MOUNT VERNON – Ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists see patients of all ages, from the newborn to the elderly, said Dr. Suzanne Helming of Knox Community Hospital.
“We see everything from ear infections in children to complicated head and neck cancers,” she told the Mount Vernon News.
The physicians see patients with hearing loss, sinus problems, newborns with problems moving their tongue and elderly patients who have balance problems.
“The variety of things we see is wide,” Helming said.
Most patients are referred to the hospital specialists through their primary care physicians.
“We don’t require a referral,” Helming said. “People will call on their own accord. But typically they will start with either their regular doctor or they are referred from urgent care or an emergency room.”
There is also an allergy clinic associated with the practice that accepts patients without referrals, the doctor said.
There are some things patients can do to prevent problems with their ears, nose and throat.
“Alcohol, cigarettes and vaping can exacerbate a lot of ENT issues,” Helming explained. “We advise complete abstinence of smoking and vaping. The No. 1 cause of head and neck cancer is related to cigarette smoking.”
Symptoms of head/neck cancer include voice changes that last more than three weeks, a mass on your neck, a chronic sore throat, difficulty swallowing, coughing, ear pain and mouth sores that don’t heal.
A patient’s weight is usually not a factor in problems treated by ENT specialists, other than with snoring, sleep apnea, heartburn or indigestion, Helming noted.
“Almost all the other head/neck issues are not actually connected to weight,” she said.
One of the most common procedures remains placing tubes in the ears of young children who suffer from frequent ear infections, the doctor said.
Hearing loss is often caused by exposure to loud noises, particularly at the job site.
“We are also seeing some recreational noise exposure — motorcyclists who don’t wear hearing protection or farmers that use heavy equipment and decide not to protect their ears,” Helming said.
It happens less on the workplace these days because of federal requirements to provide hearing protection and the improvement of earplugs.
Hearing loss from nerve damage cannot be repaired, but hearing aids can help, Helming said.
