Best doctor for sinus problems

[Konini]

Hello everybody and happy New Year.

My husband has had life long sinus problems, has had 3 operations and tried everything from the ridiculous (acupuncture) to the sublime (cutting virtually everything from diet) to the obscure (mashed papaya stuffed up the nose for an hour a day) and nothing works, although the last operation, supposedly with the best specialist in Australia 8 years ago has stopped the daily nose bleeds, but not continual infections.

Time to try again, so opinions on the best ENT doctor in town would be appreciated.

[tpthai2]

Suggest you see Dr. Morgan. The office will open again on January 6.

She may not be a specialist in this area but will provide honest and

considered recommendations in the CM area.

The burning season is coming if not already starting which

is very hard on the sinuses.

Address : 275 M.6 Chiangmai-Hangdong Road Tambon MeaHia,
Muang District Chiang Mai 50100
Tel & Fax : 053-804405

[elektrified]

Dr. Morgan is a great doctor but for sinus problems you need a ENT doctor. I had sinus problems for many years in America and always went to my ENT as they have the equipment to treat you. Your husband may need steroids, etc. and a proper examination with the equipment that only an ENT would have.

There are some recommendations on the pinned list or you can do a search in this forum for "Dr. Rat" who is the ENT I go to. He is a Professor at CMU. I recommend him.

[Gnasher328]

Hi

I developed bad sinus problems a few years ago, one of the reasons I came to Thailand to escape the UK winter, despite the pollution.

I tried the 'irrigation' idea, faffing around with a syringe and a solution of 1tsp salt+1tsp bicarb to 1/2 pint of water which helped a bit but not enough.

Then I went sailing in Turkey, travelling light and to somewhere warm, so I didn't bother to take the 'kit' with me. Of course I caught a rotten cold on the plane, complete with sinus trouble. All I had to band was salt and a glass, so I just used that' and a nurse on the trip pointed out I should be using more salt so I doubled to 2 tsp in 1/2 pint-ish water, no bicarb, just sniffed from my palm.

The results were amazing, like the difference between pouring cold water or boiling wafer on ice, it ripped through any 'gunk' and as it was so easy to do I could easily repeat often. I have found three times in an hour first thing (between coffee and toast) is usually enough for the day, then a few times in the evening to get the pollution out.

I have been doing this for four months now and although extreme provocation will give me a rotten day or two, it seems to have stopped the infection cycle and I have had only a handfull of bad days since.

Here in CM I also wear a mask while riding my bike, which helps with pollution and also stops the cold air rushing up my nose,as well as ear plugs. I rode a couple of k on the ring road without those and really regreted it the next day.

Hope you get yours sorted, only us suferers understand how bad it is. It had turned me into a semi recluse but now I seem to be managing more.

[xylophone]

I've battled with sinus problems throughout most of my life and they were particularly bad when I was teenager. Bad attacks would come and go and it did settle down for a while when I was living in the UK, however started up again when I moved to New Zealand.

Visited an ENT specialist there and he decided that the bent septum in my nose was causing me many of the problems, so he operated and straightened it out and it seemed to do the trick for a while.

However would still get sinus problems from time to time and when I moved to Thailand, I got sinus problems/infections for many months at a time so went to see a specialist at the Phuket International hospital, however everything he did, including tablets and sprays really didn't make a difference. So I visited a very good ENT specialist at Bangkok Phuket hospital who took CAT scans etc and did locate a couple of minor polyps in the sinus cavities, but nothing which would be helped by an operation. However the sinus cavities were inflamed.

Because I had tried everything else over the years, I was prepared to listen to him, so he put me on a low dose antibiotic for three months, along with a nasal spray, Nasonex as well as prednisone (steroids). That did help to settle the problem down, and once I came off the tablets, I continued with the Nasonex spray and also used daily salt nasal washes with an added ingredient which had been commented upon by the Mayo Clinic as possibly proving beneficial, and that added ingredient was a small sliver of Bactroban ointment dissolved in the nasal wash (must be warm water).

I have largely been free of the symptoms for some nine months now so I can categorically state that the above treatment has made a difference. One of the things I learnt was that some nasal sprays actually have a "rebound effect" in as much as they can shrink the inflamed nasal tissue initially, however after about five days of use, people can experience a worsening of the condition, whereas Nasonex does not appear to do this.

Good luck with whatever you try, because the constant headache and blockages and infections caused by sinus problems are very wearing indeed and can make one's life a misery.

[Konini]

Thanks for the replies, we're going to go and see Dr Rat on Monday.

We've been here for 3 full seasons now and the smoke doesn't really affect his sinus. It gives him a bad chest and occasionally makes his nose a bit more itchy, but it doesn't affect his sinuses either way. He has it really, really bad. On the worst days, the bridge of his nose is swollen and black and under his eyes are grey - I never need him to tell me when it's really bad. A lot of people, friends and complete strangers, make joking comments about him being in a fight or whacked in the face, as that's what it looks like, and it can remain that way for weeks at a time. Nothing has worked so he doesn't like to take antibiotics for overall heath reasons as the previous ones have done no good so why bother? He just puts up with it, which, unfairly, annoys me.

The first 2 operations were as at school-age in UK, but the last one was on my insistence as we were retiring and going travelling in places where doctors were an unknown quantity, in addition to the fact we would be doing a lot of flying; every flight prior to that was one long nosebleed. The nosebleeds were the worst for me and the best for him; he would often say he wished he could have one as it would give relief, but he didn't usually have to wait long to get his wish, they were pretty much daily, and he once got one driving over the top of the Pennines. As soon as we hit the little village at the highest point, he grabbed for the tissues. The operation with the leading ENT in Melbourne if not Australia scraped bone away from inside his nose, and stopped them almost completely, going from one a day to one a year over the last 8 years, but the pain and black eyed look have gradually gotten worse to be pretty much back to how it was before, albeit without the nosebleeds, and the sniffles never really got that much better at all. It was definitely worth having that op, but it really pains me to see him suffer so much.

He's tried snorting salted water (and a lot of other bizarre things in acts of desperation, mainly to stop me nagging about some possible 'cure' I found out about) but I'll try using the ratio of salt to water mentioned above over the next couple of days.

Fingers crossed that Dr Rat can do what others haven't been able to. I'll report back if there is any success.

Thanks again.

[elektrified]

Hope your husband gets some relief. The thing that really helped me were the steroid injections. They have to be given in the arse cheek which can be unpleasant but almost overnight I could feel the difference and the inflammation in the sinus would come down. My doctor always gave Ocean nasal spray which really helped. I'm sure they have the equivalent here. Good luck.

[eyecatcher]

Its interesting that the many tales of woe here don't mention associated bad breath.

My missus had what I considered only one fault...bad breath sporadically.

no one realises they have bad breath until someone close tells you.(yes you can imagine how I told her haha)

A trip to the doctor and then its the syringe and saline solution and a tablet.

Doctor says its a sinus problem, could be allergy, no one knows but if she forgets the tablet then 3 days the bad breath returns.

hates the tablets as they make her drowsy.

I am also anti drugs if a natural solution can be found.

Maybe we should try one of the aforementioned specialists as well.

[alfieconn]

I am meeting up with a lady who sells The Neti pot that are used in conjuction with the flushing process, hopefully this should make the process easier.

[xylophone]

I am meeting up with a lady who sells The Neti pot that are used in conjuction with the flushing process, hopefully this should make the process easier.

I found the easiest way to flush the sinuses was using the plastic bottle and pre-made saline solution, with xylitol, bought online from OZ.

Look for: FESS Sinu-Cleanse.

Has worked well for me.

[Khira]

Hi

I developed bad sinus problems a few years ago, one of the reasons I came to Thailand to escape the UK winter, despite the pollution.

I tried the 'irrigation' idea, faffing around with a syringe and a solution of 1tsp salt+1tsp bicarb to 1/2 pint of water which helped a bit but not enough.

Then I went sailing in Turkey, travelling light and to somewhere warm, so I didn't bother to take the 'kit' with me. Of course I caught a rotten cold on the plane, complete with sinus trouble. All I had to band was salt and a glass, so I just used that' and a nurse on the trip pointed out I should be using more salt so I doubled to 2 tsp in 1/2 pint-ish water, no bicarb, just sniffed from my palm.

The results were amazing, like the difference between pouring cold water or boiling wafer on ice, it ripped through any 'gunk' and as it was so easy to do I could easily repeat often. I have found three times in an hour first thing (between coffee and toast) is usually enough for the day, then a few times in the evening to get the pollution out.

I have been doing this for four months now and although extreme provocation will give me a rotten day or two, it seems to have stopped the infection cycle and I have had only a handfull of bad days since.

Here in CM I also wear a mask while riding my bike, which helps with pollution and also stops the cold air rushing up my nose,as well as ear plugs. I rode a couple of k on the ring road without those and really regreted it the next day.

Hope you get yours sorted, only us suferers understand how bad it is. It had turned me into a semi recluse but now I seem to be managing more.

Yes pollution and buring is bad enough without the usual allergies and sinus situations. I have a few ceramic neti pots, sinus flushes, proper made one with directions and salts to go with it. If you need any or know someone who does email me. //removed as per forum rules, use PM//

Edited January 5, 2014 by Tywais
email removed as per forum rules

[Khira]

Its interesting that the many tales of woe here don't mention associated bad breath.

My missus had what I considered only one fault...bad breath sporadically.

no one realises they have bad breath until someone close tells you.(yes you can imagine how I told her haha)

A trip to the doctor and then its the syringe and saline solution and a tablet.

Doctor says its a sinus problem, could be allergy, no one knows but if she forgets the tablet then 3 days the bad breath returns.

hates the tablets as they make her drowsy.

I am also anti drugs if a natural solution can be found.

Maybe we should try one of the aforementioned specialists as well.

Bad breath , bad body odor and more.. are signs of the body being toxic, so toxic in fact that it releases its toxic odor through the openings of the body. A proper detox would be a good place to start. Proper meaning that you clean the body from all directions: A juice fast with colonics. Juices clean the internal organs and flush out the toxins from the organs and stomach. The colonics/ colema will rise the toxins from the large intestings. Even if you put the best food in you body, if you do nothing to clean the bowl then the toxins can not release and the body becomes sicker, often. So find a detox program where you can clean the bowl and the entire stystem.

Months after I detox I do not have to wear deoderant. My partner used to have horrid breath and now once a year we go detox and keep the whole system running. After all it is the only body you have might as well take care of it the best you can.

Not to advetise but the Spa Resort in Mae Rim has many choices of detox programs. There are others also but they are the cheapest I have found yet.

To your health

[Oscar2]

Even if you put the best food in you body, if you do nothing to clean the bowl then the toxins can not release and the body becomes sicker, often.

that is total rubbish. not fact at all.

[eyecatcher]

Even if you put the best food in you body, if you do nothing to clean the bowl then the toxins can not release and the body becomes sicker, often.

that is total rubbish. not fact at all.

Agree really, the body has a natural detox system its called the liver and the kidneys,

Detoxing is commercial drivel...imho

[amexpat]

True, Eyecatcher, but it's so wonderfully satisfying to believe one knows more than the medical professionals!

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