On those days when your nose is stuffed, you have a headache, and you just feel out of sorts, you may think you are coming down with the flu or a cold, but your symptoms do not go away.
Chances are you are experiencing some type of sinus inflammation or infection. Chronic sinus inflammation can be annoying and painful. Most often it is not bad enough to warrant a trip to the doctor, but it still needs treatment.
When the inflammation is severe you may be diagnosed with acute sinus inflammation or sinusitis. The treatment for that is antibiotics and feeling better in about 10 days.
When your infection is not acute, you need to become a detective and figure out the causes of your sinus problem and how you can treat it so you do feel better. Besides, inflammation is not good for you no matter the degree.
The responsibility of your sinuses is to make mucus which cleans and moisturizes your nasal passages. Trouble begins when those passages get blocked primarily due to sinus inflammation. That inflammation causes swelling, and the swelling narrows the passages for the mucus to drain. Once drainage is blocked, mucus builds and becomes a perfect place for bacteria to grow. Once there the bacteria may stick to the lining cells and cause a sinus infection.
Your body can usually fight off the virus that is triggering the sinus inflammation. However a secondary bacterial infection can also take place.
Acute sinusitis lasts less than 8 weeks and usually does not occur more than 3 times a year. Successful treatment counteracts damage done to the mucous lining of the sinuses and any surrounding tissue.
You can maintain good sinus hygiene by drinking plenty of fluids to keep nasal secretions thin. Also avoid air travel if possible. If not, then use a nasal decongestant spray before you leave to make sure you keep you sinus passages open. The use of saline nasal sprays, which are available at drugstores, also help keep the nasal passages moist which helps remove infectious agents. Inhaling steam from a bowl of boiling water or in a hot steamy shower may also help.
Sinusitis or sinus infections usually clear up when treated early and appropriately. However, people who have allergic or structural causes for their sinusitis may have recurring attacks of acute sinusitis or may develop chronic sinusitis. But that’s another post.
In the meantime, if you have allergies, you need to be more vigilant about checking for early symptoms. For the rest of us, be aware and get to your sinus problems early so you can treat them with the same remedies your mother used. They work and they are safe.
You should call a doctor when experiencing pain or pressure in the upper face together with nasal congestion or discharge, postnasal drip, or ongoing bad breath that is unrelated to dental issues.
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