Coblation Tonsillectomy Means Less Pain & Quicker Recovery For Patients
Use of Coblation® technology for tonsillectomy has grown significantly in the last several years. Since 1998, CornerStone Ear, Nose & Throat has had very positive results with this procedure for both adults and children. It was the first Charlotte-area practice to use Coblation exclusively for removal of tonsils and remains one of the few to utilize this technology. “This technology has essentially revolutionized the tonsillectomy,” — CornerStone Ear, Nose & Throat founder, William McClelland, M.D., FACS With Coblation, the tonsils are still excised, just with…
Finding Her Voice: An Outpatient Procedure Restored Patsy’s Voice After Vocal Cord Paralysis
Imagine opening your mouth to speak and your voice can’t get louder than a whisper. You can’t talk on the phone. It’s difficult to order food in a restaurant or even carry on a simple conversation. In an emergency, you can’t cry out for help. This is the world Patsy Blackburn lived in for seven years. After undergoing a left thoracotomy and excision of a small lung cancer in 1999, Patsy had experienced intermittent hoarseness and suffered with the progression of vocal cord weakness. While…
Breaking The Silence Of Vocal Cord Paralysis
Adult onset vocal cord (or fold) paralysis is due to abnormal nerve input to the laryngeal muscles. The associated nerves are the superior laryngeal nerve and the recurrent laryngeal nerve. The superior laryngeal nerve carries signals to the cricothyroid muscle. The recurrent laryngeal nerve carries signals to different voice box muscles responsible for breathing, coughing, swallowing and vibration during voice use. This nerve is involved in the majority of cases of vocal cord paralysis. Symptoms Adults suffering from vocal cord paralysis use a lot of…
Not All Digital Hearing Aids Are Created Equal: New Technology Options Offer Patients Greater Clarity
Thanks to recent technological advances, digital hearing aids offer greater comfort and audio quality than ever before. They are available in both high-end and entry-level models based on their features and capabilities. For some patients, however, the increased options have made the process of choosing a digital hearing aid very confusing. At CornerStone Ear, Nose & Throat, our certified audiologists have the training and experience to help your patient choose the hearing aid and options that best suit his or her individual lifestyle, environment, dexterity…
Jodi Thought She Was Deaf: But We Wouldn’t Hear Of It: Detection of Otosclerosis Made Recovery Possible
Jodi Grice knows just how life-changing a second opinion can be. That’s because four years ago, when she saw her doctor about the gradual hearing loss she was experiencing, Jodi was told a hearing aid was her only option. Fortunately, a friend suggested she go to CornerStone Ear, Nose & Throat for a second opinion. Thanks to that office visit and the treatment that followed, today she has normal hearing in both ears. After Richard Gillespie, M.D., of CornerStone Ear, Nose & Throat examined Jodi…
Infant Hearing Screening Is Critical in Avoiding Impact on Speech and Social Development
Hearing loss is one of the most frequently occurring congenital disabilities, affecting approximately three in 1,000 people. Without early detection and intervention, hearing impairment in infants and young children can negatively impact speech and language acquisition, academic achievement, and cognitive and social development. It is a potential source of liability for the patients’ physicians if the problem is not caught and addressed in a timely fashion. If detected and treated, however, these negative impacts can be greatly diminished and even eliminated through early intervention. In…
Digital Hearing Aids Are Effective For High Frequency Hearing Loss
High frequency hearing loss, which results in difficulty hearing in the presence of background noise, was not easily treatable in the past. Analog hearing aid technology amplifies the overall sound in an area, and doesn’t help a person differentiate speech from surrounding noise. With the progression of hearing aid technology from analog to digital, there are new solutions for high frequency hearing loss. Most major hearing aid manufacturers have a line of digital hearing aids specifically for high frequency sensorineural hearing loss or noise induced…
Technology, Ingenuity & One Operation Erase A Lifetime Of Hearing Loss For This Young Patient
By the time Caitlin Echave was a high school sophomore, she and her family were resigned to the fact that her hearing loss, which began when she was 11 years old, would never get better. She had reluctantly started wearing hearing aids, but still hid that fact from everyone except for close friends. After moving to Charlotte, Caitlin never imagined that a trip to yet another otolaryngologist would change her life forever. Caitlin was referred to CornerStone Ear, Nose & Throat after complaining that her…
Comparing Our Audiologists To Hearing Instrument Specialists
In order to deliver the highest level of audiology services, CornerStone Ear, Nose & Throat, has only certified audiologists on our staff. That’s because when it comes to hearing exams and hearing aids, there is a dramatic differences in training and skill level between certified audiologists and so-called hearing instrument specialists. Your patients are typically unaware of these differences which include: 1. Audiologists Have Significantly More Education Our certified audiologists each have a Master’s degree and have passed a standardized national competency exam. Much of…
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