NTs instead of ENTs

No offense to our beloved, enthusiastic ENTs and Neurotologists, but seeing lots of ENTs in many countries I think the title should be changed to NT (Nose and Throat) without further advance in Inner ear...

I have seen many of those who has no idea about the workings of or the literature on inner ear, which IS the real EAR. Which is the part that hears... Some of them, I bewildered them with my 7 month intensive reading on inner ear. One told me that ototoxic drugs were released from the inner ear in a matter of minutes (No actually I told him, they stay for at least a year there), One told me for ototoxicity I should have been deaf in higher frequencies instead of 40db hearing loss that I had at the time (good old days), I told him no 50% of the cases Gentamicin does not cause any hearing loss at all, while annihilating the vestibular system.. One suggested I got a ventilation tube inserted in my inner ear for the cure in Meniere's disease, I asked him why, he responded that he does not know but it seems to work (how professional!¡)

With "E" out of title, we wouldn't need to see numbers of them just to get the idea that they work on throat operations, sinus problems, etc..

Nose hairs regenerate even though we cut them with a pair of scissors. But Cochlear hair do not. They shouldn't be treated by the same specialist (The metaphor is falling apart, but you got my point).

 

My NT with a degree from Columbia U told me that human hearing only goes down to 100hz. Below that you just feel it. So the low freq loss (from 20- 125 hz) I experienced was just in my mind since I can't hear it!

Hmmmmm, being an audio engineer for 30 years makes me feel sick this guy has no clue except he then had me see his audiologist for a hearing aid which doesn't touch any frequency except the speech range.

I'm tempted to take a bass amp and cab, notch all frequencies above 100hz and crank my bass With his ear on speaker. Heck, he'll just feel it...no worries!

 

Have him sit on a sub.

 

i dont really think they are technically hairs.

 

E is just a fancy letter to NT generating extra income for doctors for doing nothing . If a survey is done, most know shit about ear problems and treating them. Only a handful of doctors are good when it comes to ears but most are equally clueless and outdated . I am a concussion patient, visited a zillion neurologists in and out of my country and they are worst trust me. Its actually neuros who are not doing their job not ENT in my opinion. Most of the so called modern medicine is scam and healivily commercialized except surgery!

 

Have to agree, there are a LOT of shoddy ENTs (and other medical professionals) out there.

I've met multiple ENTs and audiologists who really had no clue about tinnitus and other auditory disorders. I was able to recognize their lack of knowledge just a couple months into my tinnitus experience using my background in music/sound engineering, and having spent a little time Googling tinnitus and related conditions. Couple of them worked out of private clinics but the others were out of highly regarded hospitals in my city, which I find really disheartening.

One ENT, who obviously had some good SEO trickery behind him, had himself listed as Melbourne's "leading tinnitus specialist" on Google. He was very far from that, and easily the worst doctor I have met - his name is Dr. Glenn Watson if anyone in Melbourne happens to catch this, avoid him at all costs.

Anyway, his clinic had an audiologist rush through an audiometry (which provided the most inaccurate results compared to every other exam I have had done) and then into a consultation with the doctor himself. He paid no attention to anything I was saying and gave me a very scripted talk on tinnitus, red flags went up for me when I mispronounced "pulsatile" tinnitus two times accidentally (for some reason I kept referring to it as "pulsative", silly me haha), he did not correct me, and ignored the subject completely. Then when I inquired about my hearing above 8000hz, which I'm very familiar with as I am always working with graphic equalizers when working on music and audio material, he simply told me that we don't use anything above 8000hz and that it had no impact on tinnitus and other hearing related disorders, what the eff?

During the two consultations I had with him, he never made eye contact with me until I brought up an issue I've had with enlarged adenoids for the majority of my life and that I was thinking that possibly getting them removed would help my tinnitus. At this point, he begins to actually pay attention to me and tell me that it will, without a doubt, fix the troubles I was having with my ears and that he could set it up as soon as possible, for around $5000AUD.

I knew immediately that he was just looking for money, but when you're desperate and new to tinnitus you begin to consider any possible solution. I didn't end up going through with it, but I was shocked at how quickly his demeanor changed as soon as I suggested the possibility of surgery. The only thing on that doctors mind was $$$. It left me feeling pretty damn angry, but I guess on the flip side I learned to be more careful when dealing with medical professionals, and to spend more time doing research on whether or not a doctor actually has the expertise they advertise.

I did end up finding a good ENT a year or so later, he was specifically an "otoneurologist" and had a far greater depth of knowledge about all auditory disorders. He actually listened to me and engaged in dialog about certain theories and ideas I had about tinnitus. He was also able to hook me up with a full spectrum audiometry, where my hearing was tested up to about 20,000hz. However, even though he was a big step a head of the other ENTs I had previously dealt with, I could tell that he would not be able to help me much, and he was very out of date with current tinnitus research regarding therapies like AM-101, autifony, VNS, etc. I think most specialists get to a point where they feel comfortable in their knowledge on a subject and basically stop learning. It sucks but I guess it's just the way things are currently.