Buzzing sound

I am 70 years old. I occasionally feel a buzzing sound in both my ears and also suffer from impaired hearing for the past 10 years since my retirement. I have used eardrops and also taken Neurobion tablets. There is, however, no improvement. What is the reason behind this buzzing sound? What should I do?

A buzzing sound in the ears may be due to many reasons like wax in ears, perforation in the ear drum, blockage of Eustachian tube (a tube leading from the pharynx to the cavity of the middle ear) by cough and cold, trauma in ear, pus in middle ear, fixation of bones in middle ear, trauma and degeneration of auditory nerve. The buzzing sound in old age is very common due to degenerative change of the auditory nerve due to the ageing process. Exposure to loud sounds for many years may also cause a change of the auditory nerve. Diseases like diabetes, hypertension, spondylitis and some drugs may also cause the buzzing sound. Your trouble is probably due to degenerative changes of the auditory nerve and exposure to loud sounds in your workplace. You should go for an audiogram (a hearing test) and should use a hearing aid after consulting an ENT specialist.

loss of smell

I am a 32-year-old businessman. I am gradually losing the sense of smell for the past few months. I have no addictions except smoking. How I can I again get back my sense of smell?

Our sense of smell may be lost temporarily for many reasons. These may be due to repeated infection in the nose, nasal allergy, sinusitis, deviated nasal partition, real polyp (a harmless growth), atrophy of glands and accumulation of mucous membrane inside the nasal cavity. Excessive smoking, alcohol intake, taking snuff, and other such addictions may also cause this problem. Permanent loss may be due to trauma of the brain, brain tumour, mental disorder and so on. In your case, it’s probably due to sinusitis. You must also stop smoking. Please consult an ENT specialist to find if any abnormality in your nose is affecting your sense of smell.

pain in ear

In case of severe pain in the ears, what should we do before consulting a doctor. A physician advised me against pouring hot oil in the ears, which was my mother’s remedy during childhood.

Yes, your physician was right. Pouring hot oil in the ears during pain was an old remedy. Any hot application may reduce pain temporarily. But for this, you don’t need to pour hot oil in your ears. It may burn your ear canal or even the eardrum. The ears have many oil glands, which produce oil to keep the canal moist. Therefore, pouring of extra oil is of no use. On the other hand, it may lead to the accumulation of more dust from outside causing an increase in the amount of earwax. You should apply a hot and dry compress during the pain. You may also take a pain reliever like paracetamol, nimesulide or ibrufen. Please see a doctor.

tonsils

My son is 16 years old. From early childhood, he used to suffer from tonsillitis. An ENT specialist told me that he had a specific tonsil and suggested an operation. We then took him to a homeopath. But there has been no remarkable improvement even after seven years of treatment. We are afraid that a tonsil operation may affect his voice. What should we do now?

You have not done the right thing. Removing the tonsils do not affect the voice. On the contrary, specific tonsils may damage the voice by producing laryngitis, inflammation followed by an infection of the voice box. Tonsils act as watchdogs of the respiratory tract by preventing entry of infection. But septic tonsils do not play any positive role. They act as reservoirs of infections and infect other parts of the oral cavity. At first, a doctor tries to cure unhealthy tonsils by new-generation antibodies. If the infection is repeated, then a doctor advises operation. Your son is now 16 and it may be too late. Please consult an ENT specialist immediately and arrange for a tonsillectomy.