SINUSITIS: WHAT IT IS AND HOW TO TREAT IT - IN SHAPE

Nasal congestion, headache and a sense of pressure: how to recognize and treat sinusitis

Sinusitis is a disorder that can cause pain and discomfort; it is an "infection that affects the paranasal sinuses and can occur in an acute or chronic form. Usually caused by a virus, more rarely by fungi and bacteria, sinusitis can also occur due to respiratory allergies, nasal polyps, dental infections and deviated nasal septum.

Before continuing with the reading, we offer you this video in which we show you a method to reduce stress. This exercise can also be effective in decreasing the discomfort caused by sinusitis.

The causes

Mistaken for a cold that does not go away, sinusitis almost always arises as a complication of a rhinitis. In short, it happens that the mucus, stagnating for a long time in the nasal cavities due to colds or allergies, becomes a fertile area for viruses, bacteria, or more rarely fungi, which are found in the cavities communicating with the nose.

Other causes of sinusitis can be: infections of the teeth, dips, trauma of the facial massif, poor nasal breathing, as well as deformities of the nasal septum and the presence of polyps.

Added to these are environmental factors that can promote or aggravate it, such as pollution, air conditioning or too dry and smoking.

Symptoms

Sinusitis can cause different symptoms depending on age. Younger children often have cold-like symptoms, such as a stuffy or runny nose and a low-grade fever. Many parents mistake the child's headaches linked to colds for sinus infections, but these do not begin to develop until the age of six or seven and, before adolescence, they are not developed enough to contract infections.

In adolescents, the most frequent symptoms of sinusitis are: dry cough during the day, fever, congestion that gets worse, toothache, earache or pain in the face. Stomach pain, nausea, headache and pain in the back of the eyes also sometimes occur.

Adults, on the other hand, are more prone to the following symptoms: pain and a sense of pressure in the face, in different areas depending on the paranasal sinus involved, headache, fever, greasy cough and toothache.

Diagnosis

Diaphanoscopy is a fairly dated test that is still used today and consists of inserting a small light source into the mouth: if the light filters through the bony structures of the face, the paranasal sinuses are free and it is not sinusitis, if instead it does not filter or only partially filters it means that the sinuses are clogged with pus.

More modern alternatives are x-rays or CT scans. And in some cases it is necessary to take a sample inside the affected breast, to determine which bacteria are responsible for the infection and to choose the most specific antibiotic.

Cures and remedies

The doctor may prescribe antibiotics to be taken orally for at least 7 days to treat cases of sinusitis with presumed bacterial origin. If there is no improvement after five days of therapy, your doctor will likely change your antibiotic. To relieve the symptoms of sinusitis you can also resort to the use of decongestants, antihistamines or warm compresses. In the case of sinusitis caused by viruses, the disorder usually disappears on its own without any medical therapy.

Prevention

Some simple changes in lifestyle or home environment can cause the risk of sinusitis to decrease. For example, during the winter, the contrast between the cold outside air and the heating makes the air inside your home drier than normal.

To keep the home humidity on values of 45% -50% you can resort to the use of a humidifier, by doing so, you will prevent the dry air from irritating the sinuses, and therefore make them less prone to infections. clean the humidifier regularly to prevent the development of mold.

For more information on sinusitis, visit the Humanitas Cellini clinic website.

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