Sinuses are air filled spaces in our skull. I am sure you know of someone who is having sinusitis! It is such a common disease.

Sinuses get infected from organisms from the nasal cavity and throat mainly. After common cold like illness the sinuses may get blocked and the secretions collected and may get infected. this may be predisposed by deformities within the nose like crooked nasal septum.

Mainly sinusitis is treated with drugs. But in some patients especially those who have recurrent problems, surgery may be needed.

Hearing loss is a very common symptom. The severity may vary from mild to severe and the symptom may be progressive or sudden onset.

It is very important that deafness be taken seriously especially in children so that remedial action can be taken before hearing loss can affect the learning of the child.

The causes of hearing loss are many and varied. E.g. wax, ear infection, age related deafness, vessel diseases, autoimmune diseases, and many more. Wax is particularly a common problem. Age related deafness (also known as presbyacusis) is the commonest cause of deafness in elderly.

Vertigo is the illusion of spinning movement. It is quite a common symptom. Remember it is a symptom, not a disease it self.

This symptom can be due to many reasons including inner ear diseases, brain abnormalities, vision abnormalities, blood vessel block and nerve problems.

The treating doctor will take detailed history of the patient, examine the patient's ears, nervous system etc and may order tests like hearing tests, blood tests and imaging test. (e. g. CT scan, MRI scans).

Thyroid gland may be enlarged due to many reasons including:

1. Due to Iodine deficiency (endemic)
2. Colloid storing goitre, cysts
3. Tumours (benign and malignant ie. cancers)
4. Infections and inflammations

For proper diagnosis of the thyroid enlargement complete history and examination should be done. It is supplemented with investigations. Preliminary investigations include

TSH / T4 - thyroid hormones

FNAC - a form of cellular diagnosis

Wax is a common problem. Wax is a naturally occurring secretion from ceruminous glands situated in the outer ear. There is a self cleansing mechanism for removal of wax.

This is a simple test to check your hearing. A "headphone" will be placed on you and a sound will be sent. What you have to do is pay attention and if you hear a sound just click the indicator given to you. It measures the sound intensity of each ear. It can tell how severe is your hearing loss, whether your hearing nerve is functioning properly or whether there could be another disease like middle ear infection. More information email

This is a very common condition. People come to us with various bones stuck in their throats including fish, chicken and pork :-). First thing to remember is that even though you may have felt the bone getting stuck the pain now you are experiencing may not be due that. It may be due to an ulcer secondary to a tear in th food passage. What you should do is to see a doctor if the pain persists. He can rule out whether there is a foreign body or not. He may order an X ray. Some times the the fish bone is so small it may not be seen in the X rays. It may be stuck in the tonsils.

“The people of Sri Lanka will now have the benefit of having world class Eye and ENT care provided by our doctors, our own Nurses and our own Para-medical staff at an affordable cost,” said Nishantha Danthanarayana, Executive Director. The hospital has a collaboration arrangement with the Lions Eye Institute of Perth, Australia, and will have a close working relationship with leading medical institutes in the region such as the Singapore National Eye Centre, Tun Hussein Eye Hospital, Malaysia and the LV Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad, India.

The Golden Key Eye and ENT Hospital is a state of the art super specialty center. Staffed by specially trained care-givers, it is extensively equipped in its two specialized areas, namely eye and ear,nose and throat disorders.