There's Something Up My NOSE!

Children have a different set of ENT problems compared to adults – and we really mean very different!

- Chan Li Jin

It was the blueberry, the mother insisted. Her five-year-old son had been eating blueberries five days ago when he suddenly stopped. Since then, anything he ate or drank would be regurgitated.

Every doctor she brought him to said the child was fine as he was not choking. Besides, organic material such as fruit would have dissolved within 24 hours of ingestion. Could he just be seeking attention, they had asked?

Distressed at seeing her child starving right before her eyes, she sought advice from Dr Eng Chee Yean, Consultant Ear, Nose, Throat (ENT) and Head and Neck specialist at Subang Jaya Medical Centre. Although he agreed with the doctors that a berry would have dissolved by then, he did a CT scan anyhow just to be sure.

“Sure enough, there appeared to be a swelling of some sort at the airways,” he recalls, “which turned out exactly to be what the mother suspected – a complete blueberry.”

Incidents like that may not be common, but Dr Eng has seen a fair number in his years of practice. With 30 per cent of his patients consisting children, he knows that ENT problems among children differ from that of adults.

Here are some of the cases he has seen – and his advice for parents:

NOSEBLEEDS

Seeing your kid drenched with blood can create panic. However, nosebleeds are not life-threatening. They can be managed by pinching the tip of the nose for a few minutes, and leaning forward to stop the bleeding.