# Recommendation of reliable ENT



## Narue86 (Jul 7, 2013)

Hi All,

I have been having many health problems since I got to Japan a year and half ago, and none of the doctors and specialists I went to knew the reason. While I was in Spain, I visited an otorhinolaryngologist who told me that I need to take surgery to remove my adenoids which is the cause of all my health problems. I could not take the surgery in Spain during my holidays and I would like to take it here in Japan.

I was wondering if anybody has had this type of surgery in Japan (Tokyo) or if you could recommend a good ENT specialist. I am tired of visiting incompetent "doctors" who cannot even recognize adenoids and insult your intelligence by prescribing "stomach protector" for a sore throat...

I can speak Japanese so language would not be a problem, although of course an English-speaking doctor would make things easier. After all, I'd be taking surgery in a foreign country, alone 

Thanks in advance!

Narue


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## larabell (Sep 10, 2007)

I don't have experience with ENT issues but I just recently had surgery at St. Luke in Tsukiji for an unrelated issue and was quite pleased with both the hospital and the staff. Not all the staff speaks English but many of the doctors do and all but one of the forms I had to complete were available in English.

I did a quick check on their web site and they have an "Otolaryngology Department" which looks to me like a pretty good match. Go to St. Luke?s International Hospital, click the "Find a Physician" button at the top, and scroll down.

If you have Japanese health insurance, getting a letter from a doctor in a local clinic will save you 5000 yen on your first visit... but St. Luke does have an outpatient clinic and maybe the doctors there will recognize your symptoms and refer you to the specialists, thus saving the 5000 yen.

Also, if your surgery involves a hospital stay, it might be worth noting that all the beds in St. Luke are in private rooms and the Japanese health insurance doesn't cover private room charges. I didn't know that when I picked the hospital but my main goal was to find a surgeon who could speak my language so that wasn't a problem... plus I was only in for three days anyway.

I'm sure there are other decent hospitals. A friend was in Tokyo Women's Hospital for a short time and my local doctor recommended Tokyo University Hospital in Shinjuku. I've heard both are very good hospitals but they also both struck me as... well... hospitals. On the other hand, the first time I walked into St. Luke my first thought was "resort hotel". Everything is done by computer so if you get referred from one department to another, you don't have to re-explain anything or wait for your file to show up.

I hope that helps and I wish you luck in finding a more competent practitioner.


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## larabell (Sep 10, 2007)

Check this out as well:

Tokyo Metropolitan Medical Institution Information

You can select a general area or a station name on one page and then a specialty on the next. ENT is one of the options. That should give you a list of places closer to home but I'm not sure I'd trust the column about English fluency. My local clinic is listed as "daily conversation" fluent but, while one of the doctors knows the English terms for most common problems, neither of them are anywhere near conversationally fluent. As always, YMMV.


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