Elevate Your Health Colorado Sinus trouble? Infection may be to blame

Despite your best efforts to treat that cough, runny nose, and headache with the standard cold remedies, you might find your symptoms only worsen after a week. The truth is, you may not be suffering from a cold. You could be dealing with sinusitis, one of the most common respiratory conditions in the United States.

Each year, more than 39 million people nationwide deal with an inflammation of the nose and sinuses and difficult breathing that comprises sinusitis. The condition can vary from simply irritating to downright serious. 

“The lining of the sinus cavities in the head work hard to clear viruses, bacteria, and fungi,” says Lorna Brass, MD, board-certified head and neck surgeon with Kaiser Permanente Colorado. “When the sinuses get infected, the drainage ports get swollen and sometimes scar, making you prone to more serious infections and complications like a brain or eye abscess.”

Indicators of sinusitis
Although anyone can get sinusitis, you’re at an increased risk if you suffer from seasonal or perennial allergies, get frequent upper respiratory tract infections, or live in a climate with low humidity and high particulate pollution (which can be the case along Colorado’s Front Range). “About 25 percent of my patients today have some type of sinus disease,” Dr. Brass explains.

Symptoms such as facial pain, ear pressure, headache, and nasal congestion and drainage lasting longer than seven days could indicate sinusitis. If these symptoms sound familiar, work with your doctor to determine if the condition is acute or chronic, and how to best treat it.

• Acute sinusitis causes the sinus lining to swell and makes sinus passages narrow and unable to drain. When extra mucus becomes trapped inside the sinus cavity, bacteria can multiply.
  • Triggers: Cold, virus, and seasonal allergens such as pollen, trees, grasses, and weeds can lead to acute sinusitis.
  • Prevention and treatment options: Over-the-counter nasal sprays, nasal and oral decongestants, and prescription antibiotics can clear the infection, lower inflammation and keep the sinuses free from irritants and bacteria. By managing your allergies and protecting your immune system, you can prevent acute sinusitis.
• Chronic sinusitis typically lasts for more than 12 weeks and often recurs regardless of treatment. “Long-term sinus inflammation can wreak havoc on the lining and function of the nasal passages, leaving patients predisposed to other infections,” says Suzanne Fishman, MD, a board-certified allergist with Kaiser Permanente Colorado. The best way to diagnose the condition is to work with both an allergist and ear, nose, and throat specialist who can look at both the environmental and anatomical issues.
  • Triggers: Nasal polyps and seasonal or perennial allergies can cause chronic sinusitis, but unlike an acute case, bacteria aren’t to blame. “Patients who have chronic sinusitis are more prone to perennial and seasonal allergens like dust, fungal spores, animal dander or grasses and weeds,” Dr. Fishman says.
  • Prevention and treatment options: Change your environment by adding a HEPA filter to your furnace and air conditioner to remove allergens from the air. Also, limit your alcohol intake and avoid cigarette smoke since they cause the nasal and sinus membranes to swell. Also, schedule an appointment for an allergy test.

    When severe allergies are the culprit, Dr. Fishman suggests allergen immunotherapy. “Allergen immunotherapy helps the immune system modify its response to allergies through a series of injections,” she explains. The build-up takes between six and nine months, and requires weekly visits to the allergist. After this phase, the patient will continue monthly allergy injections for three to five years. As the immune system adjusts, patients have far fewer respiratory infections.

    Minimally invasive surgery is also an option to clear an obstruction that’s causing chronic sinusitis. “With functional endoscopic sinus surgery, we can open the natural drainage ports or remove inflamed tissue and improve the anatomy of the sinus passages,” Dr. Brass says. Data shows that the surgery improves or cures roughly 70 percent of patients.

Think you have sinusitis? Learn how you can get the condition diagnosed and treated at kp.org.