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ABC Medical Center > Sinusitis

What is Sinusitis?

21:56 - 4 May , 2021

Disease

It is an infectious or anatomical respiratory condition in which the paranasal sinuses become inflamed, congesting the nose, and preventing normal breathing. It is usually acute or chronic and the causes that generate it are due to various reasons, but the most frequent are:

  • Allergies.
  • Bacterial, viral, or fungal infections.
  • Excessive mucus accumulated in the paranasal sinuses that cannot be released due to an obstruction caused by an anatomical anomaly such as nasal polyps and deviated septum, among others.

Signs and symptoms Sinusitis

Acute and chronic sinusitis have similar symptoms, the difference is their duration: acute sinusitis is a temporary condition, while chronic one lasts more than three months.

Sometimes several acute sinusitis episodes occur before it becomes chronic.

  • Nasal congestion.
  • Pain and swelling of the head, eyes, gums, and cheeks.
  • Sore throat, jaw, and teeth.
  • High fever.
  • Postnasal drip.
  • Forehead swelling.
  • Loss of smell and taste.
  • Coughing fits.
  • Tiredness.
  • Bad breath.

Chronic sinusitis, if not treated in time, can cause meningitis, visual problems, and serious skin or bone infections. Therefore, see your doctor if you experience any of the aforementioned symptoms.

Potential risks:

Some factors can contribute to the onset of this condition, such as:

  • Presence of allergens in the air.
  • Asthma.
  • Various chemical substances and pollutants.
  • Depressed immune system.
  • Smoking.
  • Cystic fibrosis.
  • Tooth infections.
  • Nasal polyps.
  • Hay fever.
  • Deviated nasal septum.

Diagnosis and treatment Sinusitis

After knowing your symptoms and analyzing your medical history, your doctor will perform a physical examination to observe in which parts of the face you have pain and will request a rhinoscopy to rule out any anatomical anomaly in the nose, the state of your nostrils, mucosa, and turbinates. If deemed necessary, they will order a computed tomography and an MRI to observe the nose tissues and bones to make sure that there is a tumor. They will also perform an allergy test or take samples of nasal secretions to analyze in the laboratory and identify the type of bacteria, virus, or fungus that may be causing the infection.

Acute sinusitis is usually treated with antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, nasal decongestants, and oral or injectable corticosteroids. If discomfort continues, you may require endoscopic sinus surgery or balloon dilation sinuplasty, which is a non-surgical procedure that helps remove infected mucus trapped in the nasal passages.

Both cases seek to eradicate the disease by correcting the lesions that cause it with minimal surgical invasion to achieve a speedy recovery.

At ABC Medical Center’s Internal Medicine Department, we offer health care services with the highest quality and safety, from the prevention, diagnosis, timely treatment, and monitoring of infectious, respiratory, endocrinological, dermatological, rheumatic, nephrological, gastrointestinal, and hematological pathologies of both chronic-degenerative diseases and acute conditions, through a comprehensive and multidisciplinary model.

Related centers and departments

Fuentes:

  • cdc.gov
  • mayoclinic.org
  • medlinesplus.gov
  • msdmanuals.com
  • cun.es
  • medigraphic.com
  • Vergara-de la Rosa E, Galvez-Olortegui J, Galvez-Olortegui T, et al. Rinosinusitis frontal lateral oculta de rara presentación con signos de fístula palpebral, ectropión y lagoftalmos. Un informe de caso. Cir Cir. 2019;87(Suppl: 1):77-80.
  • Landa RC, Gómez PFJ, Jaramillo QV. Tratamiento alternativo in vitro en sinusitis y neoplasias del seno maxilar. Rev Odont Mex. 2018;22(4):192-196.
  • González OS, Sánchez RA, Milián SX, et al. Rinosinusitis: perspectiva actual y abordaje diagnóstico . Aten Fam. 2019;26(1):34-38.
  • Guzmán-Romero AK, Macías-Fernández B. Rinosinusitis odontogénica: abordaje actual y comunicación de un caso. Otorrinolaringología. 2017;62(1):55-64.

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					The dissemination of the content of this material is for informational purposes only and does not replace, under any circumstance or condition, a consultation with a specialist doctor, for which the ABC Medical Center is not responsible for the different use that may be given to it. If you require more information related to the subject, we suggest you contact the specialist doctor you trust directly.