Earwax removal is a controversial and much-debated issue in audiology. Risks and public safety call for reforms, sparking discussion on professional standards. Earwax is a natural secretion produced by the ear. It is an amalgamation of desquamous epithelial skin cells,...
International collaboration is more important than ever, and we hear from Prof Milan Profant about a collaboration that grew out of the very successful IFOS meeting in Paris in 2017. IFOS has developed a new philosophy regarding how to organise...
‘Sinus headache’ is a common diagnosis according to patients and primary care physicians, but relatively infrequent in the eyes of otolaryngologists. This study examines 104 patients with a primary headache syndrome (PHS) and 130 patients with CRS, looking at SNOT-22...
Peter Cawrey lives in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, with his wife Dorothy. He had a salvage laryngectomy for squamous cell carcinoma in 2015, three years following his initial radiotherapy. Due to complications and a complex recovery, he has elected not to have...
21st January 2021 Back to basics Yesterday I went right back to where my medical career began. I grew up in Germany, bilingual. A prerequisite to studying medicine in Germany is that applicants have to spend two months working as...
Our irrepressible Features Editor, Chris Potter, explores the limits of ignorance. I’m not sure about you, but I seem to exist in a sea of incompetence and ignorance, constantly surrounded by amateurish chumps and feckless underachievers. Now, a lesser man...
Surely the only outcome needed for post-surgical ears is a better PTA? Marcus Neudert argues there should be more to it than that. To draw a comprehensive picture of the disease-associated restrictions in patients with chronic otitis media, audiometric outcome...
Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are concepts we’ve heard of, but only seen in films such as Terminator, Minority Report and Mission Impossible. In this article, Tom Lovelock describes how AR/VR will impact our lives. A recent article...
Learning how to interpret a CT scan of the temporal bones can be a daunting task, especially for a head and neck surgeon like me! However, to make life easier, the authors have devised a useful system to help cover...
It has long been recognised that timely recognition of congenital hearing loss allows for the morbidity of hearing loss to be minimised. Due to the difficulties with identifying hearing loss in babies, combined with readily available screening technologies, many countries...
The phrase ‘burnout’ is often heard, but what is it, and what are the early warning signs? Importantly, how can it be prevented or managed? Over the last few years, health professional wellbeing, mental health, and burnout have come to...
David Black and Charlie Hall reiterate Vin Paleri’s pleas for a common sense evidence-based approach by those who allocate healthcare resources to the now urgent issue of HPV-related disease. They discuss the merits of different vaccines and the need for...