Sunday

What to expect at an ENT clinic


Back in January, I had an MRI scan and wrote a post about what to expect. It seems to have helped a lot of people, so after my appointment to the ENT (ear, nose and throat) clinic this week, I thought I would write a similar post. I'm going to be honest: Before my appointment, I was terrified. On Embarrassing Bodies, they'd shoved a tube up Dr Pixie's nose to check her eustachian tube and, as my GP had mentioned my problem my be eustacian tube related, I was convinced the doctor was going to do the same to me. Luckily, there was no nose-tube-shoving involved, but I thought I'd outline the appointment to hopefully help others about to have their consultation.

Initial consultation
A nurse called me in to speak to the consultant (his name was Mr, not Dr, which confused me. Shouldn't he have a phd if he's going to be rummaging around in people's ears). He asked me lots of questions such as when my symptoms started, how I felt afterwards, when my dizziness affects me, which way I've been falling and so on. After that, he looked in both ears and checked my eyes, teeth and mouth. I had to do the whole tongue-out-say-ah thing, which I thought was just a myth! My coordination was checked with some clapping exercises and following his finger with my eyes, which all seemed to be fine.

After that, he asked me to stand up, put my arms straight out in front of me and march on the spot. Then I had to repeat the same with my eyes closed. This was very disorientating and I was glad not to fall, although I did apparently end up about 4 foot forward and to the right. 

Next, I was asked to sit on the edge of the bed while the doctor strapped some big goggles tightly to my face. These had a little camera pointing at my eyes (although I couldn't see it), which fed the images to a computer next to the bed. First I had to look straight ahead, left and right with a shield clipped in front so I couldn't see anything. Then the doctor shook my head vigorously from side to side and I repeated the movements with my eyes.

The final part of the consultation was very strange and made me feel quite wary. I had to sit up on the bed, with my legs straight out in front of me and, on the count of 3, throw myself back with my head dangling off the edge. At the point, I had to tell the doctor when my dizziness started and ended. He and the nurse were either side of me, so they could break my fall but it was still quite scary.

Hearing test
After these exercises, I had a hearing test. A different consultant led me into a totally soundproof room and put headphones on my ears. Every time I heard a beep, I had to press the clicker she'd passed over to me. Some of the beeps were high pitched, others low, with a mixture of quiet and loud noises. Once I'd listened to all the beeps, she clipped a speaker to the back of my right ear and I had to repeat the process. Finally, I had to repeat it a third time but with a headphone over my left ear playing an increasingly loud static noise. She told me my results straight away: My hearing is in the normal range, although a little below average and my right ear is slightly worse than my left. This didn't come as a surprise to me, but I was glad it wasn't bad enough to cause concern. 

Final consultation
The woman who took my hearing test passed the results on to the first consultant and he called me back in to speak to him. He said that the tests were all negative, meaning my problems are unlikely to be caused by my ears. In fact, he said he would usually see every patient twice just to make sure, but he's so confident that my ears are fine that he's happy for me not to make another appointment. Although it's frustrating to still have an unidentified issue, he explained that it's another piece of the puzzle. We've ruled out brain and ear problems now, so we can only be getting closer to sorting it out.

It turns out my appointment was nothing to worry about. I was there for about 90 minutes in total, so it took a fairly long time, but there was nothing scary or painful. If you have any questions about ENT clinics, MRI scans or general dizzy symptoms, feel free to ask and I will answer as best I can based on my experiences.

As for me, it's back to my GP to try and get to the bottom of it. Wish me luck!

12 comments :

  1. The throwing your head back sounds like one of those trust exercises... They creep me out and I always refuse to do anything like that. I have a huge distrust (almost paranoia) in people for things like that, but I never really feel it until I'm just starting there flat out refusing to do the most basic task like a 5 year old. That, and my fear of doctors, I wouldn't even have go to the GP in the first place. I'm getting sweaty just reading this... moving along now!!

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    1. I thought the same thing! It was really scary. Sorry for freaking you out.

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  2. I never even think of doing posts like these as ENT visits have become second nature to me. I've only ever had the E parts of the consultations though and I have been through many of those hearing tests throughout my life!
    Megan x
    MeganRoisinn

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    1. Yep, I'm an E part too. Although now it looks like it's nothing to do with my ears after all!

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  3. These posts are always helpful! Surgeons are always Mr or Mrs rather than Dr - not sure why, think it's just tradition, so he was probably a surgeon you saw! :) x

    Jasmin Charlotte

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    1. I had no idea about that! Thank you for sharing :)

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  4. I've had to do that laying down on the table thing before - it's terrifying! I almost fell off the last time as you move so quickly. I wanted to get an ENT appointment as I'm prone to labyrinthitis, but it was a 6 week wait or something ridiculous, but if I get labs again, I'll be insisting...and feeling a lot more assured of what to expect from reading this! x

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    1. I wasn't very good at doing it quickly. I was too scared!

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  5. This was really interesting to read! Thanks for sharing (:

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    1. No problem. I hope it will help some people.

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  6. Glad it turned out to be fine my lovely! Hopefully your GP will find out the issue asap. :) The whole Dr and Mr thing is confusing, but the ones classed as Mr and Mrs are consultants where as all below would usually be classed as Dr. I always thought it was surgical consultants classed as Mr and Mrs, but I work in the general medicine side of a hospital and all our consultants are classed as Mr and Mrs as well. Hospitals don't make any sense at all haha. xxx

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  7. I'm so intrigued now! Did you ever find out what it was? Hope everything is okay for you now!

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