• Home
  • Practice Focus
    • Facial Plastic/Reconstructive
    • Head and Neck
    • Laryngology
    • Otology/Neurotology
    • Pediatric
    • Rhinology
    • Sleep Medicine
    • How I Do It
    • TRIO Best Practices
  • Business of Medicine
    • Health Policy
    • Legal Matters
    • Practice Management
    • Tech Talk
    • AI
  • Literature Reviews
    • Facial Plastic/Reconstructive
    • Head and Neck
    • Laryngology
    • Otology/Neurotology
    • Pediatric
    • Rhinology
    • Sleep Medicine
  • Career
    • Medical Education
    • Professional Development
    • Resident Focus
  • ENT Perspectives
    • ENT Expressions
    • Everyday Ethics
    • From TRIO
    • The Great Debate
    • Letter From the Editor
    • Rx: Wellness
    • The Voice
    • Viewpoint
  • TRIO Resources
    • Triological Society
    • The Laryngoscope
    • Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology
    • TRIO Combined Sections Meetings
    • COSM
    • Related Otolaryngology Events
  • Search

‘Mind-Body-Spirit’: Holistic Otolaryngologists Have a Different Perspective

by Angela Munasque • April 1, 2008

  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
Print-Friendly Version

Dr. Sciacca also finds that it has been easy to work other otolaryngologists, as well as other health specialists. Over the past 12 years, he and three other individuals spearheaded the construction of a suburban medical complex, which is managed by an outside entity, that now houses a family practitioner, a dentist, a dermatologist, and orthopedic surgeons. I’ve always used a team approach, he said. In his own office, he has had three dietitians working with him in the past five years.

You Might Also Like

  • Louisiana Otolaryngologists Use Ingenuity and Community Spirit to Get Back to Business after Katrina
  • The Opt-Outs: Otolaryngologists extol the benefits of third-party independence
  • Demystifying the ACGME: Your guide to understanding the residency accreditation body
  • Situation Critical: Otolaryngologists See Diminishing Returns for Taking Emergency Call
Explore This Issue
April 2008

Unfortunately, Dr. Sciacca has had to forgo that part of his practice because of the one major problem that he has identified with being a holistic physician-lack of insurance reimbursement. Though he sees the value of providing acupuncture as a service and dietitians as part of his staff, the main carrier in his state, Blue Cross, does not adequately provide for those services. Dr. Judkins added, The challenges [of holistic otolaryngology] are minimal. Reimbursement has not been an issue for me, but if I were to start billing for alternative therapies such as acupuncture, for instance, I would likely have problems.

Burgeoning Research

Emerging research on holistic medicine gives hope, however, that this field will become more mainstream-and better funded. Right now, the insurance companies won’t pay for sublingual therapy, but there are worldwide data now that show more than 10 or 100 million doses of sublingual therapy that have been given out with benefit but no single fatal reaction, explained Dr. Sciacca. Pretty soon, he added, insurance companies will have to take notice of this, as more research, especially double-blind studies, comes out. Dr. Sciacca advocates the use of sublingual therapy for allergies not only for its efficacy but also for the ease of dispensing-it is easier for parents and less painful for children to have a few drops placed under the child’s tongue than giving an allergy injection, for example.

Dr. Asher, too, noted the growing literature on holistic medicine, especially in the area of ear, nose, and throat conditions. There are ways to effect changes in the body in a more gradual way, with fewer side effects, that often work incredibly well, and using substances that have been known to have been effective for many years, like a lot of Chinese herbs, he said. He cited one combination of Chinese herbs that was studied by researchers at Weifang School of Medicine in China and Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City that was as effective as prednisone for treating asthma.3 Specifically in this study, total IgE levels were reduced, and the inflammatory mediators in the TH2 direction were reduced. Dr. Asher also mentioned that Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), a nutritional supplement that is now being used for migraine prevention, has been shown to be effective for tinnitus in some patients who have low CoQ10 levels.4

Pages: 1 2 3 4 | Single Page

Filed Under: Career Development, Departments, Health Policy, Medical Education Tagged With: allergy, alternative medicine, billing and coding, career, insurance, pain, reimbursement, research, Sinusitis, tinnitus, trainingIssue: April 2008

You Might Also Like:

  • Louisiana Otolaryngologists Use Ingenuity and Community Spirit to Get Back to Business after Katrina
  • The Opt-Outs: Otolaryngologists extol the benefits of third-party independence
  • Demystifying the ACGME: Your guide to understanding the residency accreditation body
  • Situation Critical: Otolaryngologists See Diminishing Returns for Taking Emergency Call

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

The Triological SocietyENTtoday is a publication of The Triological Society.

Polls

Would you choose a concierge physician as your PCP?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...
  • Polls Archive

Top Articles for Residents

  • Applications Open for Resident Members of ENTtoday Edit Board
  • How To Provide Helpful Feedback To Residents
  • Call for Resident Bowl Questions
  • New Standardized Otolaryngology Curriculum Launching July 1 Should Be Valuable Resource For Physicians Around The World
  • Do Training Programs Give Otolaryngology Residents the Necessary Tools to Do Productive Research?
  • Popular this Week
  • Most Popular
  • Most Recent
    • The Dramatic Rise in Tongue Tie and Lip Tie Treatment

    • Otolaryngologists Are Still Debating the Effectiveness of Tongue Tie Treatment

    • Is Middle Ear Pressure Affected by Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Use?

    • Rating Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Severity: How Do Two Common Instruments Compare?

    • 22 Symptoms Common to Patients with Superior Canal Dehiscence Syndrome

    • The Dramatic Rise in Tongue Tie and Lip Tie Treatment

    • Rating Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Severity: How Do Two Common Instruments Compare?

    • Is Middle Ear Pressure Affected by Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Use?

    • Otolaryngologists Are Still Debating the Effectiveness of Tongue Tie Treatment

    • Complications for When Physicians Change a Maiden Name

    • Excitement Around Gene Therapy for Hearing Restoration
    • “Small” Acts of Kindness
    • How To: Endoscopic Total Maxillectomy Without Facial Skin Incision
    • Science Communities Must Speak Out When Policies Threaten Health and Safety
    • Observation Most Cost-Effective in Addressing AECRS in Absence of Bacterial Infection

Follow Us

  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • The Triological Society
  • The Laryngoscope
  • Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Cookies

Wiley

Copyright © 2025 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining and training of artificial technologies or similar technologies. ISSN 1559-4939