The American medical industry is enormous, and one particular aspect of it is visiting private physicians or specialized doctors who can diagnose a wide variety of health issues and prescribe medical solutions to them. This ranges from visiting a general family doctor all the way to a pediatrician, who will have specialized knowledge in the anatomy and common health issues of babies and children. Other specialized doctors may be endocrinologists, who can often work with diabetes patients, or a heart specialist or a psychologist. an ENT, meanwhile, is an “ear nose throat” doctor, and ENT doctors are flexible doctors who can see a wide range of patients. A patient may look for ear nose and throat doctors in their area when they get a referral from their physician or when they look one up in their area. Someone living in Texas, for example, might search “ENT doctors in Plano TX”.
What an ENT Doctor Can Do
AN ENT doctor, as the name suggests, can look over, diagnose, and treat a wide variety of health issues with the patient’s ears, their throat, and their nose and nasal cavity. Many minor but substantial health problems affect one or more of these parts of the head. Patients may suffer from swimmer’s ear, for example, if they get an irritating infection in their inner ear canal. This tube of flesh may be irritated from exposure to water or from misuse of cotton swabs, and bacterial growth may be encourage by excess moisture in the ear. And that’s not all. Someone who visits an ear nose throat doctor may have strep throat or another issue with their throat, and someone who suffers from heartburn or bulimia may have exposed their throat to a lot of strong stomach acids. And during influenza season, many patients may visit these doctors due to upper respiratory issues.
Someone who wants to see such a doctor may be pleased to know that these doctors are often even more flexible than the ear nose throat trio, and some such doctors may diagnose a problem anywhere on the head. Some of these doctors can examine their client’s neck, eyeballs, and their skin or scalp for issues. Someone who visits these doctors may ask if they can examine these head-based body parts and get a diagnosis.
Hearing loss is another major issue that such doctors may diagnose. These ear nose throat doctors may be visited if their charge has suffered from hearing loss over time. A person’s ear canal and eardrum can only safely handle sounds up to certain decibels, and exposure to louder sounds may damage the ear drum, the little bones in the ear, and more. A heavy infection in the ear may also cause some hearing loss. Overall, it is believed that around 15% of Americans aged 18 and over are suffering from hearing loss to some degree or other, for various reasons. Should this happen, an ear nose and throat doctor may agree that a hearing problem is present after some examination and testing, and refer that patient to a hearing loss specialist clinic. The professionals at such a clinic will conduct further testing to measure hearing loss and diagnose why it is happening.
Virtual Doctors
Someone who wants to visit an ear nose throat doctor, or indeed any other sort of doctor, may consult them not only in person at their office but also online. Some Americans have difficulty visiting a doctor in person due to transportation issues or a fear of crowds or bacteria present in a waiting room, so they may instead conduct live video chat with an online doctor. This is a young but popular field that’s rapidly growing, and many doctors, ENT and otherwise, make themselves available for live video chat consultations. With video and audio, the patient may show the doctor their problems and explain them, and hear back from that doctor. The doctor may use Cloud data storage to quickly and easily access that patient’s medical records and history for reference during such a live video chat. Interested patients may simply use a search engine to find such doctors, such as “live virtual doctors in Seattle WA” to get started.