There is a gap in ENT practice that most patients do not know exists: the gap between treating the symptom that brings them to the clinic and understanding the mechanism that keeps producing it. A patient with chronic sinusitis who has had two rounds of antibiotics and is now being offered sinus surgery deserves to know whether their sinusitis has an allergic component - because if it does, surgery without allergy management is very likely to produce recurrence within months to years. I am Dr. Deeksha Bhaskar Shetty, Consultant Otolaryngologist in Bengaluru, and my FAAI - Fellowship in Allergy, Asthma and Immunology - is what allows me to close that gap in every case I see.
My Qualifications - What MS ENT and FAAI Together Provide
My MS in Otorhinolaryngology is the postgraduate surgical qualification in ENT - it covers the clinical and operative breadth of the specialty, from nasal endoscopy and sinus surgery through to ear disease, throat conditions, and head and neck surgery. My Senior Residency in ENT at the Autonomous State Medical College, Etah, provided the clinical volume and breadth of case exposure that builds surgical competence. My FAAI - Fellowship in Allergy, Asthma and Immunology - is the allergy fellowship credential that complements the ENT surgical training with a comprehensive allergy and clinical immunology framework.
What this combination provides, in practical terms, is the ability to perform Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery for a patient with nasal polyps and chronic sinusitis, and then to evaluate that patient's allergy profile, identify the allergic sensitisation driving the mucosal inflammation that produced the polyps, initiate post-operative allergy management, and reduce the probability of polyp recurrence. Or to evaluate a patient with persistent allergic rhinitis not adequately controlled on antihistamines, identify their specific sensitisation pattern through allergy testing, explain the Bengaluru allergen environment clearly, and offer allergen immunotherapy for long-term disease modification rather than indefinite symptom management.
Three Clinical Areas - One Integrated Perspective
My practice is built on three interconnected areas. Allergic rhinitis and airway allergic disorders - from the nasal mucosa through the sinuses and into the bronchial tree - form the allergic foundation. The unified airway is not a metaphor: it is a physiological reality, and treating nasal allergy improves bronchial outcomes, while poorly controlled asthma perpetuates upper airway inflammation. FAAI training allows me to evaluate both ends of this airway systematically.
Endoscopic sinus surgery is the surgical dimension of my practice - FESS for the patient whose sinusitis and polyposis have not responded to optimal medical management. But surgery in my practice is not the end of the conversation: it is the beginning of a post-operative allergy management programme that is what ultimately determines whether the surgical outcome is sustained. Head and neck surgery is the third area - neck lumps, thyroid nodules, salivary gland disorders, and the systematic evaluation that determines which findings are benign and which require urgent specialist input. Recognising the sinister neck lump among the many benign ones, and acting on that recognition promptly, is one of the most consequential clinical contributions an Otolaryngologist makes.
My Practice in Bengaluru
My consultation in Bengaluru begins with a thorough clinical history - the pattern of symptoms, their duration, what makes them better or worse, what has already been tried - before any investigation is ordered or any treatment is recommended. In Bengaluru, where house dust mite, cockroach, and Parthenium sensitisation drive a large proportion of the ENT allergy burden, that history often points toward the allergen before the allergy test confirms it. If you are in Bengaluru with persistent nasal symptoms, recurrent sinus infections, nasal polyps, a head or neck concern, or an ENT condition that has been managed symptomatically without identifying the underlying cause, I welcome you to a consultation.
To book a consultation with Dr. Deeksha Bhaskar Shetty in Bengaluru, call 9538390563.
Written by Dr. Deeksha Bhaskar Shetty, MBBS, MS (Otorhinolaryngology), FAAI (Fellowship in Allergy, Asthma and Immunology), Consultant Otolaryngologist (ENT Specialist), Bengaluru. Phone: 9538390563.
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