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April 30, 2015

Capsaicin Spray to Treat Neuropathic Chronic Cough

Image by Daniel Risacher  in Wikipedia I recently learned of this unusual form of treatment to help with neuropathic chronic cough by respected laryngologist Dr. Robert Bastian . Capsaicin is what provides the heat in chili peppers and has been used alternatively as an irritant to induce cough in the pulmonary literature, but also numbness in chronic pain situations. As it pertains to laryngeal sensory neuropathy (LSN) or sensory neuropathic cough (SNC) , it does not actually fix anyth…
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April 29, 2015

Sam Smith Cancels Australian Tour Due To Vocal Cord Hemorrhage

Image by marcen27 of Wikipedia Media reported April 28, 2015 that Sam Smith suffered from vocal cord hemorrhage forcing him to cancel his Australian tour on doctor's orders due to potential risk of permanently damaging his voice. This is the same reason that Adele had to cancel her tour back in October 2011. He joins a number of other singers over the past few years who had to cancel their tours due to such vocal cord problems including: • Nathan Sykes - April 2013 • Nicki Mana…
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April 25, 2015

Medical Alarm Fatigue

Alarms are an important part of clinical care as it serves as a warning to a possible medical error or an impending medical emergency. But when they occur frequently, most of which end up being "false-alarms," they become worse than useless and actually contributes  to an unsafe patient environment because a life-threatening event may be missed due to such sensory overload. In one fascinating research article performed in an intensive care unit (ICU) where the sickest of the sick…
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April 22, 2015

The Longer Hoarseness Lasts, the More Expensive it Becomes to Treat

It is generally accepted that if a voice is hoarse for over 2 weeks, an ENT evaluation is recommended.  The main concern is whether there is something more serious going on that would require specialist treatment whether it be unusual medications or even surgery. Researchers have also found out that patients who see an ENT after 3 weeks of hoarseness also pay substantially more money than if they had seen an ENT earlier. The longer patients wait, the more expensive it becomes to correct t…
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April 17, 2015

April 13, 2015

Acupuncture Helps with Tonsillectomy Pain

Back in 2013, I blogged how acupuncture may help with pain after tonsillectomy in children [ link ]. This was based on a study by Dr. Ochi published in Dec 2013 on 56 children. Another study has been published in April 2015 on 59 children by a different group of researchers which support Dr. Ochi's findings as well as another in 2019 found acupuncture helpful in adults. Although no significant differences in the amount of opioid medications administered or total post-anesthesia care t…
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April 10, 2015

Weight Loss After Tonsillectomy in Adults

An adult undergoing tonsillectomy experiences some of the worst pain they could potentially encounter in their lifetime. Not only that, it may last up to 3 weeks. With such pain, it is not surprising that dehydration is one of the most common risks of this surgery. Along with such pain, weight loss is a not unexpected occurrence given oral intake substantially decreases for such a long time. Typically, I've told patients around a 10 pound weight loss is not unusual, but that's just…
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April 06, 2015

April 03, 2015

Baby Born Without a Nose

You may have noticed in the news about a baby born without a nose in Alabama on 3/4/15. Very cute little baby named Eli. As media noted, this condition known as congenital arhinia is extremely rare occurring about 1 in 197 million. In fact, there's only 40 known cases in the world currently. When an infant is born unable to breath thru the nose, this is a life-threatening condition because newborns are not able to breath thru the mouth. They are known as obligate nasal breathers. Beca…
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April 02, 2015

How Does Alginate Help Reflux?

Alginate's affects on improving reflux has been known about for decades. Initial scientific studies on how it improves reflux were conducted in the 1980s. Alginates are natural polysaccharide polymers isolated from brown seaweed ( Phacophycae ) and is classified as dietary fiber. Their ability to form viscous solutions and gels have led to their extensive use in foods, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical products for over one century. As it pertains to reflux, perhaps the most interesting …
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April 01, 2015


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