What is referred Otalgia?
Otalgia is not always associated with ear disease. Referred otalgia is the earache arising due to disease of structures other than the ears which have common nerve connections.

Causes of Earache:

Local causes: Causes within the ear

External ear:

1. Furuncle: Staphylococcal infection of hair follicles. It is an extremely painful condition and pain occurs even while chewing and on movement of pinna.

2. Impacted wax: Ear wax that gets impacted due to poor hygiene can cause pressure and irritation of nerves causing earache.

3. Otitis externa: Infection of external ear cavity predisposed by ear picking, furuncle, mositure trapped in the ear canal (swimming, bathing) foreign bodies, etc.

4. Otomycosis: Fungal infection of the external ear caused by asperigillus and candida species of fungi. It causes extreme itching of the ear and foul smelling watery discharge from the ear.

5. Myringitis bullosa: It is characterized by formation of fluid filled bullae in external ear and eardrum. It follows infuenza epidemics.

6. Herpes zoster infection: Virus which also causes Chicken pox

7. Cancers

Middle Ear:

1. Acute otitis media: Acute infection of middle ear cavity caused by streptococcus, hemophilus and other organisms and may lead to the perforation of eardrum (tympanic membrane) resulting in hearing loss.

2. Eustachian tube obstruction: due to common cold, allergic rhinitis, nasal polyps, etc. The ventilating tube between ear and nose becomes obstructed causing pain.

3. Mastoiditis: Inflammation of mastoid air cells present in the bony structure immediately behind the pinna.

4. Aero-otitis media: a painful type of hearing loss that can result from an inability to equalize the air pressure in the middle-ear cavity when a sudden change in altitude occurs, as may happen in a rapid descent in a poorly pressurized aircraft

5. Cancers of the middle ear

Referred Causes (Causes outside the ear)

1. Dental: caries, absess, impacted molar tooth, malocclusion of teeth

2. Oral cavity: ulcers, cancers over tongue, cheek, gingiva

3. Jaw joint disorders: osteoarthritis, bruxism (developmental disorder in children where they grind teeth during sleep), dislocation

4. Neuralgias or pain arising from nerve

5. Pharynx: tonsillitis, abscess, ulcers

6. Spinal causes: Injuries to upper spine, tuberculosis causing caries spine, cervical spondiolysis

7. Others: Cancers of base of tongue, larynx, epiglottis and esophagus.

Psychogenic Causes:

Which occurs due to functional cause without any anatomical pathology.

Treatment: Underlying cause must be managed before proceeding to the specific treatment.

(Disclaimer: Although research shows that these following foods can help fight asthma, do not replace your prescribed medication with these foods. Always follow instructions from your practitioner).

Red Grapes

Researchers suggest that grapes, including grape products like wine, can help alleviate respiratory problems associated with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder such as coughing and wheezing. This is because red grape skins are not only high in fiber but also high in resveratrol –two agents that work to reduce inflammation in the lungs and removes mucus and phlegm from airways. Other foods that are both high in fiber and resveratrol include apples, kiwi and peanut butter.

Chili Peppers

Chili peppers of all varieties can help asthma suffers in more ways than one. The first is because chili peppers contain capsaicin. This is what gives peppers it’s heat. But capsaicin also works to block “substance P,” a neuropeptide that is typically associated with inflammation— the same kind of inflammation that occurs within one’s breathing tubes. The hotter the pepper, the more capsaicin is contains and thus the more inflammation-fighting power it possesses. Aim to add habañeros, cayenne pepper and jalapeños into your next meal to reap the most benefits. In addition, chili peppers are high in vitamin A which is needed to keep all of your epithelial tissues healthy, including the respiratory, gastrointestinal and reproductive tracts.

Coffee

Lastly, if you are suffering from a severe asthma attack and do not have your medication on hand, a steaming cup of black coffee might just be able to save your life. This is because according to studies when coffee is consumed and digested it creates small amounts of theophylline—a chemical that is often used in most asthma medications to soothe wheezing and breathing complications. Although the asthma fighting benefits of coffee is only temporary, studies also show that regular coffee drinkers are able to control their asthma more than non-coffee drinkers. Not a fan of coffee? A strong tea may just be able to do the trick as well.

Foods to avoid: dairy products such as milk, cheese and butter which cause mucus to form in the body.

By-line:

Mariana Ashley is a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online college. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031@gmail.com.

There are plenty of quality health websites with informations made as simple as that, anyone can read and understand. Some of the best I can remember are wrongdiagnosis.com, righthealth.com,webmd.com,mayoclinic.com,everydayhealth.com etc. People can go around these website and surf their symptoms and find out the disease through ” Symptom Checker” tool, Calculate their BMI ” BMI tool” ( Which even medchrome.com has provided on the left sidebar), Calculate calories burnt with each exercise. You can take quizes that determine your Risk factors for various disease . Most importantly there are places where you can consult a real Doctor online addressing him your problem. There are even andoid, iphone health applications available.

Coming to the disease part. Like in the Western countries where people go through internet and read about their problems, people in South asian continent are also no longer behind. They are well informed and are well conscious of their health state, diseases they have and even likely diagnosis and treatment. This way the doctors have to be more competitive and updated to satisfy the patients.

With the advent of health information through the internet, sometimes people get mislead. Self diagnosis your disease or suspecting a lethal disease, leads to unnecessary stress at times. People usually are too much worried about Cancer, STIs comparing thier few symptoms online. Most importantly, ” Never take Unprescribed drugs available in the net through prescription websites, Always consult your doctor” because every drug will have a side-effect and that may be really hazardous specially in children and pregnancy.

So, get the best out of the net, use it for right reason. Reading health and medical websites is excellent way to be health-disease conscious but never completely rely on the internet as there are diseases that is even difficult for Doctors to diagnosis without having couple of investigations done. Use the informations in supplement  to doctors advice not as an alternative.

And for Doctors, it has become more challenging and competitive world, stay updated and take regular CMEs , and respect your patients knowledge as well.

Article By. Dr. R. Shrestha, Kathmandu

Types of Smoking-
1. Smoke inhaled by the Smoker ( Mainstream or Direct smoke)
2. Passive smoke inhalation ( Sidestream Smoke)

Facts about Smoking-
Cigarette smoke contains about 4000 components and over 40 carcinogens . Carbon monoxide, Arsenic, Formaldehyde, Hydrogen cyanide,Benzene, Tar and Nicotine ( addictive component) are known poisons.

DISEASES RELATED TO CIGARETTE SMOKING:-
CANCER
1. Lung cancer
2. Oral cavity, pharynx and laryngeal cancer
3. Esophagus and stomach cancer
4. Cervical cancer
5. Pancreatic cancer
6. Kidney, Ureter and Bladder cancer
7. Leukemia ( Benzene)

Cardiovascular Diseases :
1. Major risk for atherosclerosis
2. Coronary artery disease
3. Myocardial Infarction
4. May induce coronary Vasospasm ( Variant angina)
5. Peripheral vascular diseases
6. Aortic aneurysm
7. Buergers disease
8. Stroke

Respiratory Disease:
1. Chronic Bronchitis
2. Emphysema
3. Asthma
4. Increased pulmonary infection

Health of Women-
1. Early menopause
2. Higher rate of post-menopausal osteoporosis

Effect on Pregnancy and Children-
1. Higher rates of stillbirth and spontaneous abortions
2. IUGR ( Intrauterine Growth Retartdation)
3. SIDS ( Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)
4. Higher rates of Otitis Media and Upper Respiratory infections URTIs.
5. Increased incidence of Asthma

There are almost no organ spared by the ill-effect of smoking. Still it is a Lifestyle choice of many, and it is a costly choice. Smoking always gives you a chance to quit.” Its Never to late to quit” as after Smoking cessation for 15 years, it reduces the overall risk of dying almost to that of a anon smoker.

Quiting Smoking : Right Choice, Precious Choice-
There is a clear demarcation between the health of smoker and nonsmoker in one organ system, ie Respiratory System. It’s never the same between smoker and non-smoker.