Steroid inhalers are used commonly for the treatment of asthma. Doctors unfortunately do not spend time explaining to patients how to use these inhalers. There are also many patients who have been prescribed long-term inhaled steroids for chronic coughing. These patients may not need inhaled steroid therapy. Needless to say, you should consult your doctor before you stop any inhaler. I recently…
Continue Reading →

As ENT surgeons, we often see patients who are hoarse. Many of them are professionals who rely on their voice to communicate at work. Subtle changes in voice quality often go unnoticed by many of us, but they can affect the performance of singers and teachers. I recently saw a patient who noticed that her voice was a little breathy and that…
Continue Reading →

Ear wax is a common affliction. Whilst the conventional wisdom is that the ear canal is self cleaning, my own experience is that some people have persistent problems with wax and require medical attention. The pictures below are of a healthy ear canal with minimal wax and another with a large wax plug. This plug was eventually removed. Normal ear canal. Wax…
Continue Reading →

I am treating a patient with a rare form of thyroid cancer. Medullary thyroid carcinoma makes up about 1-2% of all thyroid cancers in the USA. As you can imagine, it is exceedingly rare in Singapore. This cancer can be inherited or sporadic. The inherited forms are part of a syndrome called the Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia 2 syndromes or a non-syndromic Familial…
Continue Reading →

Surgery is evolving from laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery to rigid robotic surgery and now to flexible robotics. Spent two days at Medrobotics’ VIP training programme on the latest Flexible Robotic System designed especially for head and neck surgery. Approved for ENT by USFDA in July 2015 and also recently in Singapore. This is a snake-like robot allowing access to some of the more…
Continue Reading →

Hearing loss is common in children and may often go unnoticed. Just a few days ago a parent brought a child to see me for a sore throat. The child, she said also had a wax problem for which her family physician had attempted syringing. Her mother said that there was no hearing loss. I enquired about speech development which had been…
Continue Reading →