http://www.fitango.com/categories.php?id=242

Fitango EducationHealth Topics

Sinusitis

1

Overview

"Sinusitis" simply means your

sinuses are inflamed? Red and swollen because of an infection or another

problem. There are several types of sinusitis. Health experts usually identify

them as follows:

2

Overview

-- Acute, which lasts up to 4 weeks

-- Subacute, which lasts 4 to 12 weeks

-- Chronic, which lasts more than 12 weeks and

can continue for months or even years

-- Recurrent, with several attacks within a

3

Overview

year

In 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

reported that nearly 31 million adults were diagnosed with sinusitis. Women

were almost twice as likely as men to receive the diagnosis, and there were

4

Overview

more cases in the southern United States than elsewhere in the country.

5

Symptoms

One of the most common symptoms of any type

of sinusitis is pain, and the location depends on which sinus is affected.

If you have pain in your forehead, the

problem lies in your frontal sinuses.

6

Symptoms

Pain in your upper jaw and teeth, with

tender cheeks, may mean your maxillary sinuses are involved.

Experiencing pain between your eyes,

sometimes with swelling of the eyelids and tissues around your eyes, and

7

Symptoms

tenderness when you touch the sides of your nose may mean sinusitis has

developed in your ethmoid sinuses.

Pain in your neck, with earaches, and deep

achiness at the top of your head could be a sign that your sphenoid sinuses are

8

Symptoms

involved (though these sinuses are affected less often).

Most people with sinusitis have pain or

tenderness in several places, and their symptoms usually do not clearly

indicate which sinuses are inflamed. Pain is not as common in chronic sinusitis

9

Symptoms

as it is in acute sinusitis.

In addition to the pain, people who have

sinusitis (acute or chronic) often have thick nasal secretions that can be

white, yellowish, greenish, or blood-tinged. Sometimes these secretions drain

10

Symptoms

in the back of the throat and are difficult to clear. This is referred to as

“post-nasal drip.” Also, cases of acute and chronic sinusitis are usually

accompanied by a stuffy nose, as well as by a general feeling of fullness over

the entire face.

11

Symptoms

Less common symptoms of sinusitis (acute or

chronic) can include the following:

-- Tiredness

-- Decreased sense of smell

-- Cough that may be worse at night

12

Symptoms

-- Sore throat

-- Bad breath

-- Fever

On very rare occasions, acute sinusitis can

result in brain infection and other serious complications.

13

Symptoms

Because your nose can get stuffy or

congested when you have a condition like the common cold, you may confuse

simple nasal congestion with sinusitis. A cold usually lasts about 7 to 14 days

and goes away without treatment. Acute sinusitis often lasts longer and

14

Symptoms

typically causes more symptoms than a cold.

15

Causes

The paranasal sinuses, like the inside of

your nose, are lined with a thin layer of tissue called the mucous membrane,

which produces mucus. This mucus flows out through openings of the paranasal

16

Causes

sinuses and into the nose. When these openings become blocked, your sinuses are

affected.

Anything that causes swelling in the nose

can block the openings between your paranasal sinuses and your nose, including

17

Causes

a cold, an allergic reaction such as hay fever, or a reaction to some chemical

to which you've been exposed. The blockage causes air and mucus to become

trapped within the sinuses. This may cause pain and thickened mucus.

The pain of a sinus attack arises because

18

Causes

the trapped air and mucus put pressure on the mucous membrane of the sinuses

and the bony wall behind it. Also, when a swollen membrane at the opening of a

paranasal sinus prevents air from entering into the sinuses, it can create a

vacuum that causes pain.

19

Causes

Mucus thickens because it loses its water

content as it stays trapped inside the sinuses for a long time. In addition,

inflammation leads to extra materials being secreted into the mucus, causing

thickening.

20

Diagnosis

Your healthcare professional usually can

diagnose acute sinusitis by noting your symptoms and examining your nose and

face. If your symptoms do not clearly indicate that you have sinusitis or if

21

Diagnosis

they persist for a long time and do not get better with treatment, your

healthcare professional may order a CT (computerized tomography) scan (a form

of X-ray that shows some soft-tissue and other structures that cannot be seen

22

Diagnosis

in conventional X-rays) to confirm that you have sinusitis.

Other laboratory tests your healthcare

professional may use to check for possible causes of chronic rhinosinusitis

include the following:

23

Diagnosis

-- Blood tests to rule out conditions, such as

an immune deficiency disorder, that are associated with sinusitis

-- A sweat test or a blood test to rule out

cystic fibrosis

24

Diagnosis

-- Tests on the material inside your sinuses

to detect bacterial or fungal infection

25

Treatment

After diagnosing sinusitis and identifying

a possible cause, your healthcare professional can suggest various treatments.

26

Treatment**Acute sinusitis**

If you have acute sinusitis, your

healthcare professional may recommend the following:

-- Antibiotics to control a bacterial

infection, if present

27

Treatment**Acute sinusitis**

-- Pain relievers to reduce any pain

-- Decongestants (medicines that shrink the

swollen membranes in the nose and make it easier to breathe)

Even if you have acute sinusitis, your

28

Treatment**Acute sinusitis**

healthcare professional may choose not to use an antibiotic because many cases

of acute sinusitis will end on their own. However, if you do not feel better

after a few days, you should contact your healthcare professional again.

Follow your healthcare professional's

29

Treatment**Acute sinusitis**

instruction on how to use over-the-counter or prescription decongestant nose

drops and sprays. You should use these medicines for only a few days, as longer

term use can lead to even more congestion and swelling of your nasal passages.

30

Treatment**Acute sinusitis**

If you suffer from nasal allergies, such as

hay fever, along with sinusitis, your healthcare professional may recommend

medicine to control your allergies. This may include a nasal steroid spray that

31

Treatment**Acute sinusitis**

reduces the swelling around the sinus passages and allows the sinuses to drain.

If you have asthma and then get sinusitis,

your asthma may worsen. You should contact your healthcare professional, who

may change your asthma treatment.

32

Treatment**Chronic rhinosinusitis**

Healthcare professionals often find it

difficult to treat chronic rhinosinusitis successfully. They have two options

to offer patients: medicine and surgery.

33

Treatment**Medicine**

Nasal steroid sprays are helpful for many

people, but most people still do not get full relief of symptoms with these

medicines.

A long course of antibiotics is

34

Treatment**Medicine**

occasionally recommended by physicians, but results from clinical research do

not support this kind of antibiotic use.

Saline (saltwater) washes or saline nasal

sprays can be helpful in chronic rhinosinusitis because they remove thick

35

Treatment**Medicine**

secretions and allow the sinuses to drain.

Oral steroids, such as prednisone, may be

prescribed for severe chronic rhinosinusitis. However, oral steroids are

powerful medicines with significant side effects, and these medicines typically

36

Treatment**Medicine**

are prescribed when other medicines have failed.

Research is needed to develop new, more

effective treatments.

37

Treatment**Surgery**

When medicine fails, surgery may be the

only alternative for treating chronic rhinosinusitis. The goal of surgery is to

improve sinus drainage and reduce blockage of the nasal passages. Nasal surgery

38

Treatment**Surgery**

usually is performed to accomplish the following:

-- Enlarge the natural openings of the sinuses

-- Remove nasal polyps

-- Correct significant structural problems

39

Treatment**Surgery**

inside the nose and the sinuses if they contribute to sinus obstruction

Although most people have fewer symptoms

and a better quality of life after surgery, problems can reoccur, sometimes

even after a short period of time.

40

Treatment**Surgery**

In children, problems can sometimes be

eliminated by removing the adenoids. These gland-like tissues, located high in

the throat behind and above the roof of the mouth, can obstruct the nasal

passages.

41

Prevention

There are no methods that have been

scientifically proven to prevent acute or chronic sinusitis. Your healthcare

professional may recommend the following measures that can help:

42

Prevention

-- Keep your nose as moist as possible with

frequent use of saline sprays or washes.

-- Avoid very dry indoor environments and use

a humidifier, if necessary. Be aware, however, that a humid environment also

43

Prevention

may increase the amount of mold, dust mite, or cockroach allergens in your

home; this is important only if you are allergic to any of those organisms.

-- Avoid exposure to irritants such as

cigarette and cigar smoke or strong odors from chemicals.

44

Prevention

-- Avoid exposure to substances to which you

are allergic.

-- If you haven’t been tested for allergies

and you are getting frequent sinus infections, ask your healthcare professional

45

Prevention

to give you an allergy evaluation or refer you to an allergy specialist.

-- Avoid long periods of swimming in pools

treated with chlorine, which can irritate the lining of the nose and sinuses.

-- Avoid water diving, which forces water into

46

Prevention

the sinuses from the nasal passages.

Air travel may pose a problem if you suffer

from acute or chronic sinusitis. When air pressure in a plane is reduced,

pressure can build up in your head, blocking your sinuses or the eustachian

47

Prevention

tubes (the airways between the middle ear and the back of the throat that

equalize air pressure on either side of the eardrum). As a result, you might

feel discomfort in your sinuses or middle ear during the plane’s ascent or

48

Prevention

descent. Some health experts recommend using decongestant nose drops or sprays

before a flight to avoid this problem.