Dr. Ameet Kishore

Consultant ear, nose and throat surgeon, treating hearing loss, sinus disease, blocked breathing, voice and swallowing problems, and disorders of the balance system. The work spans a five-minute outpatient procedure to cochlear implantation, and a consultation usually includes examination with a scope and, where hearing is the issue, formal audiometry.

What an ENT surgeon treats

Hearing loss and ear disease, sinus and nasal obstruction, tonsil and adenoid problems, voice and swallowing disorders, dizziness arising from the balance organs, and head and neck tumours. The work spans a five-minute outpatient procedure to cochlear implantation.

When you would be referred

Hearing that has declined, persistent blocked breathing or sinus infection, hoarseness lasting more than three weeks, ringing in one ear only, or vertigo that has not settled. Hoarseness beyond three weeks in an adult, and hearing loss or tinnitus on one side alone, are the two that should not be left.

At the first consultation

Expect examination with an endoscope — a thin camera through the nose or into the ear — which is quick and done in the room, and formal audiometry where hearing is the issue. The results usually make the decision obvious, which is why so much of ENT is settled in a single visit.

What to bring, and what to ask

Any previous hearing tests, CT or MRI of the sinuses or the ear, and a note of how long each symptom has lasted. Worth asking: is this a problem that needs treating or watching, what does the operation change and what will it not change, and — for hearing — what are the realistic expectations from a device compared with surgery.