Manage your sinus attack this winter - The Daily Star

A sinus stack usually involves pain in the forehead or between the eyes, upper teeth ache, heavy full face feeling, stuffed and congested nose. In addition, you may have a common complaint that sends many people to a doctor's office.

Sinuses are air spaces in your skull lined with mucous membranes. Most people have four sets of nasal sinuses. They are like fingerprints. Everybody's is different.  Some people have no frontal sinuses or just one.

Sinusitis is inflammation in the sinuses. Tiny, hair-like structures called cilia move mucus across sinus membranes and toward an exit. All of your sinus cavities connect to your nose to allow a free exchange of air and mucus. Infections or allergies make sinus tissues inflamed, red, and swollen.

Sinusitis usually starts with inflammation triggered by a cold, allergy attack, or irritant. But it may not end there. Colds, allergies, and irritants make sinus tissues swell.

Most people have a stuffy nose and pain or pressure in several areas around the face or teeth. There is usually a nasal discharge that may be yellow, green, or clear. You may also have fatigue, trouble with sense of smell or taste, cough, sore throat, bad breath, headache, pain when you bend forward, and fever.

Inflammation of the sinuses that lasts for more than three months is chronic sinusitis. Bacteria can make their home in blocked sinuses, but they are not the only cause. Anatomy, allergies, polyps, immune system problems, and dental diseases may also be to blame.

If your sinuses remain inflamed, sinus membranes can thicken and swell. The swelling may be enough to cause grape-like masses called polyps. They can jut out from the sinus into the nasal passage and block your nasal airway.

Nasal decongestants sprays open swollen nasal passages and allow your sinuses to drain. But you should use these drugs only for a few days. After that, there is a kickback effect, making your nasal passages swell shut again. Nasal steroid sprays, or saline sprays or washes, maybe other options.

Now the question is if you need antibiotics. The common cold is a viral infection. Colds can lead to sinusitis symptoms, but these are usually clear by themselves. Antibiotics do not treat viruses so that they will not help the sinus symptoms of a cold. Your cold should be over in a week or two. Usually, cold-related sinusitis goes away then, too.

Have you tried irrigation with saline solution with a squeeze bottle? Nasal steroid sprays might help, too, if your sinus symptoms are due to allergies. Antihistamines could also come in handy, especially if you are sneezing and have a runny nose.

Yellow or green mucus can mean a bacterial infection. Even then, it usually clears up in 7 to 14 days without antibiotics. But if you keep feeling worse, your symptoms last and are severe, or if you get a fever, it is time to see a doctor.

Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery (FESS), a kind of operation, can bring some relief if nothing else works. But start with the simplest solution, Avoid things that irritate your sinuses, and then work with your doctor to see if medicines help. Surgery is the last resort.

Unfortunately, you cannot prevent sinusitis. But you can do these three things that help:

• Keep your sinuses moist. Use saline sprays, nasal lubricant sprays, or nasal irrigation often.

• Avoid arid indoor environments.

• Avoid exposure to irritants, such as cigarette smoke or strong chemical odours.

• Stay healthy and stay away from risk factors that initiate sinus attacks.

Source: WebMD

Adblock test (Why?)