What to Know About Sinusitis
Being sick is never fun, but if your sinuses still botheryou weeks after you have gotten over a pesky cold, you may have developedsinusitis. Sinusitis has many causes, but regardless of the cause, it can leadto annoying and painful side effects. If you would like to know more aboutsinusitis and what you should do if you think you have this condition, keepreading.
What Is Sinusitis?
You have multiple sinuses in your face, including one ineach cheek, one on each side of the forehead, and several near the nose. Thesinuses are hollow, but they contain a layer of a mucus membrane that helpsfilter the air you inhale, so you do not breathe a bunch of irritants into yourlungs.
Inside your nose, these membranes exchange mucus with thenasal passages, and cilia work like tiny fingers to help push mucus down thethroat. In some cases, however, fluid can get trapped in these sinuses. Thelonger this fluid stays trapped, the higher the risk of viral, bacterial, orfungal infections, which leads to sinusitis.
Sinusitis has many causes and risk factors, but it is oftenfrom allergies or a cold. Both can cause sinus blockage and inflammation, whichincreases the risk of improper drainage and infection. However, many othercauses exist too, including nasal polyps, a deviated septum, and asthma.
In some cases, people can develop chronic sinusitis fromtheir allergies, but exposure to tobacco smoke and immune system disorders arealso common causes of chronic sinusitis.
What Are the Symptoms of Sinusitis?
Sinusitis often mimics a cold or severe allergies.Therefore, you may have a runny or stuffy nose, sore throat, cough, andpostnasal drip. The postnasal drip may also lead to a hoarse voice as itirritates the throat. Many people also experience facial pressure, which canlead to pain and headaches. The pain is often near where the affected sinusesare, so pay attention to your cheeks, forehead, and nose.
Luckily, the sinus infection itself is not contagious, soyou do not need to worry about catching or spreading it. However, if a viruscaused the sinusitis, you may pass that virus to people if you are stillcontagious.
For example, if a common cold causes your sinusitis, youcan't directly give someone sinusitis, but you can directly give them the coldthat caused your sinusitis. In turn, it may or may not lead to sinusitis. Ifbacteria caused the sinusitis, you can't spread the sinusitis or the bacteriato anyone.
Are Treatments Available?
Treatment depends on the severity and type. If you have acold and struggle with sinusitis, some over-the-counter medications can help.Medicine like ibuprofen can help with pain and inflammation, but nasaldecongestants and mucolytics can help clear up congestion. Using a humidifierand flushing out your sinuses can also help.
In some cases, however, medical treatment may be necessary,such as antibiotics to help fight the infection. Depending on the reason behindyour sinusitis, you may even need to make lifestyle choices like avoiding smokeand toxins.
For chronic sinusitis, surgery may be necessary to helpreopen the sinuses. This is more common in patients with nasal polyps and adeviated septum, as surgery can fix those issues. Finally, in some cases,medications like steroids may help reduce inflammation.
Stop suffering from sinusitis. The first step is todetermine why you have this problem. Treatment may involve fighting aninfection or reducing allergy symptoms. If you would like to know more, contact us at HadenAllergy today. We look forward to helping you with your allergy-related issues.
