By Madan Kandula, MD
When I was just seven years old, I broke my nose. It left me with more than just a scar…
I was plagued with two decades of discomfort and difficulty breathing through my nose. But I also gained a desire to help other people solve their breathing issues.
Little did I know then, my broken nose would eventually lead to changing the field of ENT in a significant way.
Let's go back to the beginning…
My Broken Nose Changed Everything
To this day, you can still see a subtle scar on the bridge of my nose. Little did I know, that break led to a long list of issues I would suffer, with virtually no answers from my doctors.
As a young kid and then into my teen and even young adult years, I didn't understand how things "should" be. I just thought trouble breathing while playing sports, poor sleep, and waking up with headaches were normal. These issues became a part of my daily life.
I knew things didn't seem quite right, and I was definitely uncomfortable, but when doctors told me everything was fine, I just accepted how things were.
Is There A Better Existence?
When I reached college, I developed worsening allergies and broke my nose a second time. This took my already poorly functioning nose to a point of total shut down-a major burden on my busy life.
I tried a variety of temporary solutions -- allergy shots, rinses, medications -- but nothing was truly helping. I honestly began to feel a little hopeless. And I often felt dismissed by the doctors I was seeing because no one seemed to have any answers. I felt like it was a lost cause.
Eventually, I met with a plastic surgeon to try to correct my mangled nose. While the surgery wasn't fully successful, I did begin to experience some minor relief. This was the first sign that there could be a light at the end of the tunnel of all the misery I was suffering through.
Then, after I became a father -- with my kids bringing home more and more germs from day care and school -- I began experiencing worsening headaches, migraines and sinus infections. This long story arch of problems eventually led me to choose ENT as my profession.
A New Found Fascination
While I was in med school, my own up-and-down experiences sparked my interest in finding answers to questions I always had -- like what happens when someone breaks their nose? Or, what happens when someone has a deviated septum? And what happens when the sinuses are blocked?
I eventually had the opportunity to have a CT scan and I finally got a look into everything that was causing my lifelong issues. I discovered that I had a deviated septum, turbinates that were too big, sinus openings that were too small, and chronic inflammation of my sinuses. Finally, I got the answers I was looking for and the treatment to fix my issues once and for all!
Many of our patients experience this same phenomenon. You don't know how compromised you are until you get uncompromised. You don't know how impactful these issues are until you are on the other side of them.
This is why I set out to create "the place" for helping patients breathe and sleep the way they're supposed to. The simple solutions we provide at ADVENT will change your life.