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What are the symptoms of a sinus infection?
Sinus Infection Symptoms include:
- Pain, pressure, tenderness, or swelling around the eyes, cheeks, nose, forehead or back of the head
- Nasal congestion
- Yellow or green discharge from the nose or down the back of the throat (postnasal drip)
- Sense of smell becomes altered, decreased or can be lost
- Sore throat, cough, hoarseness, fatigue, pain in the upper jaw or teeth, bad breath
Diagnosis: is based on a thorough history and physical exam. Depending on the severity of symptoms and/or length of symptoms, a CAT scan of the sinuses may be obtained to confirm diagnosis and document the sinuses involved.
Treatment: The goals of treatment are to eradicate infection of the sinuses by promoting drainage and eliminating mucosal swelling. Treatment of Chronic Rhinosinusitis may include:
- A three-week course of a broad-spectrum antibiotic covering the most common bacteria infecting the sinuses as recommended by the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
- Nasal corticosteroid spray to help decrease inflammation
- Nasal saline irrigants to flush out excess mucous and debris from the nasal cavity thereby promoting drainage
- oral antihistamine medications are used to thin mucous and/or decongest the nose and sinuses
- Oral steroids are occasionally prescribed to treat nasal polyps and/or severe inflammation
- Treatment of associated allergies if present.
Follow-Up: If symptoms of Chronic Rhinosinusitis (CRS) fail to improve with medical therapy, surgery may be recommended. Dr. Cavalli provides cutting edge surgical techniques to treat CRS.