Pain Or Pressure In Your Sinuses
Facial pain is a common symptom of sinusitis. You have several different sinuses above and below your eyes, as well as behind your nose. Any of these air-filled cavities can hurt when you have a sinus infection.
Inflammation and swelling can cause your sinuses to ache with dull pressure. This is because inflammation may alter the typical path of mucus from the nose to the back of the throat.
You may feel pain in:
- on either side of your nose
- in your upper jaws and teeth
- between your eyes
This may lead to a headache. Headaches caused by sinus infections can occur where the sinuses are or in other places.
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Treatment For Lost Or Changed Sense Of Smell
Your sense of smell may go back to normal in a few weeks or months.
Treating the cause might help. For example, steroid nasal sprays or drops might help if you have sinusitis or nasal polyps.
A treatment called smell training can also help some people. The organisation Fifth Sense has more about how to do smell training.
Sometimes changes in sense of smell cant be treated and may be permanent.
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How Do Healthcare Providers Diagnose Fungal Sinusitis
To diagnose a fungal sinus infection, your provider will do a physical exam. They will ask about your symptoms, health history and medications. Then, your provider may remove some mucus or tissue from your sinuses and send it to a lab. The lab tests for fungus.
Your provider may also order a CT scan. This imaging study uses X-rays and a computer to see detailed images of your sinuses. It helps your provider locate the infection or check for a fungal ball. It also helps them develop an effective treatment plan.
An endoscopy can also help your provider diagnose and evaluate a fungal sinus infection. During this procedure, your provider inserts a long, thin tube with a camera into your nose. The camera shows images of your nose and sinuses. Your provider views these images on a monitor.
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Talk To A Doctor About Your Bad Nose Smell
If you feel a bad smell coming from inside your nose, it may not be anything serious. However, it can also be a symptom of an illness. Getting diagnosed and treated as soon as possible may be crucial.
Its best to speak to a doctor about it. And the easiest way to do that is with telemedicine options, such as Carefree MD.
Get unlimited access to a 24/7 doctor on call using your phone or computer at your convenience. Speak to a state-licensed physician about your symptoms, get prescriptions sent to your local pharmacy when medically necessary, and receive personalized advice on treatment options.
Talk to a doctor about those funky smells by signing up for a Carefree MD membership today!
The Carefree MD blog is not meant to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The text and pictures within the content are intended for information purposes only. Readers should consult with a licensed doctor or healthcare professional before seeking treatment.
The Carefree MD Card is not insurance and Carefree MD is not an insurance provider.
What Causes A Bad Smell In The Nose
by Cawthra Dental | Oct 4, 2021 | mississauga dentist |
Several conditions may cause a bad smell in the nose, including sinusitis, tooth/ mouth infections, dry mouth, some medications, some foods/drinks, and olfactory damage. Typically, a bad smell in the nose is not life-threatening but can decrease the quality of life.
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What Are Sinus Infections
Sinusitis or sinus infection is a medical condition in which the cavities around the nasal passages become inflamed. Cold or allergies can trigger sinusitis, and in most cases, it gets resolved on its own. Chronic sinusitis, on the other hand, can be caused by some infection and last up to eight weeks.
Here are some of the common symptoms to look out for headache, nasal congestion, facial pain, runny nose, and bad breath . You may also experience pressure behind your eyes and cheeks and occasionally have a stuffy nose as well. In acute cases, one can also experience fever, fatigue, cough, and postnasal drip.
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Signs You Have A Sinus Infection
Posted in Nose | January 14, 2022
Are you experiencing pressure around your nose, forehead, and eyes? Does your face feel like its overly full?
These are some of the more common signs of having a sinus infection. Your sinuses are tiny, empty spaces that connect the inside of your nose.
Theyre found behind your forehead and cheekbones. When you have a sinus infection, the lining of your sinuses swells up. The swelling of the lining of your sinuses prevents mucus from draining down your throat and nose properly. Factors that increase your risk of developing a sinus infection are:
Other telltale signs of a sinus infection include:
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How To Get Rid Of Sinus Infection Odors
The best way to get rid of sinus infection odors is to seek sinus infection treatment. For some, over-the-counter medications and rest are enough treatment to do the trick. And we also recommend checking out our list of the best foods for sinus infection treatment.
But for those suffering from frequent or chronic sinus infections, it may be best to seek additional medical treatment. One of the most minimally invasive treatments available for chronic sinusitis is balloon sinuplasty, which is an in-office procedure that provides long-lasting sinusitis relief.
How Can Sinus Problems Affect Your Taste Buds
If you are having problems with your ability to taste or smell, you are certainly not alone. 200,000 people visit the doctor every year to address a problem with their ability to taste or smell, and sinus infections are one of the leading causes of reported loss. There are a few factors to consider when determining the nature of your acute sinusitis that require individualized treatment, but what they all have in common is that they can affect your ability to taste and smell.
A lack of ability to taste is most commonly linked to an inability to smell. Your sense of smell is activated when you chew through a channel connecting the roof of your mouth and throat to your nose. If this channel is blocked by sinus pressure, inflammation, or excess mucus, your odor receptors will not activate, and you will lose most of your ability to taste.
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Having Trouble Tasting And Smelling This Could Be A Sign Of Sinusitis
When your sinuses are inflamed and not draining properly, the effects can be fairly obvious as congestion hampers your ability to breathe and leads to pain and discomfort. But if youre also experiencing a loss of taste and smell, the cause may stem from the same problem sinusitis.
At Florida Ear, Nose, Throat & Facial Plastic Surgery Center, Dr. Wade Han and our team specialize in nasal problems, and we understand the widespread impact this seemingly small area of your health can have on your overall wellness. For patients in Orlando and Kissimmee, Florida, who are struggling with the symptoms of sinusitis, weve pulled together a basic primer on the problem and how it can affect your health and your senses.
If youre having trouble tasting and smelling, heres a look at why sinusitis may be at the root of the problem.
How Can I Get My Sense Of Taste Back After A Sinus Infection
The best place to start is focusing on reducing the inflammation in your nasal passages. If you can open up your sinuses and facilitate drainage, your smell will return faster.
Saline irrigations are helpful to wash out signs of infection and clear inflammation. You can purchase over-the-counter options like NeilMed Sinus Rinse at any pharmacy.
Topical steroid sprays like Flonase can also help to reduce inflammation.
If necessary, an ENT doctor can prescribe a compounded irrigation treatment. This is much like a saline rinse, but the solution also contains antibiotics or steroids to treat the sinus infection more aggressively.
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Dr Sarah Jarvis Says:
Changes in your sense of smell are rarely life-threatening, but they can have a significant impact on your quality of life. Your senses of smell and taste are closely linked, and many people who lose their sense of smell find that food loses much of its taste as well. You can recognise basic tastes bitter, sweet, salty, sour and umami without needing smell, but more complex flavours need both senses to appreciate them fully. In fact, most of the flavour of food is largely due to its smell.
Like taste, smell is a chemical sense. Receptors in your nose turn messages from smells received into electrical signals for the brain to interpret. You can smell food through your nose without tasting it but when youre eating, the smells also travel to the back of your nose from the back of your mouth.
One of the most common reasons for a distorted sense of smell is the common cold. The build-up of mucus blocks the delicate chemoreceptors that line the nose, affecting their ability to be stimulated and send those electrical signals. Hay fever, which can also lead to a build-up of mucus and a blocked along with a runny, itchy nose, can have the same effect. However, these conditions are unlikely to lead to abnormal smells partial or complete loss of sense of smell is more likely.
A more common reason for a musty smell in the nose is a sinus infection. This can be acute or chronic .
Other Remedies For Symptom Relief
Staying hydrated can help thin mucus to ease congestion.
Drinking hot liquids such as tea and broth may help relieve your symptoms. Breathing in moist air may also help relieve the discomfort that comes with nasal congestion. Try breathing in steam from the shower, a bowl of hot water, or a mug of tea.
If your voice is hoarse, rest it by avoiding yelling, whispering, and singing.
Placing a warm compress over the inflamed area can help reduce pressure and provide relief.
damages the natural protective elements of your nose, mouth, throat, and respiratory system.
If you smoke, consider quitting. Ask a doctor if you need help or are interested in quitting. Quitting may help prevent future episodes of both acute and chronic sinusitis.
Wash your hands frequently, especially during cold and flu seasons, to keep your sinuses from becoming irritated or infected by viruses or bacteria on your hands.
Using a humidifier during the cooler, dryer months may also help prevent sinus infections.
Talk with a doctor to see if allergies are causing your sinusitis. If youre allergic to something that causes persistent sinus symptoms, you will likely need to treat your allergies to relieve your sinus infection.
You may need to seek an allergy specialist to determine the cause of the allergy. The specialist may suggest:
- avoiding the allergen
- doing allergic immunotherapy
Keeping your allergies under control can help prevent repeated episodes of sinusitis.
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Antibiotics For A Severe Sinus Infection
You may be surprised that antibiotics are not listed as the first step in treatment. While many patients with sinusitis expect antibiotics, they aren’t usually needed if good drainage is achieved.
Antibiotics have potential disadvantages. They can trigger allergic reactions or cause side effects. Widespread use of antibiotics has encouraged the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria . And many of these drugs are expensive.
Still, if your sinusitis does not improve with two to four days of drainage therapy, or if it’s very severe to begin with, it probably needs an antibiotic to help get rid of the trapped bacteria. Antibiotic therapy for just three to seven days is generally as effective as traditional 10- to 14-day treatment for uncomplicated acute sinusitis.
Many bacteria can cause acute sinusitis the most common include some with fearsome names like Pneumococcus, Streptococcus, Hemophilus, and Moraxella. Unless you have a sinus puncture , there’s really no way to know which bacteria are causing your sinusitis. Cultures of your mucus or your nose, even if they are obtained through a nasal speculum, are not helpful because they are always contaminated by the many bacteria that live in every nose.
Signs Of A Sinus Infection
A sinus infection is something you want to deal with right away to prevent it from escalating. However, its not easy to discern between the different symptoms and what they mean. After all, an infection manifests itself in a similar way to the flu or a cold, so you cant always act decisively.
With that in mind, here are some signs you have a sinus infection and should see an ear, nose and throat doctor.
by Cawthra Dental | Oct 4, 2021 | mississauga dentist |
Several conditions may cause a bad smell in the nose, including sinusitis, tooth/ mouth infections, dry mouth, some medications, some foods/drinks, and olfactory damage. Typically, a bad smell in the nose is not life-threatening but can decrease the quality of life.
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Why Do I Smell Sulfur In My Nose
When bacteria breaks down, it can release gases, which smells like sulfur. The four-smelling odor from the gases can travel through the small holes at the back of the mouth that connect to the sinuses and make their way into your nose. Food particles that become trapped in a cavity can start to decay.
What Is Fungal Sinusitis
Fungal sinusitis is a sinus infection that results from a fungus. Several types of fungal sinus infections cause similar symptoms. These may include nasal congestion and sinus pain .
Providers treat most cases of fungal sinusitis with sinus surgery, and extreme forms may require additional anti-fungal treatment. But people with healthy immune systems may not need treatment. Some fungal sinus infections clear up without intervention.
People who have conditions that weaken the immune system are much more likely to get fungal sinusitis. They also have a higher risk of complications. Some types of fungal sinusitis can destroy the lining of the nose, spread to the brain and lead to death.
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The Effects Of Sinusitis
Whether acute or chronic, sinusitis can have a significant impact on your health, leading to:
- Difficulty breathing
- Pain and pressure around your sinuses
Among these symptoms lies an unlikely effect a loss or reduction of your sense of smell and taste.
Lets start with your loss of smell. First, because of the congestion that often comes with sinusitis, youre unable to breathe in deeply enough to reach the olfactory sensory neurons higher up in your nose to initiate smell in the first place.
Second, the viral infection inside your nasal passageways can temporarily damage your highly sensitive sensory cells.
Your sense of taste and its relationship to sinusitis is trickier. The condition doesnt necessarily lead to a direct loss of taste, but it can alter the sense because your sense of smell and taste are linked. Taste and smell work in lockstep, and when you lose one, the other is compromised.
Your sense of taste may also be altered because of a pervading foul taste brought on my infected mucus at the back of your mouth and throat.
The bottom line is that the sooner you come in to see us for treatment, the sooner we can restore order among your senses. If you suspect you have sinusitis, please call us so we can set up an appointment.
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Loss Of Smell And Taste
A side effect of nasal congestion is that you will find it challenging to smell or taste. Again, the swelling is to blame since the scents and aromas you are used to cant reach the top of the nose.
Sometimes, the inflammation presses down on the nervous system, impacting the signal that triggers taste and smell. Allergies and a cold can also cause these symptoms, which is why its vital to speak to a professional ENT doctor if youre concerned.
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Types Of Sinus Infections: Chronic Vs Acute
There are four types of sinus infections. These classifications depend on the length and frequency of the infection:
- Acute sinusitis.This type of sinus infection lasts only for a short time, defined by the American Academy of Otolaryngology as less than 4 weeks. This short-term infection is usually part of a cold or other respiratory illness. It may also be caused by a bacterial infection .
- Subacute sinusitis. A subacute sinus infection lasts between 4 and 12 weeks .
- Recurrent acute sinusitis. An acute sinus infection is considered recurrent if the infection returns four or more times within a year, with each infection lasting 7 days or more.
- Chronic sinusitis.Chronic sinus infections last for more than 12 weeks or continue to recur.
Many sinus infection symptoms are common in both acute and chronic forms. Seeing a doctor is the best way to learn if you have an infection, find the cause, and get treatment.
For cases of acute bacterial sinus infections, these symptoms last at least 10 days without improving, or they worsen within 10 days after seeming to improve. In this case, its important to talk with a doctor, such as a general practitioner or an ear, nose, and throat doctor , to get a diagnosis and treatment plan.
Learn more about the symptoms of a sinus infection below.