TINNITUS
Published July 28, 2024 | 
WHAT IS IT?
People who have tinnitus would like to take in the silence of a snowy landscape or a country garden, but they can’t. Instead, they hear a ringing or roaring in their ears that no one else can hear. Continue reading
SINUSITIS
Published July 28, 2024 | WHAT IS IT?
Your sinuses are small air-filled pockets in the bones around your nose. When your sinuses become inflamed, you have sinusitis. Your nose gets stuffy and drippy, and you may feel pain-sometimes severe-around your eyes, cheeks, and forehead. More than 35 million Americans know these symptoms all too well. Continue reading
HEARING LOSS
Published July 28, 2024 | WHAT IS IT?
Hearing is one of our most important senses. It helps us communicate, a skill vital to relationships at work and at home. But 28 million people in the United States, many of them older, can no longer listen as well as they would like to the world around them. Continue reading
EAR INFECTIONS
Published July 28, 2024 | WHAT IS IT?
Ear infections are common, especially in young children: About one-third of children have more than three ear infections by the time they are three years old. Each year at least 3 million adults get ear infections.
The most common types are middle ear infections, when the area behind your eardrum becomes swollen and painful, and outer ear infections or swimmer’s ear, when your ear canal is sore and itchy. Continue reading
ALLERGIES
Published July 28, 2024 | WHAT IS IT?
You have an allergy when your immune system reacts too strongly to things that don’t harm most people. To fight what it mistakes as a threat, the system sends out histamine-a chemical present in body tissue-as well as other substances that can bring on bouts of feeling itchy, stuffy, sneezy, and sick. One person of every five in the United States has an allergy of some sort. Continue reading
Salivary stones
Published July 25, 2024 | Sialolithiasis is the medical term for a stone (or stones) in a salivary gland or its duct. There are three pairs of salivary glands that secrete saliva, particularly when you eat. Each gland has its own duct (tube) leading from the gland to the mouth. The parotid gland is in the cheek and the submandibular and sublingual glands are in the floor of the mouth. Continue reading
Leukoplakia
Published July 25, 2024 | Leukoplakia (lew ko PLAY kee ah) is a Latin term that means “white patches.” The condition involves primarily the inside of the cheek and the surface of the tongue.
The cause is usually irritation from smoking or chewing tobacco products, but it may also result from ill-fitting dentures, a rough spot on an adjacent tooth or cheek-biting. Continue reading
Head noise
Published July 24, 2024 | Ringing. Buzzing. Roaring. Whooshing. Chirping. Beating. Humming. You may enjoy these sounds in nature, but not when they come from inside your head.
Head noise is common. Nearly 36 million Americans are affected by it. The medical term for head noise is tinnitus (TIN-i-tus), from the Latin word tinnire, meaning to ring. Tinnitus isn’t a disease. It’s a symptom that can be caused by a number of medical conditions.
But while you may find the noise annoying, tinnitus is rarely a warning of a serious problem. Continue reading