London Drugs

Focus On Health

Winter - Spring 2010

Spring - Summer 2009

Winter - Spring 2009

Just How Healthy Are You? (Part1)

Silverts Adaptive Fashions

Catching a Cold

The Relaxing Power of Colour

Reducing Workplace Stress

Just How Healthy Are You? (Part 3)

Say Goodbye to Dry Winter Skin

Quit Smoking the Easier Way

When Little Ones Are Sick

Relieving Ear Pressure

Controlling pain

Blood Pressure and Your Heart

Oops what did you just touch?

Measuring Your Personal Metabolism

Don't Worry: Be Healthy

Seasonal Affective Disorder

Just How Healthy Are You? (Part 2)

In This Issue

The Science of Cold Prevention

Supplements for Heart Health

Relieving Ear Pressure

Introducing a new way to relieve EAR PRESSURE

If you are a frequent flyer, you have allergies, participate in water sports, or have a child with chronic earache, you likely wish there were an effective way to relieve pressure in the ears.

Well now there is.

New EarPopper™ by Micromedics is designed to treat common ear problems without medication or ear tube surgery. The EarPopper™ is a safe and simple approach for treating middle ear pressure problems such as:

• Middle ear fluid (otitis media with effusion, or OME);
• Ear pain and pressure caused by airline travel;
• Ear “fullness” caused by colds, allergies, sinusitis;
• Eustachian tube dysfunction;
• Hearing loss.

How does the EarPopper™work?

The battery-operated EarPopper™ works by gently opening the eustachian tube (the canal linking the middle ear to the nose) with air. The user simply places the EarPopper™ inside one nostril, blocks his/her other nostril, activates the device, and swallows while the device is running. During the process of swallowing, air is diverted to the eustachian tube, relieving negative air pressure and allowing the accumulated fluids to drain away.

For simple pressure imbalance, relief can be instantaneous. When fluid is present in the middle ear, the treatment is repeated twice in each nostril, twice a day and is recommended for seven weeks or until the hearing returns. It’s fast, simple and completely safe for use by adults and children.

Children and OME

Otitis media with effusion (OME) is a build-up of excess fluid in the middle ear. People of all ages can suffer from OME, which causes a feeling of pressure and/or pain similar to that experienced when changing altitude in an airplane. For most people, it is a temporary sensation that occurs only rarely but, for others, it is a repeated, debilitating experience that can cause pain and loss of hearing. In children, this hearing loss can impair the development of speech and language, and cause serious learning disabilities.

OME is more common in children because the eustachian tube is not fully developed. It is therefore difficult for it to move a steady stream of air between the back of the nose and the middle ear. As a result, a vacuum develops in the middle ear and fluid flows in to fill the space. Since the resulting pain is often diagnosed as an ear infection, antibiotics are frequently prescribed to treat the condition. Alternatively, a drainage tube is surgically inserted into the ear—often having to be repeated many times since the effectiveness is usually temporary.

In a four-year study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and undertaken at Brooklyn College’s Center for Auditory Research, 74 per cent of children diagnosed with hearing loss from persistent OME regained normal hearing after just seven weeks’ treatment with the EarPopper™. With extended treatment, the recovery rate increased to 85 per cent. The device fully restored their hearing without the use of antibiotics or venting tubes.

The EarPopper™ effectively ends the problems caused by fluid buildup in the eustachian tube. Settings on the EarPopper™ can be adjusted based upon the child’s age, amount of fluid build-up, and degree of hearing loss.

Please note that the EarPopper™ is available with a doctor’s prescription. The device should never be used in the presence of severe ear infection, upper respiratory infection, heavy nasal congestion or cold symptoms without prior consultation with health care professional.