An Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) doctor deals with the ear and hearing, the nose and the sinuses, and the throat, tonsils and voice, in both adults and children. The formal name of the specialty is otolaryngology, though on clinic signs and in medical reports you will usually see the short form, ENT.
Anyone searching for "the best ENT doctor in Cairo" usually wants four simple answers: who the doctor is, where he sees patients, on which days and at what times, and whether what they are feeling is worth a visit at all. This page answers those four questions.
Beyond the ear, the nose and the throat themselves, the specialty also covers balance, the sense of smell, and snoring and difficult breathing during sleep, in children as much as in adults. It is both a medical and a surgical field: most cases are treated with medication and followed up in the clinic, while some need surgery.
At Town Hospital in the Fifth Settlement, New Cairo, Dr Ayman Shehata, Consultant of Otolaryngology (ENT), sees patients in the outpatient clinic on Sunday and Thursday from 7:00 to 9:00 pm.
The Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Specialty
Ear, nose and throat medicine covers three areas that are connected to one another: the ear, the nose and sinuses, and the throat and larynx. That is why the complaint is so often in one place while the cause lies in another: dizziness can come from the inner ear, ear pain can start in the throat, the teeth or the jaw joint, and long-standing nasal congestion can show up as a headache, as snoring at night, or as a weak sense of smell. For that reason the examination starts by looking at all three areas together, not at the complaint on its own.
The complaints an ENT doctor sees in the clinic include:
- Hearing loss, ringing in the ear (tinnitus), or a blocked, full feeling in the ear.
- Dizziness and loss of balance, especially when changing the position of the head or getting up out of bed.
- A nose that stays blocked, a nose that keeps running, or a weak sense of smell.
- Pain or pressure in the face, and headaches linked to the sinuses.
- Repeated sore throat, enlarged tonsils, or difficulty swallowing.
- Hoarseness or a change in the voice lasting more than two weeks with no clear cause.
- Snoring and pauses in breathing during sleep.
- Repeated nosebleeds, or a swelling in the neck that does not go away.
- In children: mouth-breathing and snoring during sleep, repeated ear or tonsil infections, and delayed speech or not responding when called.
When the visit is urgent
Most ear, nose and throat complaints can wait for an ordinary clinic appointment, but some cannot. Go to the emergency department the same day if any of the following happens:
- Difficulty breathing, a whistling sound when breathing in, or being unable to swallow saliva, with drooling and a change in the tone of the voice — particularly in children.
- A heavy nosebleed that does not stop after pressing continuously on the soft part of the nose for about ten minutes, or that comes with dizziness or pallor.
- With sinus symptoms: swelling or redness around the eye, double vision or reduced eyesight, or a severe headache with fever, a stiff neck or confusion.
- With an ear infection: swelling or redness behind the ear, the ear being pushed forward, or weakness in the movement of one side of the face.
- Severe dizziness together with a sudden, unusual headache, weakness or numbness in an arm or leg, slurred speech, double vision, or being unable to stand — these are assessed as a neurological emergency, not as dizziness coming from the ear.
- A foreign body in the ear or nose — button batteries (watch batteries) in children above all — or clear fluid running from the nose after a blow to the head.
See an ENT doctor within a few days — not weeks — if you have:
- Sudden hearing loss in one ear over hours or days, with or without ringing or dizziness; being assessed very early changes the chance of recovering the hearing.
- A blockage that stays in one nostril and not the other, or blood-stained discharge from one side.
- Hoarseness lasting more than three weeks without improving, particularly if you smoke.
- Ongoing difficulty or pain on swallowing, or a feeling of something stuck in the throat that does not clear.
- A swelling in the neck lasting more than three weeks with no obvious infection.
- Ongoing pain in one ear in an adult when the ear examination is normal, or fluid behind one eardrum with no apparent cause.
- A mouth or tongue ulcer that has not healed within two weeks, or a white or red patch lasting more than two weeks.
The conditions this specialty deals with fall into three groups: the ear and hearing, the nose and sinuses, and the throat, voice and tonsils, along with breathing problems during sleep in both adults and children. Each group is covered in detail below — how it usually starts, the early signs that are easy to dismiss, and when it is worth seeing a doctor — under “What Does an ENT Doctor Treat?”
How ENT Conditions Are Diagnosed: What Happens at the Visit
Most ear, nose and throat examinations are simply a direct look with small lighted instruments, done in the clinic itself, with no anaesthetic and no hospital admission. The examination is over in minutes, and you go straight back to your day afterwards. With these complaints in particular, a description of the symptoms is not enough on its own: the ear, nose and throat are narrow spaces, and there is no way to know what is inside them without looking.
What the doctor asks before the examination begins
The visit starts with talking, not with instruments: when the complaint began, whether it is on one side or both, whether it flares with a change of season, with dust or after a cold, whether it followed repeated infections or earlier surgery on the ear or the nose, which medicines you are taking now, and whether you smoke or are exposed to dust at work. For a child, the questions cover sleep, snoring, delayed speech and attention at school. These questions are not a formality; they usually narrow the possibilities well before any instrument touches the ear or the nose.
Examining the ear
The doctor uses a handheld otoscope, a small instrument with its own light, and looks through it at the ear canal and the eardrum. It takes seconds for each ear and does not hurt. If wax has built up and is blocking the view, the doctor may remove it by suction or by irrigation, choosing the method only after seeing the eardrum, because irrigation is not suitable when there is a perforation or a ventilation tube. Either way it is quick, though it comes with a rather loud noise inside the ear that is unpleasant at moments but tolerable. Trying to clear wax at home with cotton buds or suction devices is not advised, because it usually pushes the wax deeper and can injure the canal or the eardrum. A middle ear pressure test may be added. A soft tip is placed at the entrance of the ear, you hear a short tone, and you feel a light pressure for a few seconds. This is the test that picks up fluid behind the eardrum, and a build-up of that fluid is one of the most common causes of temporary hearing loss in children.
The hearing test
A hearing test is carried out in a quiet room or a soundproof booth. You wear headphones over both ears and are asked to raise your hand or press a button whenever you hear a faint tone, and you may also be asked to repeat words spoken quietly. There is no pain, no injection and nothing to prepare in advance. The result is a graph that the doctor goes through with you, and it shows both how much hearing has been lost and what kind of loss it is. One kind is caused by an obstacle in the outer or middle ear, such as wax, fluid or a problem with the eardrum; many of these causes are treatable, and hearing often improves once they are dealt with. The other kind comes from the inner ear or the hearing nerve, and it follows a different path. Young children are tested with methods suited to their age that do not rely on the child responding deliberately.
Nasal and throat endoscopy
This is the examination patients worry about far more than it deserves. It begins with a local anaesthetic spray that tastes slightly bitter, and then the doctor passes a thin tube into the nostril for a minute or two; what you feel is closer to pressure than to pain. It is done sitting up and fully awake, with no general anaesthetic and no fasting, and you leave immediately afterwards. It shows the doctor the nasal septum, the turbinates, the sinus openings and any nasal polyps. If the complaint is hoarseness, difficulty swallowing or a feeling of something stuck in the throat, the doctor takes the endoscope further, down to the larynx and the vocal cords, and watches them while you speak and breathe. That is an area imaging does not show with the same clarity.
When are scans and tests needed?
Imaging is not a routine step in every case, and a CT scan is not ordered for an ordinary acute sinus attack. A CT scan of the sinuses is usually arranged when the symptoms are chronic or recurrent, or when surgery is being planned, because it shows the deep cavities that the endoscope cannot reach. Allergy testing may be added when identifying the trigger is part of the treatment plan, and a swab or a laboratory test may be needed in particular situations. The rule is that a test is ordered to answer a question raised by the examination, not simply to add another page to the file.
What Does an ENT Doctor Treat?
Ear, nose and throat medicine covers three areas that are anatomically connected, which is why a complaint so often starts in one place while its cause sits in another: a blocked nose ruins sleep, inflammation in the nose reaches the ear, and acid reflux from the stomach can show up as hoarseness. It is a medical and a surgical specialty at the same time, so a large share of cases are treated with medication and never reach an operating theatre, and it covers adults and children alike. At Town Hospital in the Fifth Settlement, New Cairo, the ENT clinic is run by a single consultant, Dr Ayman Shehata, who sees patients in the outpatient clinics on Sunday and Thursday evenings, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm.
Ear and hearing problems
Hearing loss
The complaint usually begins with small signs: turning the television up louder than usual, asking people to repeat themselves, struggling to follow a conversation in a crowded place even though hearing seems normal in quiet surroundings. In children it may show as not responding when called, or as delayed speech. The doctor examines the ear and arranges a hearing test to tell two things apart. The first is a loss caused by wax, by fluid behind the eardrum or by a perforation in it; many of these causes are treatable, and hearing often improves once they are dealt with. The second comes from the inner ear or the hearing nerve, needs a different kind of assessment, and may end with a hearing aid. Sudden hearing loss in one ear, coming on over a few hours or a single day, is a different matter altogether and cannot wait: the window here is measured in days, not weeks. Do not wait to see whether the hearing comes back on its own, and do not assume it is only wax.
Middle ear infection
The usual picture is ear pain that gets worse at night, sometimes with a fever or discharge from the ear, and usually following a cold. In an infant or a small child the only sign may be constant crying, pulling at the ear, or refusing to feed. The doctor looks at the eardrum and measures the pressure behind it to find out whether fluid is trapped there, then decides whether the case needs pain relief and follow-up only, or a step beyond that. Do not put drops, oils or home remedies into the ear before it has been examined: if the eardrum is perforated, some of them are harmful. What opens the discussion about fitting a ventilation tube is repeated infection, or fluid that stays for three months or more in a child whose hearing is affected. And alongside an ear infection, swelling or redness behind the ear, an ear pushed forward, or sudden weakness in the movement of one side of the face are all signs that do not wait for an appointment.
Tinnitus
Tinnitus is a whistling, buzzing or pulsing sound that only the patient can hear, and that becomes clearer in quiet surroundings and at bedtime. It is a symptom rather than a disease in its own right, and it often goes with hearing loss, a build-up of wax or a problem in the middle ear, so the doctor looks for a treatable cause and arranges a hearing test as a basic step. Tinnitus in one ear and not the other, or pulsing tinnitus that keeps time with the heartbeat, should be examined early rather than put off.
Dizziness and loss of balance
This is the sense that the room is spinning when you turn over in bed or look upwards, lasting seconds or minutes and sometimes coming with nausea. A large share of these attacks come from the balance organ inside the ear, and many improve with simple head-position manoeuvres carried out in the clinic itself. The ENT doctor's role here is to examine the ear, measure the hearing, and separate dizziness that comes from the ear from dizziness that belongs to another specialty. But dizziness with weakness in an arm or a leg, slurred speech, a droop on one side of the face, double vision or a sudden severe headache is not ear dizziness: it needs emergency care immediately, not a clinic appointment. Dizziness together with sudden hearing loss in one ear likewise needs to be examined the same day.
Nose and sinus problems
Nasal allergy (allergic rhinitis)
The pattern is bursts of sneezing on waking, a watery runny nose, itching in the nose and the eyes, and blockage that gets worse with dust or a change of season. The examination confirms that this is an allergy and not something else that resembles it, and it shows the state of the nasal lining and the turbinates from the inside. The plan rests on reducing exposure to the triggers, alongside antihistamines and topical nasal sprays, with the doctor deciding which of them suits you after examining you; not every patient needs allergy testing. One thing is worth flagging: staying on fast-acting decongestant sprays makes the nose dependent on them and increases the blockage instead of relieving it.
Chronic blocked nose and mouth breathing
This is a nose blocked most of the time, or a blockage that moves from one side to the other, or sleeping with the mouth open and waking with a dry throat. Common causes include a deviated nasal septum, enlarged turbinates, nasal polyps, adenoids behind the nose in children, or a long-standing allergy, and only a look inside the nose with an endoscope tells them apart. Some of these causes are treated entirely with medication; some improve only with surgery. Persistent blockage of one nostril and not the other is a different matter and needs to be examined soon. In a child with a blockage on one side and a foul-smelling discharge, the first thing the doctor thinks of is a foreign body inside the nose.
Sinusitis
The picture is heaviness and pressing pain in the cheeks, around the eyes or in the forehead, worse when you bend forward, with thick discharge and a reduced sense of smell, and it usually starts after a cold. Most acute attacks are viral and settle without any special treatment, but you should be examined if the symptoms last more than ten days without improving, if they improve and then relapse and get worse, or if they are severe from the start with a fever that continues for several days. In chronic or recurrent cases it is endoscopy, and then a CT scan when needed, that shows whether the problem is inflammation alone or an anatomical obstruction stopping the sinuses from draining. One picture must not wait: swelling or redness around the eye or the eyelid, pain on moving the eye, blurred or double vision, or a severe headache with vomiting, drowsiness or confusion. These mean the infection may have spread beyond the sinuses, and they need emergency care at once.
Snoring and disturbed breathing during sleep
The snoring is loud enough to disturb whoever shares the room, and sometimes the person sleeping beside the patient notices a short pause in the breathing; the patient then wakes unrested, with a morning headache, and stays sleepy all day. In children it shows as snoring, broken sleep and mouth breathing, and sometimes as distractibility and overactivity during the day rather than sleepiness. Snoring is not merely an irritating noise: it can mean repeated drops in breathing during sleep. Sleep apnoea left without assessment is linked to raised blood pressure, strain on the heart and the danger of drowsiness at the wheel. The doctor therefore examines the nose and the throat, assesses the size of the tonsils and the adenoids behind the nose, and may arrange a sleep study before setting a plan.
Throat and voice problems
Sore throat
A sore throat brings pain on swallowing, dryness or burning in the throat, and sometimes a fever with swollen lymph nodes in the neck. Most cases are viral and improve within days with fluids, rest and pain relief. But you should be examined if the pain is severe enough to stop you drinking water, if it comes with difficulty opening the mouth or clear swelling on one side of the throat, or if it lasts more than a week, because these signs point to something beyond a passing sore throat. Difficulty breathing, drooling and being unable to swallow saliva, a voice that turns muffled, or a stiff neck with a fever are signs that need emergency care at once and are not treated at home.
Tonsils in children
This comes up as repeated attacks of infection that keep the child out of school, or as tonsils enlarged to the point that the child snores, sleeps with the mouth open and eats slowly. Removing the tonsils is not an automatic decision with every infection; it is raised when the infections recur at a clear rate over a period of months, or when the size of the tonsils obstructs breathing during sleep. The decision is taken after examining the child and going through the history of the attacks, not on the strength of a single complaint.
Hoarseness and a changed voice
Hoarseness after shouting or after a cold is ordinary and clears within days. But hoarseness that lasts beyond about three weeks, or that returns every time the voice is used, needs a direct look at the vocal cords with an endoscope, particularly in smokers and in people whose work depends on their voice, and above all if it comes with weight loss, a lump in the neck or pain on swallowing. The causes range from voice strain to nodules on the vocal cords to acid reflux reaching the larynx, among others, and they cannot be told apart from the sound of the voice alone. Hoarseness with shortness of breath or a whistling sound on breathing in should not wait for an appointment: it needs emergency care.
When is an antibiotic needed?
This is a decision taken after the examination, not before it. Most sore throats, and many ear and sinus infections, are caused by a virus; an antibiotic does not help in those cases and does not shorten them.
Worse still is starting on a course left over from a previous illness, or one that was prescribed for somebody else. It masks the features of the illness before the doctor ever sees it, exposes the patient to side effects for nothing in return, and feeds bacterial resistance to antibiotics, which is the very thing that makes treatment harder when one genuinely becomes necessary. Whether an antibiotic is needed at all, which one, and for how long depends on what the doctor sees during the examination and on the patient's own condition. And if the doctor does prescribe one, the rule is to take it exactly as directed, not to stop it simply because the symptoms have eased.
Symptoms that should not be watched at home
Most ear, nose and throat complaints can wait a few days, but there are specific signs where the clock counts. The first list means going to the nearest emergency department the same day. The second means being seen by an ENT doctor within a few days, not within weeks.
Go to the emergency department the same day
- Difficulty breathing or a whistling sound on breathing in; drooling and being unable to swallow saliva along with severe throat pain; a voice that turns muffled; or a stiff neck with a fever.
- Swelling or redness around the eye or the eyelid together with sinus symptoms, pain on moving the eye, blurred or double vision, or a severe headache with vomiting, drowsiness or confusion.
- Swelling, redness and pain behind the ear, an ear pushed forward, or sudden weakness in the movement of one side of the face.
- Dizziness with weakness in an arm or a leg, slurred speech, a droop on one side of the face, double vision, or a sudden severe headache.
- Heavy bleeding from the nose, or bleeding that does not stop after pressing continuously on the soft part of the nose for about ten minutes.
See an ENT doctor within a few days
- Have your ear examined quickly if you lose your hearing suddenly in one ear over a few hours or a single day with no clear cause. Do not wait for it to come back on its own and do not assume it is only wax: this is one of the situations where time is measured in days, not weeks.
- Ask for an examination if one nostril stays blocked while the other does not, with no improvement, and especially if there is repeated bleeding from the same side or a foul-smelling discharge.
- Have your voice looked at if hoarseness lasts beyond about three weeks, even if there is no pain with it, and above all if you smoke.
- Do not put off being examined if swallowing has become difficult, if swallowing food hurts, or if a feeling of something stuck in the throat has settled in.
- Get any lump or swelling in the neck looked at if it lasts for weeks with no infection or cold to explain it.
- Have tinnitus checked if it is in one ear and not the other, or if it pulses in time with the heartbeat.
- See a doctor about an ear that keeps discharging, or discharges again and again, especially when hearing is affected with it.
Having one of these signs does not necessarily mean a serious illness, but each one needs a direct look to establish its cause, rather than being watched at home.
Best Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Doctor in Cairo
The Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) clinic at Town Hospital is led by a single consultant: Dr. Ayman Shehata, ENT Consultant. He sees patients in the hospital's outpatient clinics in Fifth Settlement, New Cairo, on Sunday and Thursday from 7:00 to 9:00 pm.
If you are looking for an ENT doctor near you in New Cairo, this is what you need to know before you come: one location, two evenings a week, and consultations on those two days only. The urgent symptoms listed in the next section belong in the hospital's emergency department instead, and should not be left to wait for a clinic appointment.
Clinic location and hours
- Location: Town Hospital, Fifth Settlement, New Cairo — inside the outpatient clinics.
- Days: Sunday and Thursday.
- Hours: 7:00 to 9:00 pm.
- Doctor: Dr. Ayman Shehata, ENT Consultant. Consultations on both days are with him.
- Who is seen: adults and children, at the same two clinic times.
What happens at a first visit
The visit begins with questions about your complaint, how long it has been going on and what treatment you have already tried, then a direct examination of the ears, nose and throat with the clinic's examination instruments and an endoscope. After the examination the doctor may ask for a further test if the case calls for one: a hearing test, a middle-ear pressure test, or imaging of the sinuses, which is usually a CT scan because it gives the most accurate view of this area. He then explains the diagnosis and the plan, whether that is medication, follow-up or surgery. Diagnosis in ENT rests on this direct examination, because describing the symptoms is no substitute for looking inside the ear, nose and throat.
Before the visit, it is best not to start any treatment on your own. Do not take an antibiotic without being examined, as it can mask important signs and delay the diagnosis. Do not put drops or oil into an ear that is very painful or discharging before the doctor has looked at it, because the eardrum may be perforated. Do not clean the ear with cotton buds. And do not stay on decongestant nasal sprays for long periods, because continuous use makes the blockage worse rather than better. Carry on with any medicines a doctor has prescribed for you, and tell the doctor about them at the visit.
What to bring with you
- Previous medical reports, and any imaging or hearing tests you have already had.
- A list of the medicines you take regularly — mention blood thinners in particular if you are on any — along with any nose drops or sprays you use.
- If the visit is for a child: how many ear or tonsil infections there have been over the past year, and any notes from school or nursery about hearing or speech.
- Your medical insurance card, if the visit is being covered by insurance.
When Do You Need to See an ENT Doctor?
Not every ear, nose or throat complaint can wait for a clinic appointment, and not all of them need emergency care. The lists below help you tell the two apart.
Signs that cannot wait: go to the emergency department now
- Sudden hearing loss in one ear over a few hours or a single day, with no obvious cause, whether or not there is ringing or dizziness with it. ENT doctors treat this as urgent: it needs to be assessed within a few days at the very most, and preferably within 24 to 48 hours, so do not wait to see whether it settles on its own.
- Severe ear pain with a fever, or swelling and redness over the bone behind the ear, or the outer ear pushed forward, particularly in a child. Go straight away too if ear pain comes with a severe headache, confusion, or a stiff neck.
- Difficulty breathing, or a harsh, noisy sound you can hear when breathing in, or a sudden change in the voice together with difficulty swallowing, drooling and being unable to swallow saliva, particularly in a child. This includes sudden swelling of the tongue, lips or throat with a rash or shortness of breath.
- A swallowed foreign body, or one that has got into the nose or ear: a coin, a piece of a toy, a fish bone stuck in the throat. A swallowed button battery in particular cannot wait at all. Do not try to remove it yourself, do not make a child vomit, do not give food or drink, and do not swallow bread or rice to push a bone down.
- A heavy nosebleed that does not stop after ten full minutes of steady pressure on the soft part of the nose without lifting your fingers, and with the head tilted forward rather than back, because tilting it back sends blood down the throat. Go sooner than that if you take blood thinners or your blood pressure is high, or if the bleeding keeps coming back with dizziness or pallor.
- A direct injury to the face or nose with a change in its shape or bleeding that will not stop, or clear watery fluid coming from the nose or ear after a head injury.
- Sudden severe vertigo with continuous vomiting and an inability to stand, or vertigo together with double vision, slurred speech, or weakness down one side of the body.
In these situations do not wait for a clinic appointment and do not try to treat the problem at home. Go to the nearest emergency department.
Symptoms that need a clinic appointment rather than emergency care
- Gradual hearing loss, or a blocked feeling in the ear, lasting more than two weeks.
- A feeling of fullness or blockage in one ear in an adult with no recent cold, or hearing that is weaker in one ear than in the other. This needs the nose and the nasopharynx (the space behind the nose) examined with an endoscope; it is not something to watch and wait on at home.
- Discharge from the ear that keeps returning or does not stop, especially alongside hearing loss.
- Persistent ringing in the ear, particularly in one ear only, or repeated bouts of dizziness brought on by a change in head position.
- Chronic blockage of both sides of the nose with sneezing or discharge, especially if it has lasted more than three months.
- Persistent blockage of one side of the nose only, or repeated bleeding from that same nostril. This does not wait three months; it needs an endoscopic examination at the earliest appointment.
- Heaviness or pain in the face with nasal discharge that lasts more than ten days without improving, or that improves and then gets worse again.
- Repeated sore throats, or tonsils large enough to get in the way of swallowing or sleep.
- Hoarseness lasting more than two to three weeks after any obvious infection has cleared. Ask for an endoscopic examination of the larynx (the voice box) and do not put it off, particularly if you smoke or your work depends on your voice.
- Pain or difficulty when swallowing, or a constant feeling of something stuck in the throat. If swallowing is getting steadily harder, or you are losing weight with it, take the earliest appointment available.
- Chronic snoring with noticeable pauses in breathing during sleep and daytime sleepiness.
- A swelling or lump in the neck that lasts more than two weeks with no clear cause. A hard, painless lump in an adult, particularly a smoker, needs to be examined early, and waiting for it to disappear is not an option.
- Loss or change of the sense of smell that carries on for weeks after a cold has gone.
The examination is what decides the treatment, including whether an antibiotic is needed at all. Not every throat, ear or sinus infection is bacterial; most are viral and get better without one. Taking antibiotics on your own — a pack left over from last time, or one prescribed for someone else — does not speed up recovery in these cases, and it can hide signs the doctor needs to see.
Children: when to bring your child to an ENT doctor
- Repeated middle-ear infections, or discharge coming from the ear.
- Breathing through the mouth while asleep, or constant snoring with broken sleep. This is often linked to enlarged adenoids or tonsils. If you notice your child stop breathing during sleep, take the earliest appointment.
- Suspected hearing difficulty: not responding when called, turning the television up, or speech that is late or unclear compared with other children the same age.
- A child who did not have the newborn hearing screening, or who did not pass it, even if hearing seems normal.
- Repeated tonsillitis, to the point that it disrupts school or eating.
- Repeated nosebleeds, or blockage of one nostril with a foul-smelling discharge, which usually means a foreign body inside the nose.
Late speech and poor progress at school can be caused by a hearing loss that nobody has noticed, which is why assessing a child starts with examining the ears and testing hearing before any other step. Do not put anything into a child's ear to clean it, and do not put drops in before it has been examined.
Frequently Asked Questions About Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT)
Below are answers to the questions patients ask most often before visiting the ENT clinic at Town Hospital in the Fifth Settlement, New Cairo.
What does an ENT doctor treat, and when do I need to see one?
An ENT doctor deals with everything involving the ears, the nose and sinuses, the throat and voice box, and the neck, in adults and children alike: hearing loss, ringing in the ears, ear infections and dizziness; a blocked nose, nasal allergy, sinusitis, a deviated septum, nosebleeds and a reduced sense of smell; tonsillitis, hoarseness, difficulty swallowing, snoring and pauses in breathing during sleep; along with enlarged adenoids in children, swellings in the neck, and tumours of the head and neck. When to go is largely a question of how long the symptom has lasted: if it has gone on more than two weeks without improving, keeps coming back several times a year, or is affecting your hearing, your voice, your sleep or your ability to breathe through your nose, have it examined rather than waiting for it to settle on its own. A few symptoms should not wait two weeks at all: sudden hearing loss in one ear, a nose blocked on one side only for weeks, hoarseness that goes past three weeks, difficulty swallowing or a feeling of something stuck in the throat, and any lump in the neck that does not go away. Those need to be seen as soon as possible. Difficulty breathing, or being unable to swallow your own saliva, belongs in the emergency department straight away.
What does ENT stand for, and what is the specialty called in medical reports?
ENT stands for Ear, Nose and Throat, and that is the everyday English name for the specialty — the name you see on clinic signs, in medical reports and on test requests. Its formal medical name is Otolaryngology, written in full as Otorhinolaryngology, and a doctor trained in it is called an ENT doctor or an otolaryngologist. The Arabic name for the same specialty, طب الأنف والأذن والحنجرة, refers to exactly this. Some reports add the words Head and Neck Surgery, which is part of the same specialty rather than a separate one.
Who is the ENT consultant at Town Hospital, and when does the clinic run?
The ENT consultant at Town Hospital is Dr Ayman Shehata, and his clinic runs on Sunday and Thursday from 7:00 to 9:00 pm at the hospital in the Fifth Settlement, New Cairo. Patients are seen in person in the clinic only: the hospital does not give remote consultations or remote diagnoses, because the ear, nose and throat have to be looked at directly with an endoscope and the clinic's instruments, and describing symptoms over the phone or in a message is no substitute for that examination.
Where exactly is the clinic, and how do I get there?
The ENT clinic is inside Town Hospital in the Fifth Settlement, New Cairo, within the outpatient clinics, and reception will direct you to it on the two days it runs. The hospital is easy to reach from the Fifth Settlement, the First Settlement, Katameya, Al Rehab, Madinaty and Shorouk, and from the main roads of New Cairo. Because the clinic runs in the evening on two days a week only, it helps to arrive a little before the session starts, so that reception can register you and open a file if this is your first visit. Anything urgent on the other days of the week belongs in the emergency department rather than the outpatient clinic.
Do I need a referral from another doctor, and what happens at a first visit?
You do not need a referral from another doctor to be seen at the ENT clinic, unless your own medical insurance requires one. At a first visit the doctor asks what the complaint is, when it started and what makes it better or worse, goes through your medical history, your medicines and any allergies, and then examines both ears with an otoscope, followed by the nose and the throat. He may use a fine flexible endoscope to look inside the nose or the voice box; that is a quick examination done in the clinic itself, with no hospital admission and no general anaesthetic, and it may be preceded by a local numbing spray into the nose. Depending on what he finds, he may then ask for a hearing test, a test of middle-ear function, or a CT scan of the sinuses. To save yourself time, bring any previous reports, scans or hearing tests, a list of the medicines you take regularly, and the actual pack of any nasal spray or ear drops you are using at the moment.
My ear feels blocked and there is ringing in it. Is that an ENT problem?
Yes, a blocked ear and ringing in it are among the commonest complaints an ENT doctor sees. The usual causes are a build-up of ear wax, poor ventilation of the middle ear through the Eustachian tube after a cold or with nasal allergy, fluid collecting behind the eardrum, or repeated exposure to loud noise; a simple ear examination in the clinic shows which of these it is, with a hearing test added where it is needed. Do not try to clean the ear with a cotton bud or any other implement, and do not put oils or drops into it before it has been examined, because that can push the wax deeper or injure the eardrum if it is perforated. If you lose hearing suddenly in one ear over a few hours or a day or two, or the ringing comes with severe dizziness or weakness of one side of the face, ask to be examined the same day rather than putting it off, because delay in sudden hearing loss reduces the chance of the hearing coming back. See a doctor soon as well if the blockage or the ringing is in one ear only and has lasted for weeks in an adult who had no cold beforehand, especially if it comes with a blocked nose on that same side, blood-stained mucus or a lump in the neck, because that combination calls for an endoscopic look at the nose and the nasopharynx, the space behind it, to be certain. Ringing that pulses in time with your heartbeat also deserves assessment rather than being ignored.
My child keeps getting ear infections and snores at night. Should I take him to an ENT doctor?
Yes. Repeated middle ear infections — three or more episodes within six months, or four within a year with one of them in the last six months — and steady snoring with mouth breathing and unsettled sleep are among the strongest reasons to bring a child to an ENT doctor, and the cause is most often enlarged adenoids or tonsils, or fluid sitting behind the eardrum. The examination matters because the silent hearing loss that fluid behind the eardrum causes can hold a child's speech and schoolwork back without anyone noticing, so the visit includes a look at the eardrum and a hearing test suited to the child's age, and a sleep study is sometimes requested where the snoring is heavy. The options are then weighed in order, starting with watchful waiting and medical treatment and going as far as surgery in the cases that call for it, such as fluid that has stayed behind the eardrum for about three months with hearing affected. Do not start your child on an antibiotic bought from the pharmacy without an examination, as many childhood ear infections settle with observation and pain relief, and deciding which child actually needs one depends on seeing the eardrum, the child's age and how severe the symptoms are. Do not put drops into an ear that is discharging before it has been examined either, because the eardrum may be perforated. Bring your child in without delay if pus or blood comes out of the ear, if the area behind the ear turns red or swells or the ear looks pushed forward, if a fever comes with severe ear pain, a stiff neck, repeated vomiting or weakness of one side of the face, or if you notice him stop breathing, or gasp and choke for breath, while asleep.
Sore throat: when is it an ordinary virus, and when does it need a doctor?
Most sore throats are viral, and the giveaway is that they come with a runny nose, a cough, some hoarseness and only a mild temperature, start to improve within three to five days, and usually clear in about a week with rest, fluids, warm salt-water gargles and simple pain and fever relief. What does need examining is severe pain with no cough alongside a high fever and tender, swollen glands in the neck or white patches on the tonsils; a sore throat that drags on beyond a week; or attacks that keep repeating several times a year. Telling a viral throat from a bacterial one takes a clinical examination and sometimes a throat swab, and it cannot be settled by guesswork, so do not take antibiotics on your own, or on anyone's advice but a doctor's: they do nothing for a viral throat, which is the great majority of cases, and taking them when they are not needed breeds bacterial resistance that will work against you when you genuinely do need treatment. See a doctor as well if throat pain, or the feeling of something stuck in the throat, lasts more than three weeks, or if the pain sits on one side along with ear pain on that same side, especially if you smoke. Get medical help immediately if you cannot swallow your saliva or it drools from your mouth, if your voice changes and you become short of breath, if you cannot open your mouth, or if your neck swells quickly with a high fever.
How long can hoarseness go on before I should worry?
Passing hoarseness after a cold, or after straining the voice by shouting or talking for long stretches, normally improves within a few days to two weeks if you rest the voice, drink water, stay away from smoking and avoid continuous whispering, which strains the vocal cords more than ordinary speech does. The accepted rule is that any hoarseness lasting more than two to three weeks with no clear cause needs the voice box examined with an endoscope by an ENT doctor, and should not be left unchecked. Do not even wait that long if you smoke or are over forty, if the hoarseness comes with pain or difficulty swallowing, a lump in the neck, ear pain on one side, blood in the spit or noticeable weight loss, or if you depend on your voice for work, as teachers, lawyers and singers do; in those cases be seen early. Hoarseness together with difficulty breathing, or a whistling noise as you breathe in, is an emergency and cannot wait for an appointment.
Which symptoms mean going in straight away instead of waiting?
Go to the nearest emergency department immediately if you have difficulty breathing or a whistling noise as you breathe in; if you cannot swallow your saliva and it drools from your mouth; if your neck or the floor of your mouth swells quickly with a high fever and you cannot open your mouth properly; if a nosebleed does not stop after you sit down, tilt your head forward — never back — and pinch the soft part of the nose without letting go for a full ten minutes; if heavy nosebleeds keep coming back; if clear fluid or blood comes from the nose or the ear after a blow to the head or face; or if a foreign body gets into the nose, the ear or the throat — a button battery in a child being the one that allows no delay at all, whether it has been swallowed or pushed into the nose or the ear. Other problems need to be seen the same day, without waiting for an appointment: sudden hearing loss in one ear; severe dizziness that will not settle, with vomiting; severe ear pain with a high fever; pus from the ear with redness and swelling behind it; swelling around the eye or the eyelid alongside sinus symptoms; sudden weakness of one side of the face; and a sudden severe headache with blurred vision. And some things must not be left for weeks even though they are not emergencies in the hour, so see a doctor within days if you have a nose blocked on one side only or mucus streaked with blood, a lump in the neck lasting more than two weeks, hoarseness going past three weeks, swallowing that is getting harder or more painful, a blocked ear in an adult with no preceding cold, or a mouth ulcer that has not healed within two to three weeks.