ENT Health

Patient Story: Vertigo Patient Learns How to Manage Dizziness

John Trumbo — Tue, 03 Jun 2025 18:39:43 +0000

Patient Story: Vertigo Patient Learns How to Manage Dizziness

“I was working from home during the pandemic, and I noticed one morning when I woke up, even before getting out of bed, I started experiencing dizziness,” said Rob Chavez, an ENT patient in Alexandria, VA. “I got out of bed, and it hit me right away; the room started spinning. I had to hold onto things to get to the bathroom.

“In addition to the dizziness, I got very anxious wondering what could be going on; it really disturbed me.” Rob told a friend about his condition, who suggested that he see an ENT specialist to help diagnose and treat his condition. The most common inner ear problem and cause of vertigo, or false sense of spinning, is called benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), also known as feeling like you have “rocks in the head.”

Rob Chavez talks about his experience with dizziness and vertigo.

Rob sought treatment from AAO-HNS member Selena E. Briggs, MD, MBA, PhD. Dr. Briggs is the vice chair of the Department of Otolaryngology at MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC. She specializes in, among numerous other conditions, the care of vestibular and balance disorders.

Dr. Briggs listened to Rob’s concerns, asked specific questions to clearly understand what he was experiencing, and performed an examination on him. BPPV can occur once or twice, it can last for days or weeks, or, sometimes, for a few months. The name means that it is benign (not life-threatening), paroxysmal (it comes in sudden, short spells), and positional (certain head movements can trigger it) causing vertigo (the feeling of spinning, or the world around you is spinning).

“She also ruled out the other fears and concerns I had,” he said. “Just knowing that other people had this issue was very comforting.”

It hit me right away; the room started spinning.

A common office procedure called the Canalith Repositioning Procedure involves putting the patient in a position that causes vertigo, allowing it to pass, and then turning their head carefully to move the tiny crystals in the inner ear to a portion of the inner ear where they won’t do any harm. It only takes several minutes, and the success rate is generally very high—most people are “cured” after one or two treatments, but some may need additional “repositioning” treatments.

“Dr. Briggs also told me that I could perform this procedure anytime on my own, which I did every now and then,” Rob explained. “Each time, it was effective and successful. After a couple of months, I stopped having these instances of vertigo, and luckily, I haven’t had it since.

“I’m glad to have had this interaction with Dr. Briggs and I see the benefit of having an ENT specialist who has studied these types of conditions and could give me the science and medical assistance that I needed. Your ear, nose, and throat are so key to who we are in our well-being—I was just so happy that Dr. Briggs could help me.”

Related Conditions

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV)

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) – FAQs

Labyrinthitis

The information on ENThealth.org is provided solely for educational purposes and does not represent medical advice, nor is it a substitute for seeking professional medical care.

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Patient Story: Sinus Surgery Corrected Her Chronic Rhinosinusitis

John Trumbo — Wed, 28 May 2025 17:04:43 +0000

Patient Story: Sinus Surgery Corrected Her Chronic Rhinosinusitis

“Toward the end of 2018, I started having trouble breathing, I had no sense of smell, exercising made me cough, and I would lose my breath after walking for a couple of minutes. I was always tired,” explained Liz Haberkorn, the Academy’s Senior Editorial Manager for the AAO-HNSF journals. And, like most of us at one time or another, she’s an ENT patient.

“I consulted my primary care physician, an immunologist, and an allergist who diagnosed me with asthma. I even saw a Reiki expert,” she explained. “I tried acupuncture treatments, I took Claritin® and FLONASE®, and I got two weekly allergy shots for two years with little results. Nothing seemed to help. At one point before my surgery, I was coughing so badly and so frequently that I cracked a rib.”

Liz Haberkorn talks about her struggle with chronic rhinosinusitis.

Finally, a friend recommended her ENT specialist, AAO-HNS member Ravi S. Swamy, MD, of Metropolitan ENT in Alexandria, VA. “He looked up my nose for about 10 seconds and said, ‘Yeah, you need surgery’,” Liz said. “After reviewing my CT scan, he told me that there was practically no open passage in the nasal cavity and he didn’t know how I had been able to breath for so long. Apparently, I had a 75% deviated septum and a ‘face full of nasal polyps.’ Turns out I had been breathing through my mouth without really realizing it. So, I was in pretty bad shape!”

Dr. Swamy recommended endoscopic sinus surgery, which he performed on Liz in 2021. He also prescribes DUPIXENT® for Liz’s condition to help keep her asthma and chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps under control. “Dr. Swamy told me that I would feel like a completely different person after the surgery, which was comforting,” Liz said. “Afterward, I could breathe again and while I didn’t get 100% of my sense of smell back, it was still much improved. It was amazing!”

I never really thought about the science of breathing until I couldn’t do it anymore.

As a new ENT patient, Liz was nervous before her surgery because she had never been through one before, and she was anxious about going under anesthesia. “Dr. Swamy was understanding and encouraging, but he also made it clear that I was only going to get worse if I didn’t have the surgery. He took the time to explain everything to me, and I had a really good experience and outcome.”

It can be easy to take for granted how the fundamental functions of life often originate in the ears, nose, throat, etc. “The mental health factor of being sick with the added stress and feeling of always being tired and unable to catch your breath can have a significant impact on a patient and even their families. Having this surgery improved a lot of areas in my life.”

Related Conditions

Deviated Septum

Surgical Management of Chronic Rhinosinusitis - FAQs

What You Should Know About Sinus Disease and Disorders

The information on ENThealth.org is provided solely for educational purposes and does not represent medical advice, nor is it a substitute for seeking professional medical care.

The post Patient Story: Sinus Surgery Corrected Her Chronic Rhinosinusitis appeared first on ENT Health.

ENT Patient Stories

John Trumbo — Tue, 15 Apr 2025 19:23:39 +0000

ENT Patient Stories

ENT patients span the gamut of life—from newborns to seniors. ENT specialists are trained to treat and manage life’s fundamental functions and disorders: your sinus headache, your child’s hearing loss, your spouse’s sleep apnea, or your mother’s hyperthyroidism. Read these stories from real-life patients who have learned how to Be ENT Smart!

Sinus Surgery Corrected Her Chronic Rhinosinusitis

Liz Haberkorn talks about her struggle with chronic rhinosinusitis.

Vertigo Patient Learns How to Manage Dizziness

Rob Chavez talks about his experience with dizziness and vertigo.

Related Conditions

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV)

Treating Acute Bacterial Rhinosinusitis (ABRS)

What You Should Know About Sinus Disease and Disorders

The information on ENThealth.org is provided solely for educational purposes and does not represent medical advice, nor is it a substitute for seeking professional medical care.

The post ENT Patient Stories appeared first on ENT Health.

Sinus Day

Kevin Phillips — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 15:10:32 +0000

World Sinus Health Awareness Month

World Sinus Health Awareness Month (WSHAM) was founded by the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) to inform and educate patients around the world about the causes of their nasal and sinus symptoms as well as various treatment options and when they should seek additional specialized care. The AAO-HNS provides accessible public and patient information that will assist individuals in understanding their own individual journey to better sinus health.

Understanding the options for nasal and sinus symptom treatments can be overwhelming. The focus of this educational campaign is to provide accurate and reliable information about different treatment options for the spectrum of nasal symptoms, disorders, and diseases.

WSHAM Webinar: Navigating Your Pathway to Better Sinus Health
Expert Panelists Answer Patients’ Questions
#SinusHealth4U

Moderator: James C. Denneny III, MD
Participants: Pete S. Batra, MD; Gene G. Brown III, MD; Dana L. Crosby, MD, MPH; Stacy T. Gray, MD

SINUS-RELATED CONDITIONS:

The information on ENThealth.org is provided solely for educational purposes and does not represent medical advice, nor is it a substitute for seeking professional medical care.

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What’s an ENT?

John Trumbo — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 18:03:50 +0000

What’s an ENT?

ENTs Treat the Fundamental Functions of Life

Imagine a singer not being able to sing, or you not being able to hear her beautiful music.

Imagine not being able to smell the earth after a spring rain, or not being able to taste and enjoy your favorite holiday meal.

Imagine not being able to sleep through the night next to your loved one because they snore.

These are some of the fundamental functions of life that make living so rich and wonderful. Yet when one or more of these functions no longer work the way they should, living is diminished or even jeopardized.

Hearing and balance, swallowing and speech, breathing and sleep issues, allergies and sinuses, head and neck cancer, skin disorders, even facial plastic surgery are just some of the conditions that “ENT” (ear, nose, and throat) specialists treat. Professionally, ENT specialists are called “otolaryngologists” (pronounced: oh/toe/lair/in/goll/oh/jists), but it’s easier just to say “ENT.”

What's an ENT?

ENTs Treat the Simple to Severe

Did you know that nearly half of patients going to primary care offices have some sort of ENT issue?

Think about it. Almost everyone has had a stuffy nose, clogged ears, or sore throat, but ENT specialists treat a diverse range of conditions and disorders of the ears, nose, throat, head, and neck region—from simple to severe, for all persons, at all stages of life.

ENT specialists are not only medical doctors who can treat your sinus headache, your child’s swimmer’s ear, or your dad’s sleep apnea. They are also surgeons who can perform extremely delicate operations to restore hearing of the middle ear, open blocked airways, remove head, neck, and throat cancers, and rebuild these essential structures. This requires an additional five to eight years of intensive, post-graduate training beyond medical school.

Organized ENTs have been setting the treatment standards that pediatric and primary care providers have been following since 1896, making otolaryngology one of the oldest medical specialties in the United States.

“I like to say that ENT specialists treat pretty much everything from the collarbone up, except for the brain and eyes. So much of this work, medical and surgical, affects how people perceive themselves as human beings, and it is a unique privilege to care for my patient’s ENT health due to the personal and profound nature of this specialty.”

- WILLIAM R. BLYTHE, MD

What Conditions Do ENTs Treat?

General otolaryngologists do not limit their practice to any one portion of the head and neck, and can treat a variety of conditions. Some ENT specialists, however, pursue additional training in one of these subspecialty areas:

Ear (otology/neurotology)—Hearing and balance are critical to how we conduct our daily lives. ENT specialists treat conditions such as ear infection, hearing loss, dizziness, ringing in the ears (called tinnitus), ear, face, or neck pain, and more.
Nose (rhinology)—Our noses facilitate breathing by helping to keep out potentially harmful dirt, allergens, and other agents. In addition to allergies, ENT specialists treat deviated septum, rhinitis, sinusitis, sinus headaches and migraines, nasal obstruction and surgery, skull-base tumors including those inside the cranial cavity, and more.
Throat (laryngology)—Disorders that affect our ability to speak and swallow properly can have a tremendous impact on our lives and livelihoods. ENT specialists treat sore throat, hoarseness, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), infections, throat tumors, airway and vocal cord disorders, and more.
Head and Neck/Thyroid—The head and neck include some of our body’s most vital organs, which can be especially susceptible to tumors and cancer. In addition to cancers of the head and neck, ENT specialists treat benign neck masses, thyroid disorders such as benign and malignant tumors, Grave’s disease, enlarged thyroid glands, parathyroid disease, and more.
Sleep—Being able to breathe and sleep well through the night has an impact on the way we experience life and perform our work. ENT specialists treat sleep-disordered breathing, nasal and airway obstruction, snoring and sleep apnea, and more.
Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery—Facial trauma and the resulting change in appearance caused by an accident, injury, birth defect, or medical condition side effect can be distressing. ENT specialists in facial plastic surgery treat cleft palates, drooping eyelids, hair loss, ear deformities, facial paralysis, trauma reconstruction, head and neck cancer reconstruction, and cosmetic surgery of the face.
Pediatrics—Children and their developing bodies and senses often need special attention. ENT specialists treat birth defects of the head and neck, developmental delays, ear infection, tonsil and adenoid infection, airway problems, asthma and allergy, and more.

Related Conditions

Vocal Cord (Fold) Paralysis

Rhinitis

Snoring, Sleeping Disorders, and Sleep Apnea

The information on ENThealth.org is provided solely for educational purposes and does not represent medical advice, nor is it a substitute for seeking professional medical care.

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polls

John Trumbo — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 10:00:29 +0000

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