Vocal Cord Dysfunction or Paradoxical Vocal Cord Movement….. vocal fold motion, vocal cord dysfunction
Written on January 18, 2012 at 1:09 am, by Neil Gershman, MD
This is a very common problem which is very under appreciated. I will make a bold statement here. I believe most of the asthma ER visits in affluent areas (I’ll explain in a second) have as much to do with Vocal Cord Dysfunction (VCD) as the actual asthma.
What I mean is that if you are actually take your asthma medicines appropriately (using the inhalers correctly and as often as your doctor recommends), it is very unlikely that you end up in the ER with an asthma attack. The medicines are VERY effective these days. It’s people who can’t afford the medications or those who don’t get the proper medical advice (or won’t take or understand the advice) who end up in the ER for the most part.
So, if the asthma aren’t working, we think of VCD. I should mention that part of the recognition problem is that different medical professionals call this problem different things. I mentioned “VCD” to an ENT specialist, and he looked at me blankly. When we started talking about it, he said “oh yeah, that’s blah, blah, blah (I forgot what he called it!). So, you see the problem.
In any case, once it is recognized we can start to look for a solution. I find that most patients can learn to control it on there own with yoga and meditation breathing techniques. In more difficult cases, speech pathology therapists can help.
I found this nice video on youtube.com demonstrating the problem. I should warn you that it might be a little gross to some.
I am going to try and work with a speech therapist to make a more comprehensive video.
Turning a nasal spray into a sinus irrigation
Written on January 16, 2012 at 3:28 pm, by Neil Gershman, MD
It’s essentially impossible to get topical medication into the sinuses. Here’s a video showing how to get the medicine from the nasal spray into the form of a sinus irrigation. Obviously, you must talk to your doctor before trying any new sinus or polyp treatment.
Dr. Gershman Interview on NBC
Written on May 15, 2011 at 3:12 pm, by Neil Gershman, MD
Before the expo, Dr. Gershman went with some of the staff to NBC studios.
Dr. Gershman’s interview on NBC
Dr. Gershman discussing the importance of roach allergy
Michelle and Babie make a great support team
Great Turnout for the NBC Health & Fitness Fair
Written on April 28, 2011 at 2:54 pm, by Neil Gershman, MD
We had a fulfilling weekend at the NBC Health & Fitness Expo. We met so many nice people and were happy to tell them about our practice. Please check out the video below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91B8-Z-B7-A
Dr. Mark Young helped to answer questions at the Expo.
I guess this was a bad tree season!
Written on April 25, 2011 at 12:19 pm, by Neil Gershman, MD
Hello again from Allergyweb.com’s blog. I have always thought that pollen seasons weren’t that dramatic in South Florida since we don’t really have seasons here. But looking at our patient logs, we saw many more people this March versus last March. There is no official pollen counting station in South Florida (the nearest is in Orlando), so it’s hard to know for sure… but I believe this tree season (mostly from Oak tree) might have been the worst in many years.
Dr. Neil Gershman
More Pictures from the Run/Walk
Written on October 13, 2010 at 3:15 pm, by Neil Gershman, MD
A Fine Looking Staff mans the Table
Dr. Mark Young and Dr. Charlene Shookoff enjoy the festivities
On your mark, get set, wait... we need more coffee
A lot of fun for a good cause
Dr. Gershman with the rest of the Advisory Board of the local chapter of the American Lung Association
2010 Fight for Air Run/Walk – American Lung Association
Written on October 13, 2010 at 2:59 pm, by Neil Gershman, MD
We had a great day at this year’s American Lung Association’s Fught for Air Run/Walk. The purpose of the Run/Walk is to raise awareness about lung diseases and support many of the programs the ALA provides. The weather, the food, the camaraderie, and the activities were fantastic. Close to $80,000 was raised.
This year, like every year, Asthma & Allergy Associates of Florida was a major sponsor of the event. Our practice has worked closely with the American Lung Association – Dr. Miller and I are Advisory Board members for two of the South Florida Chapters. The next major event is the Fight for Air Climb in downtown Ft. Lauderdale on December 11th.
Neil Gershman, MD
We were up bright and early for the Fight for Air Run/Walk
Prevention of Food Allergy?
Written on September 29, 2010 at 1:02 am, by Neil Gershman, MD
Should we be telling moms to avoid common allergy-causing foods for the first few years of life?
Conventional wisdom among pediatricians was to tell moms to hold off on feeding kids certain foods until the children were “old enough.” This came from allergy researchers who thought avoiding these foods would make the child less likely to develop an allergy to peanut, for instance. Unfortunately, it looks like this advice to parents is probably folklore. That is, there was no real hard science behind this advice. It turns out that the opposite advice is might be better. Researchers are starting to feel that children should be exposed to allergenic foods (peanut, shrimp, tree nuts, for example) early and often.
Studies looking at the effectiveness of government-based guidelines seeking to decrease peanut allergy by later introduction of peanuts found them at the very least to be ineffective, and possibly detrimental. Early feeding of allergenic foods may lead to tolerance. Tolerance is the response where the immune system learns to ignore a substance – or to not react in an allergic way.
I must clarify one important point. If a person is already allergic to a food, the only current recommended treatment is strict avoidance and that the patient should carry a self-injectable epinephrine device in case of accidental ingestion. What I am talking about here is trying to prevent children from becoming allergic to a food in the first place.
Food allergy continues to be a problem which seems to be on the increase despite the measures we take. We as doctors and parents must take the recommendations of the past with “a grain of salt.”
West Kendall Opening for Asthma & Allergy Associates of Florida
Written on July 13, 2010 at 12:00 pm, by Neil Gershman, MD
Greetings,
Asthma and Allergy Associates is pleased and proud to announce the official opening of the West Kendall Office on July 23, 2010. We are very excited and have worked very hard to make this office as beautiful and successful as all of our other offices. Please feel free to stop by and visitour newest home in the West Kendall location. We will be having a grand opening celebration that will be announced soon. We look forward in seeing all of you there.
13550 SW 120th Street
Suite 520
Miami, FL 33186
New Office Location in West Kendall
Written on July 4, 2010 at 1:34 pm, by Neil Gershman, MD
Mid-July will be our Grand Opening for our West Kendall office at London Square. London Square is conveniently located at SW 137th Avenue and SW 120th Street, and has a wide variety of shopping and eating establishments.
We are already making appointments for this location. At this new office we will continue to provide state-of-the-art care in the treatment of Allergic Rhinitis, Asthma, Food Allergies, Chronic Cough, Urticaria, Drug Allergy & Insect Allergy.
Dr. Gershman