The use of saline (salt water) irrigations for the nose and sinuses has been shown to be highly effective in improving allergy symptoms and shortening the duration of a sinus infection. Typically, for allergy sufferers, I recommend irrigating the sinuses once every day to every other day with 8 oz of salt water. As there are some data indicating the over irrigating the sinuses can deplete natural immune cells that reside in the mucus of the sinuses, I would not recommend irrigating more than once a day.
Read MoreWhy are doctors still using 2D imaging (CT an MRI scans) when 3D is readily available?
Doctors continue to use the "slices" shown on 2 dimensional CT scans to educate medical students, surgical residents, and even patients. As the images are in 2D, it can be quite disorienting even to medical residents, let alone patients who are trying to learn about their own pathology. As such, we are making push to bring 3D technology into the main stream.
Read MoreHow can doctors improve patient education as it relates sinus disease?
Technological advancements over the last few decades have revolutionized medicine and offer a means to facilitate patient understanding. To date, no data exists as to how three-dimensional reconstruction of imaging can impact patient education during the informed consent process of sinus surgery. Our study sought to define how the perceived understanding, the satisfaction, and the anxiety of patients undergoing sinus surgery were affected by three-dimensional reconstruction of imaging.
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