New Webpage on the Correct Use of Nasal Sprays for Eustachian Tube Dysfunction

A new webpage has been created illustrating the correct use of nasal sprays to treat eustachian tube dysfunction. As many people have experienced at some point in their lives, the ears may feel full of annoying pressure or crackles and pops constantly. When this happens, your physician may prescribe a variety of medications including nasal sprays which is the first line of treatment (antibiotics and ear drops play NO role in this disorder).

However, instruction on how to use the nasal sprays may be lacking resulting in most people using it incorrectly. This webpage endeavors to provide this missing piece of information.

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Over-the-counter products that may be helpful to treat eustachian tube dysfunction:

New Video Example of "Non-Organic Stridor"

A new video example of a young patient with audible wheezing on fast breathing due to "non-organic stridor" has been posted. Patients with non-organic stridor are often erroneously diagnosed with vocal cord dysfunction (VCD) or exercise-induced asthma. Indeed, the only thing wrong with patients with non-organic stridor is the fact they produce a wheezy noise while breathing which can be simply controlled by breathing in through the nose or slowing down their breathing rate. No medications or really any other treatment is required.

The typical patient with non-organic stridor is a young female athlete whose symptoms occur during heavy exercise. Usually, the noisy breathing is described as wheezing or stridor and most prominent on inhalation though could occur on exhalation.

Washington Post Medical Mystery: Chronic Cough Due to Fungal Pneumonia

The Washington Post on February 5, 2008 published a story of a woman who had a chronic cough that never seemed to respond to typical treatments. Only after undergoing a bronchoscopy test was diagnosis reached... a fungal infection of her lungs.

A chronic cough behooves a THOROUGH investigation of all possible causes and which unfortunately requires a multitude of tests before an explanation may be found.

Read more about chronic cough and the workup here.

New Video Example of Vocal Cord Papillomas

A new video has been posted illustrating vocal cord papillomas. Needless to say, the vocal quality is quite raspy. Click here to watch the video.

New ADductor Spasmodic Dysphonia Audio Samples Posted

A patient with a very mild case of ADductor spasmodic dysphonia speaking a variety of phrases has been posted. The nice thing with this case is that only when saying certain "voice-weighted" phrases does the loss of vocal fluency become most apparent. The spasmodic dysphonia can be made less apparent when speaking "voiceless-weighted" phrases. Click here to hear the various audio clips.

As an FYI, the voice-weighted phrases which accentuate ADductor spasmodic dysphonia are as follows:
• Counting from 80 to 89
• "We mow our lawn all year."
• "We eat eels every day."
• "A dog dug a new bone."
• "Where were you one year ago?"
• "We rode along Rhode Island Avenue."
• "Eeee eee eee."

These voiceless-weighted phrases are MUCH easier to say for patients with ADductor spasmodic dysphonia:
• Counting from 60 to 69
• "Peter will keep at the peak."
• "We eat eels every day."
• "When he comes home, we'll feed him."
• "Tap the tip of the cap, please."
• "Keep Tom at the party."
• "See see see."

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Books on voice therapy found to be a useful ADJUNCT to botox injections: