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Category Archives: Head/Eyes/Ears/Nose/Throat
Straight, No Chaser: Ruptured Eardrums
The manufacturers of Q-Tips used to run a commercial in which they said “Never place anything in your ear smaller than your elbow.” I wonder why they stopped the comm
Straight, No Chaser: LASIK Surgery
So you’re 40-ish, and your eyes are starting to act up on you. Or perhaps you’re younger and/or too vain to wear glasses. Or you have a phobia about having anything in your eye
Straight, No Chaser: Important Things to Know About Your Contact Lenses
You’d likely be surprised to know how often patients are seen in emergency rooms for complications related to use of contact lenses. If you or a loved one are using contact l
Straight, No Chaser: Questions About Color Blindness
Have you ever found yourself at school, work or elsewhere and discovered that you were wearing different colored socks or pants than you’d thought? If so, you may be experiencing
Straight, No Chaser: Questions about "Lazy Eye" (Amblyopia)
We all get concerned when it comes to things that damage or put our vision in danger. As such, you should be aware of the most common condition causing visual problems in children.
Prevention and Treatment Considerations for Diabetic Eye Conditions
Several of you asked about the treatment of the eye conditions resulting from diabetes. This last Straight, No Chaser addressing Diabetes Awareness Month will focus on treatment
Straight, No Chaser: Diabetic Retinopathy and Other Eye Problems
As you likely know, diabetics have a large amount of blood glucose (sugar) circulating in their blood. The high level of glucose can cause damage to many cells, including your eyes
Straight, No Chaser: What To Do If Your Tooth Comes Out
There’s nothing pleasant about having a tooth fall out of your mouth (aka avulsed tooth, dislocated tooth). Whether from trauma (e.g. a punch or other facial injury, a fall) or d
Straight, No Chaser: Sensitive Teeth
What goes through your mind when your teeth hurt (other than whether or not all of that Valentine’s Day candy is worth it)? Is it fleeting or constant? Are you easily agitate
Straight, No Chaser: How’s Your Dental Hygiene?
If you ignore your teeth, they’ll go away. Working in an emergency department is interesting for many different reasons. One thing in particular I’ve noticed over the years is
Straight, No Chaser: Keys to Mental (Un)Health and (Un)Happiness
Straight, No Chaser is mindful that there are multitudes of us excessively happy and unhappy. Everyone has thoughts about the keys to happiness, but we can objectify the conversat
Straight, No Chaser: Suicide and Suicide Risks in College Students
I just had the privilege of spending time at my alma mater addressing issues on behalf of students and mental health services. Among many other things discussed, I was shocked by t
Straight, No Chaser: Understanding and Appropriately Stopping Thumbsucking
At first glance, you may be wondering what’s so significant about thumb-sucking that we need to discuss it. And then, I show you these two pictures. In most instances, thumb-suck
Straight, No Chaser: When Your Jaw Pain Could Be a Heart Attack
Several Straight, No Chaser posts have addressed jaw pain. We’ve separately discussed jaw trauma and TMJ syndrome. Unfortunately, that’s not the most important story of ja
Straight, No Chaser: Reacting to Broken or Dislocated Jaws
Should you ever suffer the misfortune of getting hit or falling onto your jaw, would you know what to do? Trauma to the jaw is more dangerous than you might imagine. The risk for b
Straight, No Chaser: TMJ (Temporomandibular Joint) Syndrome
TMJ. Those of you have TMJ syndrome are likely already shaking your head in understanding. Those of you who don’t, be thankful. Take the advice of those who do and read this post
Straight, No Chaser: Broken Noses (Nasal Fractures)
It’s curious how many patients with broken noses come into the emergency room smiling. Usually they’re kids whose parents “just want to be sure.” In these cases not mu
Straight, No Chaser: Bell’s Palsy
We’ve spent a few days focusing on stroke recognition, but today we focus on a condition that often gets confused with a stroke. Bell’s palsy is a paralysis of the facial n
Straight, No Chaser: Addressing Hearing Loss and the Use of Hearing Aids
Prevention and protecting your hearing is easy; the decision to do so seems not to be so easy. Remembering this hearing thermometer is a good way to know what activities hurt your
Straight, No Chaser: Let’s Discuss Hearing Loss
As I muse, I wonder why we don’t take better care of our eyes and ears. Those cotton swabs and other things we place in our ears really are reckless acts. Then there’s
