If you’ve never been to an ENT doctor before, you might not be sure what they are or what they’re used for. But ENT doctors can be extremely useful for many different reasons, and you might actually benefit from one.
An ENT doctor, or an ear nose and throat doctor, can help you with multiple issues involving your ears, your nose, and your throat. Pretty self-explanatory, right? Well, even though it seems pretty obvious, there are many reasons why you should go to an ENT doctor that you might not even think of.
First, and they can treat allergies, nasal problems, and sinus issues. The allergies can be anything from seasonal to yearly, while the nasal problems they treat include chronic sinusitis and nasal polyp cyst disease. An ENT also deals with chronic nasal obstructions and deviated septums, which can be treated with a rhinoplasty procedure. If you’ve been experiencing severe headaches or migraines, an ENT might be the solution. You might think that your primary care doctor would be able to help you with the things listed above, but since the ENT doctor is specially trained in treating the above issues, they might be able to do more than your primary care physician would.
Next, if you’ve been dealing with snoring or sleeping in general, an ENT might be able to help you out. They may be able to prescribe you a medication or teach you about different ways to sleep, but they’ll also be able to tell you if you’re dealing with a more serious issue like sleep apnea. If you are dealing with something like sleep apnea, the ENT doctor will be able to treat it. They can administer a sleep apnea treatment, snoring treatment, or offer you various sleep apnea treatment options. About one out of every five adults in the U.S. has an undiagnosed case of mild sleep apnea, so if you think you may have it, reach out to a doctor as soon as possible.
Finally, if you’ve been noticing issues with swallowing food and drinks or if you have had pain on your vocal cords, an ENT is the person for you. They’ll be able to determine if you have things like salivary gland dysfunction, voice disorders, vocal cord lesions, or if you need voice therapy. They’re trained to look for those specific things, so you’ll definitely be in good hands when working with an ENT.
If you find any of the issues listed above to be impacting your life greatly, speak with an ENT. An ENT can take care of all of the problems listed above, plus more, and get you back to your normal self in no time.
