SINUSITISWHEN SHOULD YOU SEE A SPECIALIST?TREATMENT

Sinusitis can be acute or chronic.  It’s one of the most common reasons  to see a doctor. The treatment may be pharmacological in  acute  form or surgical in  chronic form.

What are the sinuses?

The lateral sinuses  or paranasal sinuses are  air-filled spaces located within the bones of the skull. These  spaces occur in  young children as  diverticula of the mucous membrane sinking into the bones,  they  grow and aerate with age. In  children some sinuses may  not be present at all (e.g. frontal sinuses), they develop  later with the child’s growth. The . Some sinuses continue to grow and develop even into late adulthood, and they are fully developed at the age of 20.Well-built sinuses are aerated, which means that they are filled with  air and not with  fluid. The presence of the fluid indicates disease. The sinuses can be of  different sizes. The largest  ones are called  the maxillary, frontal  and sphenoid sinuses. Many  small cells above the nasal passages are collectively called the ethmoid sinuses.

What is  sinusitis?

The lateral sinuses   are connected with the nasal passages, that’s why nasal infections, runny nose, upper respiratory tract infections can easily spread into the sinuses. When the mucous membrane lining the sinus from the inside  is inflamed ,  an inflammatory exudate appears , which can turn into a purulent discharge. The duct of the sinus into the nasal cavity is often swollen, that’s why the discharge is blocked inside it. It causes pain and feeling of pressure .

  • Acute sinusitis is a complication of an acute upper respiratory tract infection. If not treated properly, it can turn into  chronic sinusitis, which symptoms persist over 12 weeks.
  • Symptoms in an acute form include fever, a purulent nasal discharge, a throbbing pain and pressure  in the sinus area.
  • Symptoms in a chronic form first of all include a chronic purulent nasal discharge, impaired nasal breathing and olfactory disorders.

Causes of sinusitis

A lot of factors, both inside and outside the body,  influence the formation of acute and consequently chronic sinusitis. Allergy in a significant way predisposes to sinusitis, because of   the upper respiratory tract mucosa swelling, which causes   the paranasal sinuses blockage and the development of the disease .

Sinusitis is also caused by  a very common dysfunction  such as nasal septum deviation.

Symptoms of  acute sinusitis

Symptoms of  acute sinusitis include among others: a purulent nasal discharge, impaired nasal patency, pain and pressure  in  the sinus area and fever. Acute sinusitis is often accompanied by  constant runny nose. Sometimes there is also a toothache.

Symptoms of  chronic sinusitis

Symptoms of  chronic sinusitis are less characteristic, they include among others a purulent nasal discharge,  impaired nasal breathing, olfactory disorders, cough, nosebleeds, chronic sore throat,  malaise and fatigue.

  • You should see a doctor when, from the patient’s point of view, the course  of the cold is untypical, when there appear alarming symptoms not seen before, such as: pain in the sinus area, forehead or occiput, which is very strong and pulsating and it intensifies in a certain position of the body (e.g. when you lean forward). Also when a  high body temperature  persists or even increases.
  • Urgent medical assistance is necessary, when acute upper respiratory infection is accompanied by shortness of breath, severe ear pain , a purulent ear discharge, hearing loss, dizziness,  impaired consciousness and other symptoms indicating disease progression. Special attention should be paid  to young children, in whom  the infection develops  very  fast and leads to common symptoms, dehydration and convulsions.

How to recognize sinusitis?

The lateral sinuses  are not seen in a standard nasal examination. At most you can assess their ducts   and  the presence of a purulent discharge in nasal passages, which indicates an inflammatory process. They also cannot be thoroughly assessed   by performing a standard sinus X-ray.

In  acute sinusitis  combined with catarrhal, viral  and bacterial infections the doctor makes a diagnosis based on the medical history , nasal cavity and sinus  ducts endoscopy.

In  chronic sinusitis  the doctor should perform  a radiological examination (CT scan), thanks to which  we can determine the size of inflammatory changes in individual sinuses, assess  the presence of other factors, which cause chronic inflammation, such as  nasal septum deviation or hypertrophy of the pharyngeal tonsil and  determine indications for surgical treatment.

Treatment

Treatment of  acute sinusitis involves administration of the appropriate antibiotics, mucosal decongestants, mucus thinners , anti-inflammatory and antipyretic drugs. The  necessity to include an antibiotic and conduct therapy should be controlled by the doctor.

Surgical treatment is often the best approach in  case of chronic sinusitis. . In case of recurrent  acute sinusitis  (e.g. several times a year), you can suppose that there is a reason that causes it. Thanks to additional tests, including  CT scan, we can  identify the reason and treat it properly. A classic example is nasal septum deviation, hypertrophy of the pharyngeal tonsil or anatomical differences  in  the lateral   wall of the nose.

Complications of sinusitis

The sinuses are located close to  the eye socket and brain tissue, separated from them only by a thin bone lamella. It also happens, that among completely healthy people on a limited area, there is no bone barrier separating the brain from the sinus, there is only the layer of the meninges. Therefore  an infection developing in the sinuses can  also spread to these structures. Sinusitis  can  cause serious complications. Orbital cellulitis with an abscess  or exophthalmos may occur, which may result in  blindness or visual disturbances. Brain tissue also may become infected with the formation of an  abscess and meningitis can occur.  Sepsis, or   blood poisoning  with the risk of death may also occur.

Important: complications of sinusitis can be life-threatening!

Copyright by CSIM 2021. Все права защищены.

Copyright by CSIM 2023. Wszelkie prawa zastrzeżone.

Realizacja: X-Connect.pl
Cвершение: X-Connect.pl
Skip to content