Oprah and Dr. Oz
I used to intern and work briefly at Oprah Magazine, and I know how hard it is to get ideas through, even from the inside. But I also know what a huge audience she reaches and how her influence "legitimizes" and publicizes even the smallest issues. Like ENS. I swear, after the show on Neti Pots, suddenly every pharmacy was stocked with them! I had not been able to find one other than through my ENT before! And now there are SinuCleanse commercials running during the show. Oprah has the Midas Touch for products as well as ideas and issues :) I am thinking of writing and article and trying to get it through to the magazine, or to submit it as a show idea for Dr Oz under a more general audience topic, perhaps - like allergies/snoring/sleep disorders. Please send me your ideas of how you think this might work best in an article or on a show. In the meantime, I had an idea. On Oprah's website, there is a place to send Dr. Oz your questions, which he answers on the show. This is a regular, often weekly feature. One of the regular questions is "What is your embarassing medical problem?" Maybe if a lot of us send in our embrassing ENS issue and describe how our doctors refuse to listen, so we all have to fly to Cleveland from all over the world, well...maybe he will include it on the show. He singlehandedly popularized the Neti Pot, and they even did a followup...this could be a followup to that, but with a surgical spin and a political medical community issue that will surely interest a doctor of his stature. Here is the link: http://www2.oprah.com/health/oz/ask/oz_ask_plugs.jhtml Let's all ask Dr. Oz questions on this issue...like why the medical community is so slow to respond to this surgical problem? And what can be done if the medical community won't educate itself and its patients on the dangers or side effects? Why do doctors think more surgery will help if it didn't the first time? Tell me what you think!

Dr. Oz also has a radio show on XM, where you can email him questions. Maybe if we let him know this is a big issue, he will include it on one or both shows. I think he is based in NYC, too, so I will see if I can make an appointment or talk to him. Dr Oz on XM Oprah and Friends http://www2.oprah.com/xm/email/xm_email_moz.jhtml

I sent Dr Oz this message to his XM show: I'm a former Oprah Magazine intern who is suffering from a little-known medical problem called ENS, Empty Nose Syndrome. An iatrogenic problem that many ENT doctors deny exists, ENS is caused by overaggressive nasal or sinus surgery. Anyone looking to treat allergies, snoring, deviated septum, and sleep disorders is at risk. Dr. Steven Houser of The Cleveland Clinic is an expert on this growing issue, and he answers patient questions on our website, emptynosesyndrome.org. Patients fly from all over the world to see him for corrective implants, as I just did. Yet the Academy of Medicine won't approve him to educate other ENTs at their national conference, despite his highly respected research and publications on this topic. Members of the ENS Forum want to help publicize this issue and to applaud Dr. Oz for teaching viewers about Neti Pots and Sinus Cleansing! We believe it is an important alternative to the overaggressive surgeries that ruined our breathing and nasal airways! We also want to get the word out to doctors, who are not being taught in medical school or by the Academy about the possible negative outcomes of over-resection of nasal turbinate tissue. Cutting more turbinate tissue does not always solve the problem of congestion, allergies, snoring, or sleep disorders - in fact, it causes the same problems in a new, paradoxical way: by drying up nasal tissue and stopping the flow and drainage of liquid mucus. Dr. Oz, I love your insight into nonwestern medicine and believe you could help understand why ENS is a growing problem among ENT doctors. I did not have room to write more but I should have mentioned Chris's book. It won't let me write again, at least from my computer, so if someone else wants to, that would be great!

I sent an email to the Oprah Show at the following link and to the Dr Oz links above: https://www.oprah.com/plugger/templates/BeOnTheShow.jhtml?action=respond&plugId=B2100004 I revised my idea from above into this: Dear Oprah, Dr. Oz, and Harpo Staff; I am former O Magazine editorial intern on a mission to bring attention to a little-known medical risk for those suffering from allergies, sinusitis, snoring, deviated septum, and sleep disorders. The risk is in the surgical treatment of all of these common problems, and it can lead to a life-changing and devastating side effect known as ENS, or Empty Nose Syndrome. I hope to illuminate this growing problem with a segment by Dr. Oz, an article in O Magazine, or an XM piece. I have suffered for five year from ENS, which doctors exacerbated by treating my symptoms with more surgery and procedures. Anyone looking to treat allergies, sinusitis, snoring, deviated septum, or sleep disorders is at risk, because most ENT doctors deny its existence. ENS is caused by overaggressive nasal and sinus surgery and/or repeated in-office procedures. There is no acceptance or warning of ENS as a possible outcome, leaving patients at the mercy of ENT doctors’ wildly differing practices. Surgical removal of nasal turbinate tissue is the accepted standard of care, but there is no standard limit on the amount of tissue removed. The surgical methods and amount of tissue removed make the difference. ENS symptoms include chronic congestion and mucus blockage, disturbed nasal breathing, inability to blow nose, disturbed sleep, degeneration of nasal tissue, painful dryness, raw nerve pain and damage, and frequent nosebleeds, to name a few. Diminished quality of life with ENS often leads to depression, especially because ENT surgeons usually deny the side effects of these surgeries. Dr. Steven Houser of The Cleveland Clinic is the leading expert on this problem, and he answers patient questions on the ENS website, emptynosesyndrome.org. Patients fly from all over the world to see him for corrective implants of nasal tissue, as I did. Yet the Academy of Medicine won't approve him to educate other ENT doctors at their national conference, despite his highly respected research and publications on this topic. Members of the ENS community applaud Oprah and Dr. Oz for teaching viewers about Neti Pots and sinus cleansing! We believe it is an important alternative and complement to the excessive surgeries that ruined our breathing and airways! Dr. Oz’s insight into nonwestern medicine could help publicize alternatives to surgeries, which are never without side effects. He could also help us to inform at-risk doctors and patients and to legitimize this issue in the medical community. Send in similar show ideas to the same address, that way they will know how many people will benefit from this topic!

Great work Erika!

Thanks Erika!

Well done Erika!

Thanks for sending in that letter. I think the key in getting on a show such as Oprah is knowing someone there, and since you worked there, you'd be a step ahead of us. If Oprah doesn't listen, I am sure there might be smaller media outlets that could be a good starting point for ENS and thereby attract ones such as Oprah. One strategy that might be worth considering for anyone here is first doing your youtube video and then sending Oprah or Dr. Oz (or another media outlet of your choice) a link to it with some comments on ENS. Having a critical mass of youtube videos, such as 30-40 from ENS members of this site, could be a strong starting point for eventually raising awareness on ENS very quickly among the media.

Thanks for the ideas and support, everyone. I have to get this webcam working and finally do a video. Sending a link to You Tube is a great idea, because it seems that website is a worthy media outlet in itself. I will follow up my letter with that and see if my contacts at the magazine can be of any help...maybe I will send a copy of Chris's book, too, and more info. Sorry I haven't done more; I have been having a really rough time lately with stress over the surgery (which I feel totally better about now) and I have been struggling with depression lately, because there have been so many changes and struggles in my personal life...I have been spending time in therapy and not getting much else done. I wish I could afford to see Dr Tichenor but he does not take my insurance, and I need to just be patient until I am totally healed. My sleep difficulties really stress me out and I don't have as much energy as I should, and haven't forever. Not as an excuse, it is just hard to prioritize as I would like.

Erikavs I had the exact same idea as you when I seen this page http://www.oprah.com/health/oz/oz_20070426_350_106.jhtmlthe But I live in France so it would be even more difficult to reach Oprah, I heard she's the most powerful woman in U.S so if she is on our side the entire world will know about ens. Please keep on the good work.