Chronic Sinusitis
What are the sinuses?
The sinuses are hollow pockets of air in the facial bones. If you touch your cheek or forehead, the bone there feels like hard, solid bone. But these bones are actually hollow and contain the sinuses.
Most people have four sinuses on each side of the face. The names of theses sinuses are:
- Maxillary sinus
- Ethmoid sinus
- Frontal sinus
- Sphenoid sinus
What happens when someone has chronic sinusitis?
Chronic sinusitis is when someone has irritation, swelling, or infection in the sinuses. Sinusitis is chronic when it lasts for more than 12 weeks.
Most of us don’t think about our sinuses when the sinuses are healthy. But, it can be hard to ignore the symptoms of chronic sinusitis. Symptoms can include nasal congestion, facial pressure, sinus pressure, nasal drainage, and a decreased sense of smell.
Sometimes, bacterial sinus infections can lead to chronic sinusitis. Now, we know that infections are just one possible cause of chronic sinusitis. Many people don’t have an infection. Instead, they have inflammation in their sinuses. No matter what the cause is, having chronic sinusitis can make someone feel miserable. It can feel like a cold that never goes away. Chronic sinusitis affects millions of people in our country every year.
How is sinusitis diagnosed?
Diagnosing sinusitis is often not easy. Many different issues can cause symptoms that can be mistaken for sinus problems.
Making an accurate diagnosis requires a few different pieces of information. Your doctor needs to understand the types of symptoms you are having. After understanding your symptoms, the doctor needs to see inside the nose to look for findings that show inflammation or infection in the sinuses.
It is usually easy to understand the types of symptoms someone is having. The hard part is being able to look inside the nasal and sinus areas. The best ways to look at these areas are with nasal endoscopy and sinus CT scans.
Nasal endoscopy lets your ENT doctor look inside the nasal passages. The procedure is done during your office visit. It may feel like a little tickle, but usually does not cause pain. The doctor uses a nasal endoscope to look inside the nostril. The endoscope is a tiny flashlight with a little camera.
A sinus CT scan is also very helpful in diagnosing sinusitis. The CT scan is like a specialized X-ray of the sinus areas. The CT provides high resolution images of the insides of the sinuses. That information allows your doctor to look for things like sinus swelling or sinus blockage. The doctor can also look for things like sinus polyps or sinus infection.
How is chronic sinusitis treated?
Fortunately, we now have lots of treatments for chronic sinusitis! There usually isn’t one treatment to cure chronic sinusitis, but the treatments can make the symptoms so much betteer. Sometimes, the best way to get relief is to use the right combination of medications. Things like certain nasal sprays and allergy medications can be helpful. Your ENT doctor can help you figure out the best options for medications. Sometimes,sinus rinsescan also help.
Some patients with severe sinus issues can’t get relief with sinus rinses and medications. In these cases, treatments likesinus surgerycan be helpful.
Read more information about sinusitis at theJournal of the American Medical Association’s Patient Page on Adult Sinusitis.
SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION
Contact us to schedule your consultation at our New York or New Jersey location.
New York Office
101 Richmond Ave Ste 320, Syracuse, NY 13204
Phone: 315-254-2030
New Jersey Office
528 Amboy Avenue, Perth Amboy, NJ 08861
Phone: 848-209-6363
reviews
Patient Experience
By far the best experience I’ve had with a Dr. Patient experience to Date. From the staff to Dr. Goyal was a pleasant visit I could have asked for . The care was second to none. I can’t thank Dr. Goyal Enough for everything he has done for me and my care.
.svg)
