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Showing posts from August, 2020

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Why Some People Can't Stop Coughing

  Understanding Refractory Chronic Cough: What You Need to Know   Have you ever faced a cough that simply refuses to subside?   While most coughs resolve independently, some persist for an unacceptable length of time—weeks, months, or even years. This condition is known as refractory chronic cough (RCC), and it is a significant issue that demands attention in the medical community, especially among specialists in ear, nose, and throat (ENT) care.   In this blog post, we will clearly outline what RCC is, why it occurs, and the most promising treatments available to those suffering from relentless coughing.     What is Refractory Chronic Cough?   A chronic cough is defined as one that lasts longer than eight weeks in adults. For many individuals, it is associated with conditions such as asthma, allergies, acid reflux, or certain medications. However, there are instances where the cough continues even after these underlying causes have been effectively ad...

Cough in Children

                                      What causes a cough in children? Coughing is a protective reflex of the body due to irritation of the airway. If the cough lasts more than 4-8 weeks or if after four weeks the cough is becoming worse, then it can be worrying. A persistent cough can affect the quality of the life of a child, including, schooling, sleep and appetite. Common causes of persistent cough could be allergy/hay fever, postnasal drip, large tonsil, gastro-oesophageal reflux or asthma. Rare causes include foreign body inhalation or psychogenic. Evolving evidence is dry cough on its own is rarely a symptom of asthma.  What are two essential things to understand about chronic cough in a child? Causes of chronic cough are different from adults  Management of chough in children if different from adults and parents and clinician need to understand this. What should I write dow...

Is Ear Wax Removal Safe?

  What is ear wax? The ear canal has two zones, outer ear canal lined by skin having hair and sweat glands and inner ear canal containing only skin covering bone next to eardrum. Earwax, medically known as cerumen, is a mixture of sweat, secretions from the sebaceous gland and dead cells. Therefore, the amount of secretions you have in your ear wax can be of two major types, wet ear wax and dry ear wax. Why do some people have more ear wax problems/ build-up? The first thing to know is everyone makes wax, and some naturally more and some less. Secondly, the shape of the ear canal can predispose you to have more earwax problems. You may have a hairy ear canal or narrow ear canal, which can trap more than the usual amount of ear wax you produce. Thirdly, if produce ear wax which gets stuck to the ear canal, it becomes difficult to fall out. Some people may push ear wax in if they are using insert headphones, i.e. earpods, earplugs for noise reduction or swimming/hearing aids. What ar...