When to visit an ENT specialist

Is it just a normal ache or something more serious? An ENT specialist can tell if the malady is a serious one or not.

The human body is a wondrous mechanism that heals itself whenever there is a slight disorder or illness. Adequate rest, taking the right medication and eating nutritious food can treat most health problems and body aches and pains. But some seemingly minor maladies have the potential to develop into bigger problems – and they may not be treated in time because one believes that they are not serious enough to warrant medical attention.

The cold weather brings with it cold, flu, headaches, migraines, body pain, joint stiffness and many other problems. Cold, cough and flu are particularly virulent in this season, and they give rise to such symptoms as clogged nose, scratchy or painful throat, fever and headaches. These are minor enough, but if there are symptoms such as dizzy spells, painful ears, mucus in the ear cavity, a lump in the throat that makes swallowing difficult and dizzying headaches, it is time to see a doctor. These are signs of an infection.

The doctor treating these (and more) problems is known as an ENT specialist. The best ENT specialists in Bangalore treat the problems and infections of the ear, nose, throat, neck and head. Consider the following reasons to visit an ENT specialist in Bangalore:

Ear problems: If you or a family member suffer from perennially blocked or painful ears, reduced hearing, flashes of pain in the ears, ringing or buzzing sound, a sudden feeling that the room is spinning (even if you are lying down or sitting), clear fluid oozing from the ears, etc.

Nose problems: See the ENT specialist for a nose blocked for over a week, no sense of smell despite the cold or cough healing completely, pain in the nose or sinus, sudden breathlessness despite not having a blocked nose, no sensation of taste when eating food, sudden onset of cold without runny nose accompanied by thick, clotty mucus.

Throat issues: If you or a family member suffer from a painful throat for over a week, have difficulty making sounds or framing words, have difficulty swallowing, inability to speak in a higher tone, chronic dry cough or incidence of phlegmy cough despite no allergies or change in weather.

Head and neck pains: These are reasons to see an ENT specialist at once: sudden onset of painful headaches that last for hours, dizzying headaches that impair the vision, heavy or swollen feeling in the head, headaches followed by vomiting, lumps that can be felt with the fingers, difficulty to make facial gestures as before, a ‘collapsed’ facial structure leading to partial facial paralysis, etc.