He knows the nose ... and ears and throat
Sinus infections afflict about 37 million people in the United States each year. They can be viral or bacterial. They can be triggered by polyps, allergies, swimming, smoking and other factors. As an ear, nose and throat specialist, Dr. David Henick — chief of otolaryngology/head and neck surgery for Englewood Hospital and Medical Center — diagnoses and treats everything from sinus and ear infections, to hearing loss caused by loud noises or aging, to cancers of the mouth and throat.
Q. What is the No. 1 reason people come to see you?
Chronic sinusitis is one of the more pre-valent chronic illnesses in the United States, affecting persons of all age groups. Because of my specialty fellowship training in rhinology/sinus surgery and head and neck surgery, the most common reason that patients may come to see me is for complicated sinus infections, and to have revision sinus surgery. In addition, I see a large number of patients with tumors of the thyroid gland. The incidence of thyroid cancer has risen in recent years, and it is the most rapidly increasing cancer in the United States.
Q. When it comes to ear infections, the new thinking is that it is primarily viral and not bacterial. Is that true?
An outer ear infection is an infection of the skin of the external ear canal, typically caused by bacteria, and usually it responds well to topical antibiotic ear drops. A middle-ear infection can often be caused by a virus, in which case the only relief doctors can offer is treatment of the symptoms. To ease the pain, a doctor may recommend a pain reliever, typically acetaminophen or ibuprofen, which also helps reduce a fever. Pain can also be reduced by using gentle heat from a heating pad, but be very careful when using heating pads with children. Because it can be difficult for your doctor to tell with an otoscope if the ear infection is caused by a virus or bacteria, deciding on a proper course of treatment isn't always obvious. A debate over using antibiotics to treat middle-ear infections arose in the 1990s as more bacteria became resistant. Some doctors initially treat only the symptoms of an ear infection, without antibiotics, a response ... supported by several studies.
Q. Are there any home remedies you can suggest for an ear infection?
Many find that warmth, perhaps from a warm compress, brings comfort. Steam inhalations may also help. If you bottle-feed your baby, make sure the baby is held in a relatively upright position. Never put your baby to bed with a bottle, and try to take your baby off of the bottle as soon as your child's physician feels the child is ready. In general, holding your head erect can help drain your middle ear. In older children or adults, gargling with salt water may help clear the Eustachian tubes.
Q. Are you seeing more people with hearing loss?
The most common causes of hearing loss are aging and noise. Loss of hearing is a natural consequence of getting older. When we reach our 80s, more than half of us suffer from significant hearing loss.
Q. What is new and exciting when it comes to helping hearing loss?
Fortunately, today's hearing aids are great. They're high-powered computers worn in or behind the ear. They are tuned to the patient's specific pattern of hearing loss and contain directional microphones to help block out background noise. They will never be as good as normal hearing but get better every year. Unfortunately, only about 20 percent of those who can benefit from a hearing aid have them.
So why don't people who need hearing aids get them? The two main reasons are stigma and cost.
Hearing aids typically cost $1,500 to $3,000 per ear. In most states, adult hearing aids aren't covered by insurance, and states that do cover them never pay for more than a fraction of the cost of the best models. Worse yet, hearing aids have to be replaced every three to five years and are easily lost or broken.
Q. Do you see cancers in the eye, ear and throat? Is that unusual? Which organ is most prone to become cancerous and why?
This year, more than 50,000 people in the United States will be diagnosed with head and neck cancers, which account for 5 percent of all cancers diagnosed in men in this country and about 2 percent of cancer diagnoses in women. Men over the age of 40 are at the greatest risk of developing head and neck cancers. If detected early, head and neck cancers are highly treatable and the cure rate is good.