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Bleeding After Child Tonsillectomy: Emergency Advice | London & Essex

  Bleeding After Tonsil Surgery: The Safety Red Flags Every Parent Must Know Bringing your child home after a tonsillectomy is a moment of relief, marking the end of chronic infections or disruptive sleep apnoea. As you settle into the two-week home recovery period, your primary focus is usually on managing their throat soreness, keeping them hydrated, and ensuring they rest. However, there is one critical post-operative complication that demands every parent's absolute vigilance: post-tonsillectomy bleeding . While advanced techniques like low-temperature coblation tonsillectomy significantly lower surgical trauma, the throat remains a highly vascular area. Any amount of fresh bleeding after a tonsillectomy must be taken seriously. Parents should know exactly when to seek urgent medical help and never adopt a "wait and see" approach at home. This emergency guide breaks down how to identify a tonsil bleed and the exact rapid care pathways available across East London and...

Do you suffer with painful ears when flying?

Why do my ears hurt whilst flying? Our ear has three parts- the external ear, middle ear and inner ear. The external ear and middle ear are separated by the eardrum. Usually, the pressure on both sides of the drum is equal, helped by the opening and closing of the Eustachian tube. Pressure changes in the cabin of an aeroplane during climbing and landing. Middle ear pressure becomes negative, especially when landing.  When negative pressure pulls on the eardrum, it can become painful. What are other names of Barotrauma? Barotrauma is also known as Barotitis media or aerotitis media. What other symptoms can suggest Barotrauma? The most common symptom is a painful ear. This can be associated with decreased hearing, tinnitus and mild vertigo. In some cases, if associated with severe dizziness, severe deafness and bleeding from the ear due to eardrum perforation, you need to see an Ear Nose Throat Consultant immediately. Who are at increased risk of the painful ear whe...

Hoarseness or change in voice...

When should I get worried about my change in voice? Change in voice can be due to so many causes. It can be due to simple things like acid reflux, chronic cough, flu, post nasal drip leading to frequent throat clearing or due to cancer on the voice box.  "IF YOU HAVE CHANGE IN VOICE WHICH IS GETTING WORSE FOR MORE THAN 3 WEEKS, YOU NEED TO SEE AN ENT SURGEON." Other symptoms which can be present with a change in voice in cases of laryngeal cancer be weight loss when you are not dieting, a lump in the throat, earache, shortness of breath, throat pain. How does the ENT surgeon diagnose what is causing my hoarseness? Change is voice can be due to both non-cancer and cancerous reasons. On a visit to ENT voice specialist, he or she will take a full detailed history, access how your profession is affecting your voice and how voice change is affecting your job. After recording your quality of sound, an endoscope (a thin tube with a camera attached) is used to ...

Ear Drum Perforation Surgery

What is myringoplasty or tympanoplasty? If you have perforated eardrum or hole in the eardrum, then your surgeon may recommend ear surgery to close this hole and in some cases to help repair the hearing. Why do we have eardrum? The eardrum separates the ear canal from the middle ear. The sound hits the middle ear and is then transferred to the inner ear where the sound is converted to an electrical signal and taken to the brain to interpret. Our eardrum is very similar to speakers with the magnet in the centre and paper around the magnet. If there is tear in the paper, the sound dampens down. So mainly eardrum perforation can lead to an ear infection as now bacteria can reach easily into the middle ear and hearing loss as now the sound transmission is interrupted. Why do I have a hole in my ear drum? Hole in the eardrum can be due to trauma due to earbud injury or barotrauma while landing on an aeroplane. If someone has grommet or ventilation tube inserted, this...