I still waking up tired and groggy?” If you’ve ever found yourself saying this, the problem is likely not with the quantity of sleep you’re getting, but with the quality. If you’re feeling exhausted during the day or snore loudly at night, you may be one of the 22 million people who suffers from sleep apnea.

What is Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that causes people to repeatedly stop breathing in the middle of the night.

What Are the Risks of Untreated Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea leads to a number of different health concerns. In addition to feeling fatigued and irritable during the day, sleep apnea can be a serious medical problem. Typically, patients with sleep apnea stop breathing for a second or two while in REM sleep, then breathe in heavily once their body realizes they have stopped breathing (which is what often causes snoring). If you leave sleep apnea untreated long enough, it can progress so that you stop breathing for longer periods of time. It can also increase your risk of having high blood pressure, a heart attack, and a stroke.

Lifestyle Changes to Help Treat Sleep Apnea

• If your sleep apnea is less severe, lifestyle changes can help. Sleep apnea is one of the most common sleep disorders for people who are overweight, so losing weight can help put less pressure on your lungs when you sleep.
• Exercise and a healthy diet can also help reduce or eliminate sleep apnea.
• If you’ve tried all these but still don’t feel any relief, you may need to be placed on a breathing respirator at night or receive corrective surgery to open up your airways.

New Technology to Help Control Sleep Apnea

In 2011, the first ever upper airway stimulating device (an electronic device similar to a pacemaker) was implanted in a 67-year-old man’s chest. The device delivers a mild pulse to a person’s tongue and throat muscles, which keeps air flowing freely throughout the night. Though the mechanism is still in its infancy, it has shown great success for patients who meet the right criteria.

At Florida ENT, we offer state of the art, individualized treatment for those who suffer from sleep apnea. From diagnosis to treatment plan, we can have you breathing easy in no time. To learn more about sleep apnea or the services we provide, give us a call today at (877) EAR-NOSE.

7 Ways to Naturally Relieve Spring Allergies

Seasonal allergies are annoying! For those of you lucky enough not to suffer from them, allergies essentially feel like a two month long cold. But if you are one of the 50 million people who does suffers from allergies, take comfort in the fact that there are dozens of natural remedies you can take to help ease your symptoms. Below are our seven favorite herbs, solutions, and oils for alleviating spring allergies.  

Nettle Leaf

Nettle leaf is a natural antihistamine that blocks the body’s ability to produce the compound. You can ingest it in several ways, including a capsule or tea.

Apple Cider Vinegar

This old-fashioned home remedy is great for a number of ailments, but its best use is for relieving allergies. Apple cider vinegar can help reduce mucus production and cleanses the lymphatic system.

A Neti Pot or Saline Solution

A neti pot is one of the best ways to flush out your sinuses and leave you breathing freely. Using either a pre-made or store-bought solution, pour the saline through one nostril and let it drain out the other.

Hot Steam Cleanse

If you prefer not to use herbs or drugs of any kind to relieve sinus pressure, steam is the perfect alternative. Steam helps to open your nasal passages by thinning out mucus and other congestion causing agents. For the best results, boil a pot of water and pour it into a container. Then, place a towel over your head and the container, and breath in heavily.

Quercetin

Quercetin has been known to reduce inflammation and prevent mast cells from releasing histamines. You can find quercetin in onions and shallots, as well as green teas and citrus fruits.

Fish Oil Supplement

In a recent study of people with asthma caused by allergies, it was discovered that those who took fish-oil supplements every day had lower levels of leukotrienes, the chemical that causes allergic reactions.

Eucalyptus Oil

Eucalyptus oil has been used for years to help open up airways and reduce sinus pressure. Best of all, it can be used several ways - by adding it into a neti pot or your laundry, or by mixing it with water and spraying it throughout your house.

Before you introduce a new herb or supplement into your diet, always consult a doctor or specialist - especially if you have liver problems, are pregnant, or on hormonal supplements.

If home remedies just aren’t doing enough to control your allergies this season, we encourage you to make an appointment at Florida Ear Nose Throat. We offer the most advanced allergy screening, allergy management, and immunotherapy treatments available. To schedule an appointment, give us a call at (877) EAR-NOSE.