Most Common Summer Allergies

Did you know, over 50 million Americans suffer from allergies every year? Allergies rank as the 6th leading chronic disease in the U.S. Interestingly enough, indoor allergens tend to be 5 times stronger than outdoor allergens. Read our latest blog to learn more about the most common summer allergens and learn some tips on how to help alleviate them:

Pollen

Pollen is by far the most common allergen. Even if some plants are not in full bloom during the summer months, the effects of the trees and grass are still present. July and August are more known to be ragweed season. While ragweed season used to last only about 1 week or so per year, scientists believe that due to global warming, ragweed season now extends to 3.5 weeks or longer. We recommend wearing sunglasses and an oversized hat to prevent as much pollen as possible from reaching your face and affecting your seasonal allergies.

Stings

During the summer months, many people spend more time outdoors than they do the rest of the year. Not only are people spending more time on their patio, but insects and bugs are spending more time near cookouts and gardens during the summer months too. Unfortunately, this increases our risks of getting bit or stung by these pests during summer. To help protect you and your family from any itchy, inflamed bug bites, be sure to use bug spray and avoid wearing anything sweet or brightly colored.

Mold

Florida’s humid air and warm temperatures are the perfect breeding ground for mold. One of the most common types of mold is Alternaria, which tends to peak in our area this time of year. If you have an allergy towards mold, we recommend wearing a mask in the yard to help prevent from breathing in mold spores while gardening and picking up your yard. It is also recommended that you replace your air filters as needed, and you may also want to consider using a dehumidifier in your home.


If you have any questions about our office or are interested in making an appointment, please give us a call at 877-EAR-NOSE or visit www.floridaent.com for more information. To keep up with the latest from our office, be sure to visit our Facebook page.

Swimmer’s Ear FAQs

Everyone knows that feeling of getting water stuck in your ear. Sometimes a quick jump with your head turnt can do the trick, but what happens if you can’t get the water out? Here are the top asked questions regarding swimmer’s ear:

What causes swimmer's ear?

Swimmer's ear is an inflammation, irritation or infection within the external auditory canal. Swimmer’s ear is also medically known as otitis externa. Excessive moisture is the main cause of swimmer’s ear, and it can be caused not only by swimming but from any excess water to the ear.

How long does it take for swimmer’s ear to go away?

If you’re suffering from swimmer’s ear, we recommend seeing your ENT doctor. They can diagnose your condition and prescribe the necessary medication. If you are diagnosed with swimmer’s ear, the most common prescription will be ear drops. Typically, pain and discomfort should diminish after 48-72 hours of using your ear drops. Most ear drop prescriptions for swimmer’s ear will last for 7 days, but of course, every person’s irritation, inflammation, or infection is unique and your doctor will prescribe the best solution for you.

Why do I need to remove water from my ear quickly?

Having water in your ear not only causes discomfort, muffled and ringing sounds but can also cause irritation and infections sooner than later. Excess moisture in your ear causes a breeding ground for bacteria. Even pool and shower water contain materials that can irritate your ear canal and cause issues quickly. If you’re having trouble removing water from your ear, there are many over the counter remedies you can find at your local drug store to help evaporate the sitting water.

Can you go swimming if you have an ear infection?

A middle ear infection and swimmer’s ear are not related. A common middle ear infection is walled off from the water behind your eardrum and will not be affected. However, if you do have a ruptured eardrum, then swimming should be avoided.


If you're suffering from swimmer’s ear or similar symptoms, we encourage you to make an appointment at Florida Ear Nose Throat. To schedule an appointment, give us a call at (877) EAR-NOSE.

3 Summer Recipes to Cool Down Your Allergies

Are you suffering through summer allergies? Consider trying one of these 3 recipes to help alleviate some of your symptoms. We still recommend seeing a doctor for help if your allergies are serious. Natural remedies can help your symptoms short-term, but medical treatment can help in the long-term.

Honey Mustard Broccoli Salad

Follow this recipe for a jam-packed salad full of sulforaphane and vitamin C. Sulforaphane has been widely studied for its antioxidant properties, and it’s been found to help fight airway inflammation. The honey added to the dressing is also a good cough suppressant. 

Honey-Soy-Glazed Salmon with Peppers

This honey-soy-glaze salmon has both omega-3 fatty acids and quercetin. Omega-3 fatty acids are in the salmon, and eating 2 servings per week has shown to decrease the symptoms of hay fever. The peppers contain quercetin, which is a natural plant chemical which can reduce histamine reactions.

Kiwi Pineapple Parfait

Lastly, cool down after a hot afternoon with this parfait. Pineapple contains bromelain, an enzyme that helps reduce irritation caused by allergens. Kiwi is full of vitamin C, and lastly, yogurt with live active cultures which can decrease your body’s immune response.

If you are having summer allergies, please contact us at Florida Ear Nose Throat. We’re here to help! We offer allergy screenings, allergy management, and immunotherapy. To schedule an appointment, give us a call at (877) EAR-NOSE.

What is Meniere's Disease and How is it Treated?

There are so many different names for diseases and illnesses, and it’s important to understand and research anything you doctor diagnoses you or is treating you for. Meniere’s disease is an interesting name for a disease, named after the French physician Prosper Meniere, who wrote an article in 1861 that suggested a single disorder for all of the disease’s symptoms.

What is Meniere’s Disease?

In the simplest of terms, Meniere’s disease is a disorder of the inner ear. The symptoms associated with Meniere’s disease are tinnitus (a ringing in the ear), vertigo (a spinning sensation), and a feeling of congestion or fullness within one’s ear. Typically, these symptoms only affect one ear, but over time can eventually affect both ears. These symptoms may be worsened by smoking, high-salt diets, or an infection.

According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders:

There is no definitive test or single symptom that a doctor can use to make the diagnosis. Diagnosis is based upon your medical history and the presence of:

Two or more episodes of vertigo lasting at least 20 minutes each

• Tinnitus
• Temporary hearing loss
• A feeling of fullness in the ear

How is Meniere’s Disease Treated?

There is no cure for Meniere’s disease. However, there are many ways to help treat and alleviate the symptoms for a better quality of life. There are medications to help with dizziness as well as dietary salt and diuretics to help lower the amount of water your body retains to lower pressure in your inner ear. There are other dietary options to avoid that have been shown to help worsen to the symptoms of Meniere’s disease. These foods are caffeine, chocolate, and alcohol.

If you're suffering from any of these symptoms, we also encourage you to make an appointment at Florida Ear Nose Throat. To schedule an appointment, give us a call at (877) EAR-NOSE.

What Allergies Does an Allergy Screening Look For?

Allergy tests can help determine things you might be allergic to eating, touching, or even inhaling. Allergy tests can be done by blood tests, skin tests, or challenge tests. Blood tests can be more reliable when looking for a specific allergy, but skin and challenge tests are helpful in determining different allergy triggers. Read more about the common allergens the different types of allergy tests can look for:

Blood Test

Blood tests are typically very helpful in diagnosing food allergies. When performed, doctors also tend to test for the 10 most common allergy triggers. Blood tests are also helpful for individuals who have severe allergic reactions. A blood test does not require exposure to the allergen, where a skin test will expose the patient to each allergen.

Here are the common foods a blood allergy test can look for:

• Cow's Milk
• Egg Whites
• Peanuts
• Soybeans
• Wheat
• Codfish
• Sesame seeds
• Almonds
• Cashews
• Walnuts
• Hazelnuts (Filberts)
• Tuna
• Salmon
• Shrimp
• Scallops

Skin Test

A skin allergy test can be completed in a few ways. These can be done by a skin prick test, an injection, a skin scrape, a patch test, or simply by applying an allergen externally. The most common types of allergens tested during a skin test are:

• Pollen
• Mold
• Trees
• Grass
• Plants
• Pet Dander 
• Dust Mites & Bugs
• Specific Foods

Challenge Test

Depending on your exact allergy, a challenge test can help determine what amount of allergen triggers a reaction to your skin or body. Your doctor will closely watch how strongly your body reacts to different levels of exposure to the allergen. These tests can be performed for any allergen after one is identified as a potential reaction from the patient.

If you're suffering from allergies, we also encourage you to make an appointment at Florida Ear Nose Throat. We offer allergy screening, allergy management, and immunotherapy. To schedule an appointment, give us a call at (877) EAR-NOSE.

Do I Need a Hearing Aid?

As we get older, we slowly start to lose our hearing. Treatment can help your hearing, but there is no cure for the majority of hearing loss. You also may inherit hearing loss from genetics, overexposure to loud noises, head injuries, and more. You can help prevent some causes of hearing loss by protecting your ears and avoiding excessive noise or injury. If you start to feel like you’re losing your hearing more and more, follow these steps to help determine if a hearing aid is right for you:

Take a Hearing Test

If you’re unsure if you need hearing aids, you can take a hearing test to help determine your quality of hearing. Schedule an appointment with your ENT doctor to have an audible hearing test. You can also take an online hearing test like this one here. It’s not easy to determine on your own how bad is too bad. Some people can live easily with mild hearing loss, and wouldn’t necessarily realize off-hand that they’re having issues hearing without taking a hearing test. Sometimes it’s not the difference between hearing and not hearing, but the slight difference between just hearing and hearing and understanding clearly.

Ask Close Relatives & Friends

Does your significant other complain that you don’t understand or miss pieces of information they’ve told you? Do you catch yourself asking others to repeat themselves over again? It’s helpful to get an opinion from a close friend or significant other. It’s easy to be self-conscious and think that you don’t hear words or context often -- but it is normal to miss words on occasion. It can be beneficial to know from a second-party if they feel as if you are missing information or not hearing clearly on a consistent, more-than-normal basis. They can also help you judge based on your surroundings, for example, do they find that you listen to the TV much louder than needed? Have they noticed that you don’t hear the doorbell easily? Use your friends and relatives for support and feedback.

Group Conversations

One other way to realize you may need a hearing aid has to deal with that difference between just hearing and hearing and understanding clearly. Do you find that you have difficulty talking in group settings? And is it difficult for you to hear one speaker who is talking with you when there is a lot of background noise? These can be signs that you are experiencing hearing loss. It’s not that you can’t hear any sound at all, it’s the ability to understand and comprehend the information delivered to you in an everyday setting. If you are finding that you’re having issues hearing in larger group settings, it may be helpful to schedule an appointment with your ENT doctor.



If you’re concerned about your hearing, set up an appointment with your Orlando ear nose throat doctor at Florida ENT today! Offices serving Orlando and Kissimmee.

Are My Tonsils Really That Important?

It’s not uncommon for children to have their tonsils removed while they’re young. If you still have your tonsils, you might be wondering if you should have yours removed or if there’s any value to keeping your tonsils. You might only know your tonsils as those two round lumps in the back of your throat, but they do more! When healthy, your tonsils stop both viral and bacterial germs from entering your system. Read our latest blog to learn more about the usefulness and purpose of your tonsils:

Part of your Immune & Lymphatic System

Your tonsils are made out of tissue similar to your lymph nodes and are a part of your immune system. Because your tonsils are the first line of defense as a part of a larger system they can be very beneficial when healthy. However, since they are also your first line of defense in your immune system, it is not uncommon for your tonsils to become swollen, infected, or enlarged. Sometimes, the harm of your tonsils becoming infected outweighs the benefits that they provide. In these cases, your doctor may recommend having your tonsils removed.

Catch Incoming Infections

Your tonsils are your first line of defense to infections from your mouth and nose -- essentially they “test” bacteria as it enters the body to see if there’s a risk of infection. Because of the functionality of your tonsils, they have an increased chance of becoming infected and continually causing bacterial issues. Your tonsils do play a part in fighting off bacteria and are believed to help create specific antibodies once a bacteria is detected, to help stop bacterial infections before they start.


If you have more questions, contact us at Florida Ear Nose Throat. We offer allergy screenings, allergy management, and immunotherapy. To schedule an appointment, give us a call at (877) EAR-NOSE.