Headaches and Migraine Awareness Month: An ENT Surgeons Perspective

The month of June is celebrated as Headache and Migraine Awareness Month

I have written about Sinusitis in Adults  https://sheelusrinivas-entpractice.blogspot.com/2012/10/i-have-got-sinus-information-about.html  and Children  https://sheelusrinivas-entpractice.blogspot.com/2017/01/sinusitis-in-children.html

Today, we will discuss headaches in ENT outpatient settings and when do we take help of other specialists including Neurologists or a Sleep Specialists.

Headaches can be acute or chronic. There can be associated symptoms like an aura, intolerance to light or sound, nausea and so on.
The location and duration of attacks also help in diagnosis.
A good history can clinch a diagnosis.
Depending on the age group: Young, middle age and older patients, the differential diagnosis of headaches change.
I would like to give advice for patients with chronic headache is to maintain a diary of headache and what medications were taken.

After a detail history, thorough clinical examination and looking for risk factors and signs :a diagnosis is reached.

Migraines form one of the commonest diagnosis and presentation of headache in clinical practice.
Sharing an interesting video on Migraine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHffEt-MXjI

Our Pediatric deafness services during Covid times: What can wait and what needs to be addressed?

Covid 19 lockdown has had impact on all of us,more so on lives of children with disabilities.

Children with hearing and speech difficulties can have hearing problem which is reversible or irreversible.

Reversible hearing loss includes children with fluid in the middle ear and leading to conductive hearing loss.Majority of these children respond to medical management.
If they do not show improvement in hearing after 8-12 weeks of medical treatment, this fluid needs to be drained or removed by a procedure called Myringotomy.

Another example of reversible hearing loss is children with cholesteatoma or chronic ear infection.
If not addressed appropriately, children with conductive hearing loss can also have speech and communication problems and scholastic backwardness as they have difficulty in noisy classrooms.


Irreversible or permanent hearing loss in children is usually referred to sensorineural hearing loss from birth or gradually progressing from birth. These children will have long term effects on speech, communication and hearing.
These children need to be diagnosed with audiology team and fitted with hearing aids. This has to be followed with dedicated speech therapy. Children who do not develop age appropriate speech with aids will be considered for cochlear implantation.

Apart from the direct impact of hearing loss on speech, wearing of masks and disruption of therapy services have effected children and families.

We have been available to these families on phone and Whatsapp. Once the lockdown was released, we have been triaging the needs of children and calling them for tests and hearing aid fitting. Our families benefitted with teleconsultations.

Our commitment lead to BERA/ABR tests in a baby 9 months old to hearing aid fitting in the baby. We also diagnosed and gave hearing aid to a 4 year old.
Though we avoided performing routine ENT Surgeries,we performed myringotomy and grommet insertion and mastoid surgery in a 5 year old.
We have been following all necessary precautions for the safety of ourselves, our staff and children and their families.
We will have to be careful for the coming months but make sure that further damage and morbidity is not added to our already diagnosed medical problems.

Little ones matter: Role of Prevention in Pediatric ENT

During these Covid times, everyone id anxious especially about hospital visits.Here we discuss some preventive aspects in Ear Nose Throat Diseases

Hope you like and share it

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=273713967310099&ref=watch_permalink