Your nose is connected to the limbic system, the part of your brain responsible for associating emotions with certain events. Ever noticed how smelling your favorite food can bring back fond childhood memories?
Colds can be caused by more than 200 different types of viruses, the most common of which being the rhinovirus. Rhinovirus accounts for about 10 to 40 percent of cold cases.
Did you know that sneezing styles are largely genetic? The next time you see someone with a funny sneeze, you can expect the other members of the family to sneeze the same way!
Your speaking and singing sound are directly affected by the shape of your nose, mainly because of how the air passes through your nose and throat. This is why when you have a cold, your voice changes.
According to a study by the University of Newcastle, these are some of the most unpleasant noises to the human ear: chalk on a blackboard, crying baby, fork scratching on a plate, electric drill, and knife scraping against a bottle.
When you are stressed, your earwax production can increase due to the action of the apocrine glands. Aside from regulating your earwax secretion, these glands are also responsible for producing sweat, which is why your body produces more sweat under stress.
Ever wonder why you don’t sneeze during sleep? This is because the nerves responsible for triggering the sneeze reflex are also asleep, a process known as rapid-eye-movement (REM) atonia.
Meaning “little grape” in Latin, the uvula serves multiple purposes. It helps lubricate the back of your mouth, moves the soft palate for better enunciation, helps close the soft palate while swallowing, and direct nasal secretions to your throat.
Part of both the digestive and respiratory systems, the pharynx is a semi-muscular tube that connects the mouth to the esophagus and the nasal cavity to the wind pipe. The pharynx measures 12 to 14 cm in length.
Unless you have a clinical condition, your ears are able to clean themselves. Jaw movements, chewing, and skin growth inside the ear naturally push extra wax out. Attempting to clean your ears with cotton swabs can push wax further inside.
If your ENT prescribes a 7-day course of antibiotics for say, an inflamed throat. It's important to make sure that you complete the prescription. Stopping the meds after you start feeling better is a big no-no as the bugs causing the problem might develop resistance to the medication.
Your mucus may seem gross and icky, but the truth is, it contains healthy chemicals and antibodies to protect you from infection. Normally, the body produces 1 to 1.5 liters of mucus per day.
ENT medical care that is up-to-date relies on the most recent recommendations for diagnosis and treatment, referred to “evidence based medicine.” Because medical research is constantly making advances in all fields of medicine, it is the most effective approach to healthcare.
One advantage to visiting ENTs is that they combine several skills. Not only are they specialists in diagnosing and treating problems of the ear, nose, and throat, they are also trained in surgery for these problems.
By age 19, your nose stops growing, but it may continue to change shape as you age. It could droop or lengthen due to gravitational forces, which is why many elderly seem to have big noses.
There may be many causes for a sore throat, but certain types require medical treatment. One of these, strep throat, is caused by a specific bacterium – group A streptococcus. It is contagious, but once diagnosed it can be treated with antibiotics.
The sense of smell of human beings is much better than their sense of taste. This is because while humans have just 40 taste sensors, they have approximately 400 different olfactory receptors.
Do you know that humans are capable of detecting 10,000+ scents? They are able to detect smell with special types of cells known as olfactory nerve cells. Nearly 12 million olfactory cells are present in a normal human.
An ENT physician is a specialist who concentrates on diseases and disorders of the ears nose and throat. The technical term for this area of specialization is Otolaryngology, which is a shortening of otorhinolaryngology, a portmanteau word combining the Greek prefixes oto- (ear), rhino- (nose), and laryngo- (larynx area).
A fever that is persistent and lasts for a day or longer may be the result of ear or sinus problems. If you notice additional symptoms such as green or yellow mucus, swelling in the neck, headaches, or other problems, consult an ENT.
The phrase “nose job” has been fodder for comedy for generations – which is fine if you are not the one with a disproportionate appearance. Rhinoplasty, the true term, can balance out the features of your face to create a better aesthetic.
Adenoids are actually nasopharyngeal tonsils that are found at the back of the throat above the tonsils. They reach their greatest size between the ages of three and five, and begin to shrink when a person is about seven.