How Are Sinus Infections Caused

Common Colds And Sinus Infections

A viral infection associated with the common cold is the most common cause of sinus infections .

This virus may jump to other people, causing a cold that may also develop into viral sinusitis.

In only 0.5 to 2 percent of cases do people develop bacterial sinusitis , which is typically a complication of viral sinusitis. Bacterial sinusitis is not contagious.

In rare cases, fungi can cause a sinus infection, particularly if a person has a fungal allergy. But fungal sinusitis generally does not affect people with healthy immune systems.

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Diagnosis Of Nasal Polyps

To find out if you have nasal polyps, your doctor will ask you questions about what you’re feeling. You’ll probably get a physical exam as well.

From there, they’ll take a look at your nose using a tool called a nasal endoscope. It has a magnifying lens or camera that provides a detailed view of your nose and sinuses.

If those things don’t confirm a diagnosis, your doctor may order more tests, which could include:

• Imaging tests, including computerized tomography
• Allergy tests, so that your doctor can know if allergies are causing inflammation.
• Blood tests, to check vitamin D levels. If they’re low, that can lead to polyps.

What Causes Sinus Infections In Adults: 14 Reasons

A sinus infection may be caused by a virus. Some symptoms of sinus infections include thick, clogged nose, headache, foul-smelling yellowish mucus, fever and pain around the upper jaws and eyes. There are many reasons that cause sinus infections. In order to deal with your sinus infection the doctor will first need to know the factors behind it. VKool.com will show you the article of what causes sinus infections: 14 reasons. The writing collected a list of sinus infection causes from reliable sources. Keep reading this writing to learn more these 14 causes of sinus infections in more detail!

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Should You Have Sinus Surgery

Chronic sinus problems can be linked to problems with your nasal passages, such as nasal polyps or a deviated septum. If there is a specific structural issue that is causing your chronic sinusitis or sinus headaches then an ENT specialist may be able to correct it surgically. In order to find out if sinus surgery is a good idea, youll need to be assessed by an ENT specialist. The doctor will check that surgery is possible and then discuss the risks and benefits with you in detail. Having the procedure could permanently improve your breathing and prevent sinus problems.

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What Is A Sinus Infection

A sinus infection, medically known as sinusitis or rhinosinusitis, occurs when your nasal cavities become infected, swollen, and inflamed. Fluid buildup in the sinuses can cause germs to grow, leading to a sinus infection.

Sinusitis is usually caused by a virus and often lasts even after other upper respiratory symptoms are gone. In some cases, bacteria or, rarely, fungus may cause a sinus infection.

Other conditions such as allergies, nasal polyps, and tooth infections can also contribute to sinus pain and symptoms.

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Check If You Have Sinusitis

Sinusitis is common after a cold or flu.

Symptoms of sinusitis include:

• pain, swelling and tenderness around your cheeks, eyes or forehead
• a blocked nose
• a reduced sense of smell
• green or yellow mucus from your nose
• a sinus headache
• toothache
• bad breath

Signs of sinusitis in young children may also include irritability, difficulty feeding, and breathing through their mouth.

The sinuses are small, empty spaces behind your cheekbones and forehead that connect to the inside of the nose.

Sinusitis causes the lining of the sinuses to swell up.

This stops mucus draining into your nose and throat properly, making you feel blocked up.

Is There A Right Way To Blow Your Nose

If you have a stuffy nose, trying to force yourself to blow your nose could make it worse. The best thing to do is to blow one side of your nose at a time gently into a tissue. You might want to first use some type of nasal rinse to loosen any material in your nose before blowing. Make sure you dispose of the tissue and then clean your hands with soap and water or an antimicrobial sanitizer.

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What Is The Treatment For Sinusitis

The first step to treat sinusitis is to unblock the nasal passages. This helps proper drainage of the sinuses. Draining the sinuses helps flush out a bacterial infection. If you have a bacterial infection, your doctor will also prescribe an antibiotic to fight it.

Here are a few common treatment options for sinusitis:

Nasal irrigation or steam inhalation. To irrigate your sinuses, you rinse your nose with warm salt water using a neti pot or a special rinse bottle. Steam inhalation involves breathing hot steam through your nose for 10 to 15 minutes, three to four times a day.

Nasal steroids. Sprays help decrease swelling. Use your nasal spray properly to avoid side effects. Read the directions carefully to avoid problems.

Antibiotics. Your doctor may prescribe a course of antibiotics to fight a bacterial infection.

Oral steroids. These are given for severe chronic sinusitis. These are powerful medicines with major side effects. These medicines are usually only prescribed when other medicines failed.

If your chronic sinusitis symptoms will not go away with these treatments, you may be a candidate for sinus surgery. Conventional sinus surgery is also known as functional endoscopic sinus surgery. A less-invasive option that uses a balloon catheter is called balloon sinuplasty. Both surgeries open up blocked sinuses, restoring normal sinus drainage and may temporarily help reduce symptoms.

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When Antibiotics Are In Order

The main reason to prescribe antibiotics is for patient comfort, Dr. Sindwani says. The medical field used to be more convinced than it is today than untreated sinusitis would inevitably become a chronic issue, he says.

We dont think that way as much, he says. We dont know that an untreated acute sinusitis, if left untreated, will grumble along and cause people to have a chronic sinus infection.

Some people think thats two separate things, with chronic sinusitis more likely due to underlying issues like allergies or immune problems.

Are Sinus Infections Contagious No But An Underlying Virus Can Be

• Sinus infections are not contagious.
• However, if your sinus infection is caused by a virus, that virus can be contagious and if it spreads to someone else, they will be at a higher risk of getting a sinus infection, too.
• Here’s how you can recognize and treat a sinus infection in order to reduce risk and prevent the spread of any contagious illness.
• Visit Insider’s Health Reference library for more advice.

Sinus infections affect about 31 million Americans a year, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology .

If your sinus infection is caused by a virus, that virus may be contagious, but not the sinus infection itself. If your sinus infection is caused by bacteria or allergies, you likely won’t be contagious at all.

Here’s what you need to know about the common causes of sinus infections, how to treat them, and how to reduce your risk of getting one.

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How To Treat Sinusitis

With symptoms that linger, it can be hard to treat and get rid of a sinus infection for good.

Antibiotics are the standard treatment for combating sinus infections. Taken anywhere from 3 to 28 days, antibiotics help fight the bacteria. Because antibiotics dont typically alleviate symptoms, nasal decongestants, antihistamines, topical nasal corticosteroids and nasal saline can help to manage them.

Lack Of Moisture Or Dry Air

When mucus is trapped in the nasal passages for long periods of time, it can lose water and thicken. The result? It worsens symptoms and makes sinusitis more likely.

Therefore, doctors recommend you keep your nose as moist as possible. Start by drinking lots of water and avoiding caffeine, and use a humidifier to keep indoor air moist during the winter.

The occasional use of nasal irrigation treatments, like saline sprays, may also help treat or prevent sinusitis symptoms.

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What Decongestants And Nasal Sprays Soothe Or Cure Sinus Infections Or Sinusitis

Taking decongestants and mucolytics orally may be helpful in assisting drainage of sinus infection.

The treatment of chronic forms of sinus infection requires longer courses of medications, such as Augmentin, and may require a sinus drainage procedure. This drainage typically requires a surgical operation to open the blocked sinus under general anesthesia. In general, antihistamines should be avoided unless it is felt that the sinusitis sinus infection is due to allergies, such as from pollens, dander, or other environmental causes.

It is likely that the use of a topical nasal steroid spray will help reduce swelling in the allergic individual without the drying that is caused by using antihistamines although both are occasionally used. Oral steroids may be prescribed to reduce acute inflammation and to help with chronic inflammation in cases with or without polyps and in allergic fungal sinusitis.

In many people, allergic sinusitis develops first, and later, bacterial infection occurs. For these individuals, early treatment of allergic sinusitis may prevent the development of secondary bacterial sinusitis.

In rare instances or in natural disasters, fungal infections may develop in debilitated people. Death rates of 50%-85% have been reported for patients with these sinus infections. Treatment relies on early diagnosis followed by immediate surgical debridement, antifungal drugs, , and stabilizing any underlying health problem such as diabetes.

How Is Sinus Infection Diagnosed

Diagnosis depends on symptoms and requires an examination of the throat, nose and sinuses. Your allergist will look for:

• Redness
• Discolored nasal discharge
• Bad Breath

If your sinus infection lasts longer than eight weeks, or if standard antibiotic treatment is not working, a sinus CT scan may help your allergist diagnose the problem. Your allergist may examine your nose or sinus openings. The exam uses a long, thin, flexible tube with a tiny camera and a light at one end that is inserted through the nose. It is not painful. Your allergist may give you a light anesthetic nasal spray to make you more comfortable.

Mucus cultures: If your sinus infection is chronic or has not improved after several rounds of antibiotics, a mucus culture may help to determine what is causing the infection. Most mucus samples are taken from the nose. However, it is sometimes necessary to get mucus directly from the sinuses.

Knowing what kind of bacteria is causing the infection can lead to more effective antibiotic therapy. A fungus could also cause your sinus infection. Confirming the presence of fungus is important. Fungal sinus infection needs to be treated with antifungal agents, rather than antibiotics. In addition, some forms of fungal sinus infection allergic fungal sinus infection, for example do not respond to antifungal agents and often require the use of oral steroids.

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Which Medications Help Drain The Sinuses

Home remedies that open and hydrate the sinuses may promote drainage. Please refer to home remedies for information about how to:

• Increase daily fluids
• Take expectorants and pain relievers
• Irrigate the sinuses with saline

If environmental allergies cause sinusitis, antihistamines may help reduce swelling of the mucous membranes. Allergens stimulate white blood cells in the blood and tissues to release histamine into the circulation, which causes nasal congestion.

• Some of the older sedating OTC antihistamines are no longer recommended because they tend to dry out and thicken the mucus, making drainage more difficult.
• Non-sedating antihistamines such as fexofenadine , cetirizine , levocetirizine , loratadine , or desloratadine do not seem to dry out the mucosa. If nasal congestion is severe, a decongestant can be added .

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.

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How To Prevent A Sinus Infection

Prevention is really the key, she said. Staying healthy by drinking plenty of fluids, getting adequate rest, decreasing stress and washing your hands are all good preventive steps.

Make sure you get recommended vaccines such as the flu vaccine. Also, dont smoke and avoid secondhand smoke. And avoid close contract with others who have colds or other upper respiratory infections, Melinda said.

What Are The Sinuses How Many Do We Have

A sinus is a hollow, air-filled cavity. For the purposes of this article, a sinus will refer to those hollow cavities that are in the skull and connected to the nasal airway by a narrow hole in the bone . Normally all sinuses are open to the nasal airway through an ostium. Humans have four pair of these cavities each referred to as the:

The four pairs of sinuses are often described as a unit and termed the “paranasal sinuses.” The cells of the inner lining of each sinus are mucus-secreting cells, epithelial cells, and some cells that are part of the immune system .

Functions of the sinuses include humidifying and warming inspired air, insulation of surrounding structures , increasing voice resonance, and as buffers against facial trauma. The sinuses decrease the weight of the skull. If the inflammation hinders the clearance of mucous or blocks the natural ostium, the inflammation may progress into a bacterial infection.

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Overuse Of Nasal Products

While its true that nasal decongestant sprays relieve congestionthey constrict the blood vessels in the noseyou should avoid prolonged use of over-the-counter nasal sprays, as they can make your symptoms worse if not used as directed.

If you use sprays for an extended period of time, you can become less sensitive to their effects so that your nose becomes swollen again, a condition known as rebound nasal congestion, says Dr. Bains.

As a result, prolonged use of OTC nasal sprays can lead to dependency, adds Dr. Hueston, who recommends that people who use sprays to treat cold symptoms stop after four or five days.

Duration Of Sinus Infection

Acute sinusitis causes inflammation and symptoms that often develop quickly and last 7 to 10 days if caused by a viral infection. But the illness can last for up to 4 weeks if it’s caused by a bacterial infection.

Chronic sinusitis lasts for 12 weeks or more. This inflammation can continue for months or years more, and people often describe them as a never-ending cold.

Sinusitis may also be classified as:

• Subacute, in which symptoms last for more than 4 weeks but less than 12 weeks
• Recurrent acute, in which there are at least four acute sinus infection episodes within one year
• Acute exacerbation of chronic rhinosinusitis, in which symptoms worsen in a person with chronic sinusitis

But having symptoms of sinusitis doesnt always mean that you have a sinus infection.

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What Are Fungal Sinus Infections And How Do They Occur

Fungal sinus infections are a rare type of sinusitis caused by fungi.

Fungal spores or mold are often present in the sinuses, and we breathe these spores in and out all the time. The sinuses, which consist of moist, dark cavities, are the perfect home for fungi, which don’t require sunlight for food.

Fungal sinus infections are more common in people with a weakened immune system , uncontrolled diabetes, and prolonged use of antibiotics.

Fungal sinusitis can either be noninvasive or invasive, with the latter class spreading beyond the sinuses to also infect such areas as bone and blood vessels. Invasive fungal sinusitis may be chronic.

Aspergillus fumigatus is the most common fungus associated with fungal sinusitis. It is responsible for both acute fungal sinusitis in people with healthy immune systems and chronic invasive fungal sinusitis in people with immunocompromised systems .

Other Aspergillus species, including Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus niger, can also cause acute sinusitis in healthy immune systems. These acute forms of sinusitis usually result from a “fungal ball” .

Some people experience a type of fungal infection called allergic fungal sinusitis, which experts believe is an allergic reaction to fungi in the air.

Fungal genuses associated with allergic fungal sinusitis include Alternaria, Aspergillus, Bipolaris, Chrysosporium, Drechslera, and Exserohilum.

But numerous other fungi can also cause infection, including:

• Schizophyllum commune