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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Sinusitis / February 2006Anyone from UK can help with some advice ??
My partner has been suffering from chronic sinusitis for some years. He has always had problems but they were generally of an acute nature (perhaps very bad for one day a month but that was it). He has previously had 2 lots of surgery and a septoplasty. However, over the last few years the condition hsa become chronic with repeated infections that the GP just keep prescribing differnt antibiotics for (endoscopic examination has confirmed presence of pus in the sinuses) ... over the last 6 months the condition has considerably worsened with him being almost constantly off work - at tines he has been so ill that he has been delerious. He some months ago was finally referred back to an ENT ... but still doesn't seem to be making any progress; they've carried out another CT scan but said that hasn't shown anything significant and have just prescribed another different deconngestant spary (he has used these previosuly but was advised to stop by a different ENT consultant due to them causing very severe nosebleeds). He has started rinsing with Sterimar but when he asked about nasal irrigation has been told that it is not something that UK ENT specialists would advocate ... and I don't believe that aby devices are licenced for use in the UK. On top of everything else he has now started suffering from sleep apnoea .... and poor sleep patterns are just adding to his inability to fight of infection and deal with the pain. The whole condition is starting to dominate our lives - we've had to cancel holidays and other plans. We're now getting desperate and are prepared to pay to see someone who will take this seriously but aren't sure where to start ... is there anyone from the UK who can advise of where best to get specialist advice from as we don't seem to be getting anywhere with the NHS. Thanks in advance ... Annie Gates Even if you can't offer advice - could someone at leat please respond to this message as I'm having problems with my news server .... and I'm not sure if anyone else can see my posting !!! > My partner has been suffering from chronic sinusitis for some years. He > has always had problems but they were generally of an acute nature [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > > Annie Gates > My partner has been suffering from chronic sinusitis for some years. He has > always had problems but they were generally of an acute nature (perhaps very [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > > Annie Gates Not from the UK, but I have some general advice. Give preference to higher priced private doctors who serve affluent patients in major cities or their suburbs. This may entail traveling far from home or temporarily relocating. Look at their credentials as well, i.e. which university did they attend. This will not guarantee success, but in the absence of any other measure of doctor competency, it is the best advice I can give. You should probably ignore recommendations of specific doctors from friends or current physician. Some good points there - thanks. We have been looking at little further afield than our local clinics - but it still seems a bit of a mine field !!! Annie > Not from the UK, but I have some general advice. Give preference to > higher priced private doctors who serve affluent patients in major [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > advice I can give. You should probably ignore recommendations of > specific doctors from friends or current physician. Also, if you are seeking a second opinion (re:the condition itself) from posters on this newsgroup, you should provide as many details as possible. This includes scanning his medical records with the sensitive info blanked out and uploading them to a website. We don't have automatic access to our medical records in the UK ;-( and it's quite a rigmarole to get them !! > Also, if you are seeking a second opinion (re:the condition itself) > from posters on this newsgroup, you should provide as many details as > possible. This includes scanning his medical records with the sensitive > info blanked out and uploading them to a website. >We don't have automatic access to our medical records in the UK ;-( >and it's quite a rigmarole to get them !! Are you sure? See http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/confidentiality/access_medical_records.htm Hello Annie, Yes your messages are getting out. Sinus problems are as different as people are. I've had sinus problems all my life. The funny thing is when I visit the UK, I do much better there than in the US my home. Out of all the things I have tried the one thing that helps more than anything is irrigating my sinuses with as hot as possible tap water with Kosher salt (about a teaspoon full, it varies to each person)mixed into the water(the size of a small cup). Just stand over a bath sink, pour the salt/water into one cupped hand, lean your head over as much as comfortable and sniff the salt/water up into the sinuses as possible. Keep the head down. Forcefully cough out any mixture that drips into the throat. Then place a finger on one nostril and blow out the other. the do the same on the opposite nostril. You should notice a lot of junk and debrie come out and into the sink. With each cup of the salt/water you can do each nostril about three times. At the worst of times, you might do this four or five times per day. When the symptoms are better do it about twice each day to maintain the well condition. Another thing I do that helps is wash my hands with hot soapy water often, several times every day. Especially after going out into crowds or visiting people who have colds. And especially wash hands before doing the irrigation. Hope this helps. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me. Bill >My partner has been suffering from chronic sinusitis for some years. He has >always had problems but they were generally of an acute nature (perhaps very [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > >Annie Gates Bill Poston To reply correct [at] and [dot] Thanks for the reply Bill - I'd been reading quite a bit about nasal irrigation and given the problems that my partner has been having we specifically asked about this last week - but were warned off, her general view being that it could do more harm than good (note she didn't offer any other alternative other than yet another brand of decongestant and didn't seem to be particularly concerned at getting to the root cause of his problem!!). I'd printed out information about the Grossan Hydro Pulse Irrigator from a US web site, having read about it on here, but she just wasn't interested ... and we can't seem to find any ENT practitioner over here who is. Is this just an American thing ?? He is so desperate that he is willing to give anything a go (he's been off work now for 5 months flat with a recurrent infection) but just wanted confirmation from his ENT that it wouldn't do any harm .... she just wasn't interested in dicussing !! Hence we are now looking around. Anyway Thanks again Annie > Hello Annie, > [quoted text clipped - 75 lines] > > To reply correct [at] and [dot] On 2/15/06 1:11 PM, in article dt05dk$81t$1@nwrdmz03.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com, "Annie Gates" <anne@apmwolf.freeserve.nospam.co.uk> wrote: > Thanks for the reply Bill - > [quoted text clipped - 108 lines] >> >> To reply correct [at] and [dot] Dear Anne, At www.ent-consult.com are 33 medical journal references that recommend pulsatile irrigation. Unfortunately none are from Lancet. Thanks for the link Murray - we're going to try and go back via the GP for a referral for a second opinion and I've printed out the references to take. I've been looking through British Medical Journal online and found some references to "saline douching" in an article there, by Kathryn L Evans so maybe all is not lost. Question - and I appreciate that without knowing the medical history it may be difficult to answer. Until we find a more sympathetic ENT who is prepared to discuss, is there any daanger that using the Hydo-Pulse Irrigator could cause any damage i.e. are there any instances of sinus disease/problem in which you would not recomend this therapy. On 2/16/06 1:48 PM, in article dt2ruk$qj5$1@nwrdmz02.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com, "Annie Gates" <anne@apmwolf.freeserve.nospam.co.uk> wrote: > Thanks for the link Murray - we're going to try and go back via the GP for a > referral for a second opinion and I've printed out the references to take. [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > cause any damage i.e. are there any instances of sinus disease/problem in > which you would not recomend this therapy. Yes, the Hydro Pulse is not recommended for children under 5 and is not recommended when the nose is 100% blocked by polyps. Actually, because the pressure is exactly regulated at a low level, Hydro Pulse irrigation is safer than sniffing from the hand or a squeeze bottle where the pressure varies all over the place. By the way the Hydro Pulse is CE approved and is available in "british" 230 volt model - same price as the 110. There is a doctor Phil Jones in Manchester, ENT. Is this anywhere near you? > On 2/16/06 1:48 PM, in article > dt2ruk$qj5$1@nwrdmz02.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com, "Annie Gates" [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > There is a doctor Phil Jones in Manchester, ENT. Is this anywhere near > you? I've just found a UK distributor for the Hydro Pulse - think we'll give it a try as we know polyps aren't the problem. My partner will give anything a go at this stage as he is getting desperate after years of suffering and getting significantly worse in the last 6 months. As for Manchester - well it's probably close by US Standards (about 150 miles from us). I've just looked up the name you provided Mr Phillip Hodgson Jones practices in Withenshaw. It's outside of our health authority region so not sure if we could be referred up there - but might ask the GP. Thanks !! |
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