A Visit to the E.N.T. Doctor

Today I celebrated my remaining month by finally going to see a "real" doctor about a recurring problem I have had for the past couple years. Actually, I went to a doctor in Xinzheng last year about the pain and pressure I was having in my ears along with the fire burning in my throat. He cleared out my ears of the excess wax that had built up via suction and a long skinny tube. Then he asked me a few questions about my emotional health and how well I slept usually. Then he told me that my issue was emotions, prescribed some drugs to help with everything, and sent me on my way. One year later (last week), loud noises still bothering me, crinkling plastic sounds in my ears from time to time, and pain and pressure still a problem, I contacted my friend in Zhengzhou and went to see an E.N.T. doctor. I have been lifting up this visit all week. I really wanted him to be knowledgeable and have good questions to ask, and give me the time needed to figure out the problem. Thankfully a lot of my previous research looking for ways to self-help proved useful. I was able to ask intelligent questions and share what I had already tried.

Visits to the doctor here are mostly paid by the government, so you usually pay a nominal 5RMB fee. The tests, however, can be costly, and the medicine is expensive. But if you can afford nothing else, you can at least see a professional and have him diagnose your condition. I didn't pay for the doctor's visit today because my friend's coworker recommended her dad as the doctor I should see. So we bypassed that part of the process and went directly to Dr. Tian himself looking like doctors of old look with the round metal disc fixed on a band around his head. I sat in what looked like a dentist's chair, and my friend translated as we dialogued about my condition. Dr. Tian looked into both ears, both nostrils and down my throat. Aside from the teeth cleaning I had the other day, this is probably the most contact I have had with any Chinese doctor. They tend to be more hands off.

At first he thought I might have some kind of issue with the inner ear, so he sent us to pay for the two tests he wanted done. Down we went to the first floor, paid the fees (about $20USD) and went back up to the fourth floor and a testing room. The man put a type of scope into my ear, which I actually got to watch. (Pretty cool!) He took pictures and then printed out the test results for me to take back to the doctor. The second test, in a different room, reminded me of sonar. The woman put a device into my ear which played a sound and somehow recorded my ability to receive the sound. All in all, both tests results were normal. This led the doctor to believe that there is some problem with the valve that opens into the tube that empties into my mouth. (I have long believed this to be an issue from a couple articles I read about people who swim and/or fly a lot.) He showed me how to push air out of my ears by plugging my nose and also by pushing my hands on to my ears, like a suction cup, and pulling off quickly. (I read about both these methods online.) He also prescribed me some medications to deal with my congestion and the inflammation in my ears.

So...about $60 lighter (which will be reimbursed thanks to my medical insurance here), $70 if you count all the taxi rides I took today, it feels like a profitable day. I have become more cultured and feel like some of my issues, at least, have been resolved for the moment.