Diagnosing and Treating Chronic Sinus Infections

If you have ever suffered from a sinus infection, you know that the pain, pressure and fatigue can be severe enough to get in the way of daily activities. Most sinus infection sufferers will find relief in a matter of days or weeks, but imagine dealing with those uncomfortable symptoms for twelve weeks or more at a time.

That is precisely what happens when you have a chronic sinus infection. Because these symptoms linger for very long periods of time, a chronic sinus infection can affect your quality of life. Because of this, it's important to understand how to recognize a chronic sinus infection, so that you can work with your doctor in finding the most effective treatment option for you.

Symptoms of Chronic Sinus Infections

The symptoms of a chronic sinus infection are similar to those of an acute infection, except that the symptoms tend to last longer and do not respond to treatments as easily. It is also rare to run a fever with a chronic sinus infection, although many people do with the acute variety of infection.

Other common symptoms include pain and pressure in the face around the sinus cavities, a thick yellow or green discharge from the nose, difficulty breathing through the nasal passages and fatigue. You might also suffer from less common symptoms, like bad breath, teeth or jaw pain and an earache. These symptoms can vary based on the particular sinuses that are involved, so it is a good idea to check with your doctor even if you don’t have all of the classic symptoms of an infection.

Treatment of a Chronic Sinus Infection

In order to properly treat a chronic sinus infection, it will probably be necessary to make an appointment with your doctor to get an accurate diagnosis and prescription treatment choices.

The first course of action is often a round of antibiotics that may be taken for as long as twelve weeks or until you are symptom free for at least seven days. You may also receive a prescription for a corticosteroid that will help to bring down the inflammation and swelling inside of the nasal passages and sinus cavities.

Decongestants, antihistamines and expectorants can also provide temporary relief from the congestion and promote drainage. Moisture can also bring relief, in the form of a humidifier, hot packs applied to the face or steam treatments to open airways. If allergies are the cause of the chronic sinus infection, allergy treatment may be part of the remedy as well.

A chronic sinus infection can be severe enough to keep you from many of the activities that you love. The good news is that there are plenty of treatment options available that will effectively kick that infection out for good.

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To Your Health,

Michael Toscano & Brue Baker
Owners / Founders
http://www.DietHealthandFitness.com/

Problems with Sinus Surgery

Having a chronic sinus infection can impact your quality of life for a very long time if you don't do something about it. With a chronic sinus infection, you have difficulty sleeping, breathing, interacting in public, and the food you eat always seems to taste funny. Now, depending on your sinus infection you might even have chronic nausea from the amount of mucus in your digestive system, no matter how many times you blow your nose.

If you're feeling nauseous, the last thing you want to do is get out of bed, let alone go to work or school, raise kids, pay the bills and anything else you have to do. This is when surgery will be offered as an option. You might not have much of a choice but to go under the knife, but you should still be aware of the problems with sinus surgery.

The Band Aid Effect

One of the biggest problems with sinus surgery is that it's often just an incredibly elaborate band aid (plaster) for your overall sinus infection problem. If it's not known why your sinuses are so infected, then the relief of the surgery will only be temporary.
You need to discover the source of your sinus infection with your doctor and attack that issue first. But if you are having trouble getting a firm diagnosis, then temporary relief may be better than no relief. Just realize that it is usually not a cure-all.

Surgery In General

There are three main kinds of sinus surgery, but each requires your sinuses to be exposed to what is ever in the outer environment. One of the problems with sinus surgery is the problem with any kind of surgery – the risk of a post operative infection, a botched operation or any other problems you might encounter when recuperating from surgery in general. Most of the time, your doctor will not suggest surgery lightly because of the risks involved. Now, if you have a strange growth or malformed sinuses, then surgery will actually be of great benefit to you.

What You Still Need To Do

Another problem with sinus surgery is that you'll still have to do regular nose maintenance. What does that mean? You just can’t ever get the attitude that the sinus infection will never come back because you’ve had surgery. You still need to keep your nose clean, literally and figuratively. Air purification would be recommended, nasal washes and doing your best to stay as healthy as possible.

Also, you'll need to boost your immune system after your surgery to help your body fight and defend against pathogens, poor indoor air quality and the like.

If you smoke, guess what? You better knock it off. Plain and simple. If you're regularly hanging out with your friends who smoke, you need to seriously ask them to not smoke around you. Ironically for some people, this may be one of the biggest problems with sinus surgery.

To Your Health,

Michael Toscano & Brue Baker
Owners / Founders
http://www.DietHealthandFitness.com/

Sinus Problem Symptoms: What To Look For

For many people, yearly sinus congestion is an ongoing battle. Allergies can trigger the onset of sinus congestion and discomfort and being aware of sinus problem symptoms can help patients learn what to look for and when to seek a physician's assistance.

Sinus Problem Symptoms: Causes and How To Pursue Treatment

Sinus problem symptoms, for some, can be predictable. People with allergies that occur during a specific season can expect to have sinus problem symptoms. A virus can also cause a sinus infection by damaging the lining of the sinus passages and causing them to become inflamed. Then bacteria that is normally present in the sinus passages becomes trapped and multiplies, causing an infection to occur.

A sinus infection can happen in any of the sinus passages. The sinus symptoms may vary according to which sinus passage is infected. When a person has an Ethmoid sinus infection, which is one that occurs behind the eyes, the sinus problem symptoms are: nasal congestion, pain or pressure by the inner eye and down the nose, headache and fever is a common complaint with this type of sinus infection.

The sinus problem symptoms associated with Maxillary sinus infection, which happens in the sinus passages behind the cheekbones are, pain across the cheekbones or even in the upper teeth, the cheekbones can be red and swollen, fever, and of course a congested nose. Sinus problem symptoms that can happen when a patient has other sinus infections include the above symptoms and headaches in the front of the head, pain when lying down and even double vision can become one of the sinus problem symptoms.

It is important when experiencing sinus problem symptoms to visit with a physician. Untreated sinus infections can be a serious problem and the infection needs medical assistance in order to clear up. Antibiotics are generally the proper course of treatment for a sinus infection, but a physician needs to be seen to determine if there are any other problems.

When a patient is having sinus problem symptoms, they can be extremely uncomfortable. There are some over the counter medicines that can be taken to help relieve some of the sinus problem symptoms such as Mucinex. A physician can give advice on which over the counter medicines will work best for your symptoms.

Sinus problem symptoms are an indication of an infection and a patient needs to pay attention to the symptoms in order to get the best treatment for a possible infection.

To Your Health,

Michael Toscano & Brue Baker

Owners / Founders

http://www.DietHealthandFitness.com/

How Do I Know If I Have A Sinus Infection?

At first, you may think you have a common cold. Your nose is congested, your head hurts and that minor cough has now become a major problem. The symptoms seem to stick around for more than a week or two which is unlike the basic cold.

You try to go through the motions of your life feeling completely miserable but at some point you've had enough. Finally, you make a trip to your doctor's office in hopes that he/she will be able to provide some relief from these painful symptoms you've been having. Their diagnosis? You have acute sinusitis or in other words, a sinus infection.

Sinus infections may be the most common complaint doctor's see and treat because the symptoms of one of these infections can be painful enough to effectively disrupt your daily life.

A sinus infection can be defined as an inflammation of your nasal and sinus passages. This inflammation makes it extremely difficult for secretions and air to pass through the passages, resulting in pressure and pain.

Couple that pain with other symptoms like a sore throat, cough, fatigue and fever and you have the makings of an illness that's enough to keep you out of play for a few days. The good news is that there are plenty of remedies for a sinus infection that will help you get back on your feet in no time.

Differences Between the Common Cold and A Sinus Infection

Even though the symptoms of a common cold and sinus infection are similar; such as nasal congestion, a cough and a sore throat, there are other sinus infection symptoms that are unique to just a sinus infection.

These signs will tell you whether or not you need to take a trip to the doctor's office for antibiotics, or if you simply need to nurse your virus from home until it passes.

For example, even though both illnesses include nasal congestion, a sinus infection will generally have nasal secretions that are thicker and are green or yellow in color.

Pain is another tell tale sign of an infection. Most sinus pain is felt in the forehead, around the eyebrows or on the cheekbones just under your eyes.

Sinus infections most often come on at the tail end of a cold rather than on their own. What happens is, most people will find that they're just beginning to recover from a common cold when they see a relapse in their symptoms along with some of the other signs listed above.

If you suspect you might have a sinus infection, there are a few ways to treat it. It might be a good idea to make an appointment with your doctor to get the necessary prescription medication necessary to kick the infection out of your system completely. (The last time I visited my doctor, I was charged $125 for 5 minutes of his time and still had to spend $20 on my prescription!)

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The point is, there are plenty of choices in effectively relieving sinus infections as long as you don't wait until your cold turns into an infection.

To Your Health,

Michael Toscano & Brue Baker
Owners / Founders
DietHealthandFitness.com

Your Treatment Options for Sinusitis

In order to determine your treatment for sinusitis, you should have a basic understanding of what sinusitis is first.

Sinusitis is the swelling of your nasal sinuses that can be caused by a bacterial, fungal or viral infection or even other factors such as allergic reactions or environmental elements.

The sinus cavities, predominantly above your eyes and behind your cheekbones, have mucus secretions that, if blocked from draining, can grow thicker and become inflamed.

Risk Factors for Sinusitis

Your treatment for sinusitis will depend on your risk factors for this inflammatory condition. Knowing how to develop sinusitis will help in finding the treatment for your sinusitis. That being said, since infection is usually the predominant cause, it usually follows on the tail of a bad cold or even the flu.

Allergies to pollen, dust, pet dander, cigarette smoke, smog and even excessive dryness due to central air or the heat in your home, can also cause sinusitis.

Some less common risk factors of sinusitis include immune system deficiencies and even structural abnormalities in the nasal passage. Polyps, a deviated septum, tumors or even bone spurs in the sinus cavity can also be part of the problem.

Treatment For Sinusitis

Often times when the cause is a bacterial infection, doctors will prescribe a course of antibiotics as the primary treatment for sinusitis. In the rare cases that a fungal infection occurs, the course of antibiotics will be prescribed with the addition of a decongestant to help with the swelling of the nasal tissues.

An expectorant may also be prescribed to help thin the mucus secretions and at times the expectorant will be paired with antihistamines which will help with the inflammation only. When a tougher treatment for sinusitis is needed, a doctor may prescribe a nasal steroid which will work harder to reduce the swelling in the sinus cavaties as well as promoting sinus drainage.

For non-medicated options for treating sinusitis, a salt water nasal spray can help keep the nasal passages moistened while rinsing out bacteria and other irritants that may be laying claim to create an infection. In addition, an air purifier is a great way to reduce indoor allergens which helps prevent irritation to the sinus membranes causing sinusitis.

Our best advice, is during days of particularly high pollen counts or when air pollution is bad, stay indoors as much as possible. As part of your treatment for sinusitis, sleep with your head elevated to promote healing and sinus drainage and look into an immune system supplement. Of course, it goes without saying that a healthy diet, exercise, nutrition and avoiding sick people is the ultimate preventative treatment for sinusitis.

To Your Health,

Michael Toscano & Brue Baker
Owners / Founders
DietHealthandFitness.com