Answered by Dr. Ashok Kumar Srivastava

Ear drum surgery four years ago, now reinfected. Guidance?

Hello doctor,

I had myringoplasty done four years ago on my left ear. The surgeon, at the time, has advised me, the procedure will be done through the ear canal to repair the perforated eardrum. Three weeks after the surgery, I returned to my ENT specialist to get it checked, and upon inspection, he told me that the eardrum has repaired well. I was so happy to hear the news.I thought everything went well because when I push in my finger through the ear canal, I can feel it wobbling just like my healthy ear, but before the surgery, there were no vibrations at all. So two months went by and I felt relieved to have a shower without any earplugs. But three months later, my left ear became infected again. However, this time it was not as severe as before when I had a perforated eardrum. Still, it was slowly becoming wet and smelly and there would be a little discharge when sleeping.A year after the surgery, I had a chronic ear infection with smelly discharge just like prior to the surgery. The initial symptoms after getting water in my ears were ear ache then ear discharge. I got worried. So, I made an appointment with a different ENT specialist to treat the ear infection, as well as to get evaluated on why I was getting the middle ear infection when the eardrum was intact.After micro suctioning my left ear, the doctor discovered no hole but told me that the graft looked like a gauze mat, through which water could still seep in, causing me ear infections. I got prescribed antibiotic ear drops for a week, which treated my ear infection. But, I have never heard of this complication before, nor have I come across any medical websites saying that it is a possibility. Please advise if you have ever come across what I am facing right now and if it is a common issue. I am so confused, because I thought when grafts fail, it leaves a hole and not what seems like a gauze mat.

22 Apr 2024 - 1 min read

Does a small tonsil stone require surgery or will it go away on its own?

Hello doctor,

I was diagnosed with a tonsil stone. I have typical symptoms due to tonsil stone along with slight ear pain since the last four to five days. I got checked yesterday and was given an antibiotic and betadine to gargle. It is small in size as said by the doctor. Will it go away or do I have to do swabbing with cotton or surgery?

10 Apr 2024 - 1 min read

What could be the reason for cough and sore throat?

Hi doctor,

I have had a sore throat and cough for four and a half days. I also had chills four days back but it went away after taking a tablet of Calpol 500. But after that, I have had a continuous bad throat. I was continuously taking gargles but after seeing little improvement I started taking medication on Friday morning. Started with Azee 500 milligrams once a day in the morning and started half a tablet of Crocin 500 milligrams twice a day. I have noticed that Crocin is helping with pain but today is the third day of medication and I got up again with a bad throat. I am still to take my third dose of Azee while I have just taken full Crocin for pain relief. I had mild jaundice a year back and I had bad diarrhea two months back. Over the last two months, I have done three LFTs (liver function test) with two coming in the borderline range and one coming in slightly higher than the borderline range. I am also doing Betadine and saltwater gargles. I have had a dry cough for four days which is causing upper abdomen pain while coughing. Also, I am feeling a shooting pain in my head at times while coughing. Kindly advise what medicine should I take. Is it safe to take antibiotics? Please help me. Thank you.

01 Mar 2024 - 1 min read

I am suffering from hyposmia.Am I losing the sense of smell permanently?

Hello doctor,

• I am 56 years old and I am suffering from hyposmia since a month, which appeared after a cold with fever and inflammation. 

• I have been prescribed Flixonase nasal 400 microgram/unit dose nasal drops.

• I used Flixonase twice daily for about 10 days.

• At this point I am not sick and inflammation has gone. I do not take any medication and I am healthy.

• The opthalmologist did a visual check and told me that I he could not see any sign of swelling, it was a very superficial check, just look up with the light.

I will describe how I feel my hyposmia:

• I do not have a total loss of smell.

• I can smell some things slightly, other things very slightly, and other things I cannot smell at all. 

• I have noticed that sometimes, more or less one time at every two days, I can recover a lot of my smell sense for a short time, sometimes 30 minutes to an hour followed with worsening of my smell sense. As for example, yesterday I could smell and taste my lunch and I could smell many others things like the rain outside the house.

• Sometimes I have worsening of my hyposmia and when it occurs I cannot smell many things. After a while I recover some of my smell sense more or less to the level before (not the normal level).

• Last night, my smell sense got worse but stabilized overnight. This morning it again got worse.

• The same is happening with the intensity of odors, it improves and worsens along the day. It just happens.

• Do you have any idea of what is going on?

• Are those signs of recovery or indications that I am losing the sense of smell?

19 Feb 2024 - 1 min read

I get palpitations and irregular heartbeat. Is it due to hyperthyroidism?

Hi doctor,

I have been having difficulties breathing. It feels like mucus is blocking my airways. I also have this feeling that something is stuck in my throat. I did a thyroid blood test, TSH, and T3 which were normal but T4 was high. I did thyroid scan, it showed a soft cyst of 10 mm × 8 mm in my left lobe and another one in my isthmus about 6 mm. I am having a serious stomach acid, heart palpitations, irregular heartbeat, and my pause ranges between 40 to 45 each time I check it. I always feel hot, feel tired easily when doing a hard job. I would like to know if I have hyperthyroidism and for the cyst, do you think I need a surgery or is my problem something which medication can solve.

08 Feb 2024 - 1 min read