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Most people with colds experience inflammation of the sinuses, which can sometimes develop into a serious illness – sinusitis or its types: sinusitis, frontal sinusitis, ethmoiditis, etc. Let us consider in more detail what sinusitis is and how to treat it.?
What is sinusitis
An infectious and inflammatory chronic or acute disease of the adnexal nasal cavities is often called sinusitis. In this case, inflammation affects the epithelium of the mucosa of any paranasal sinuses (sinuses). Such a process can cause an allergy, it is still able to proceed as a complication of bacterial, fungal or viral infections. As a rule, sinusitis often accompanies rhinitis, so the disease is also called rhinosinusitis. The following types of disease are distinguished depending on the location of the inflammatory process:
- ethmoiditis is a pathological process that occurs in the nasal mucosa located in the ethmoid bone;
- sphenoiditis – an infection of the sphenoid sinus;
- sinusitis – inflammation of several maxillary accessory cavities;
- frontal sinusitis – an inflammatory process of the frontal nasal sinus.
Sinusitis – symptoms and treatment differ based on what form of the disease: acute or chronic – the disease is complex. Such a division is caused by different durations of the course of the disease. Acute treatment takes 2 months, you can get rid of a chronic disease for a long time, but with the first cold it will come back again. People with weak immunity are often susceptible to a chronic allergic form..
Sinusitis – Symptoms
Inflammation of the sinus mucosa is accompanied by edema. The glands actively begin to produce a lot of mucus, which, when accumulated in the sinuses of the paranasal cavities, thickens. In this case, the sinuses completely stop being cleaned, as a result, natural ventilation is disturbed and oxygen deficiency occurs. In the sinuses, favorable conditions arise for the growth of opportunistic flora, which causes an infectious process. Depending on the spread and form of the infection, sinusitis – it is important for everyone to know the symptoms – manifests itself:
- discharge from the nose;
- fatigue;
- weakness
- headaches (cephalalgia);
- loss of appetite;
- fever;
- sleep disturbance.
Local symptoms of sinusitis:
- loss of smell;
- nasal congestion and runny nose;
- sneezing, coughing;
- difficulty in nasal breathing;
- dry nasal epithelium.
Acute sinusitis
The border between the symptoms of the acute and the usual bacterial form of the disease is drawn depending on the saturation of the symptoms. Acute sinusitis repeats the usual symptoms, but it is more acute. Patients for the treatment of this form of the disease may need the help of a specialist, since at home you can’t get rid of the disease. In acute sinusitis, it becomes difficult to breathe, there is a violation of the sense of smell and may still appear:
- feeling of pressure around the eyes;
- fever with a low temperature;
- irritability;
- fatigue;
- copious discharge from the nose;
- severe pain.
Chronic sinusitis
Symptoms of the chronic stage of right-sided or left-sided sinusitis include all signs of the acute stage of the disease. The disease is considered chronic if the manifestations of the disease persist for more than eight weeks, conventional methods of treatment are ineffective, or other inflammatory diseases of the nasal cavity preceded this deterioration. Signs of sinusitis in this form are similar to the first manifestations of the acute stage of the sinusitis disease: severe headache. Chronic sinusitis is accompanied by the following symptoms:
- dry cough, worse at night;
- copious secretions – can be mucous, purulent, scanty;
- difficulty breathing and severe nasal congestion – based on the form of the disease, it can be unilateral and bilateral;
- pain throughout the body.
Symptoms of sinusitis
Inflammation of the maxillary sinuses that occurs with the complication of influenza, scarlet fever, measles, is called sinusitis. In addition to the general signs of intoxication, the patient is concerned about pain in the cheekbones and in the area of the affected sinus, radiating to the temple, forehead or upper jaw, while pain is only intensified during palpation. The first symptoms of sinusitis are distinguished:
- it becomes impossible to breathe through the nose;
- lacrimation appears;
- with catarrhal sinusitis, turbid and viscous serous discharge is tormented;
- have a night cough;
- swelling is expressed;
- often there is a rise in temperature;
- chills present.
Frontitis – Symptoms
Inflammation of the accessory frontal sinuses, which is more severe than other types of sinusitis, is called frontitis. At the same time, patients suffer from unbearable intense headaches. With the accumulation of pus, migraine intensifies, it weakens after emptying of the sinuses. If the disease cannot be cured in a timely manner, a complication may develop – meningitis. Frontitis disease – its symptoms are known – is characterized by:
- Pain in the eyes;
- severe swelling of the mucosa;
- high fever;
- difficulty breathing
- edema of the superciliary region;
- heavy discharge.
Sphenoiditis – Symptoms
Inflammation of the sphenoid sinus, rarely found in medical practice, is called sphenoiditis. As a rule, this ailment is accompanied by damage to the ethmoid sinuses. The clinic of the disease is manifested by pain in the parietal region, occiput, orbit and head. The disease can affect the optic nerves, causing a decrease in vision. A disease such as sphenoiditis – the symptoms here must be determined with a doctor – is manifested:
- swelling of the anterior wall of the sphenoid sinuses;
- a sense of bad smell;
- fever;
- purulent mucous membranes with copious discharge;
- general weakness.
Sinusitis – treatment
When there is an inflammatory process of the sinuses, many are interested in the question: how to treat sinusitis? With a moderate and mild degree of the disease, the patient does not need hospitalization, all medical measures are carried out under the supervision of a specialist. Treatment for severe sinusitis in adults will require proper inpatient therapy. It may look like this:
- antipyretic drugs (Nurofen) are prescribed to reduce the temperature;
- taking antihistamines in case of allergies;
- prescribe vasoconstrictor aerosols or drugs to eliminate edema;
- prescribe antibiotics if sinusitis is suspected;
- a child with rhinitis is prescribed a spray (beclomethasone, fluticasone);
- in the chronic stage, physiotherapy and spa treatment are used;
- in the presence of pus, surgery is allowed.
What to do with sinusitis
Often, due to inflammation and swelling of the nasal mucosa, mucus accumulates, which provokes the development of a complication of the common cold, like sinusitis. How to cure chronic sinusitis? To achieve a result, treatment in adults should be carried out only under the supervision of an otolaryngologist. The doctor will be able to diagnose and determine the presence of inflamed maxillary sinuses using rhinoscopy, radiography, MRI, ultrasound. The treatment regimen for exudative sinusitis involves the use of:
- antibiotics;
- vasoconstrictor drops;
- tablets with secretolytic and mucolytic action;
- glucocorticoids;
- with the ineffectiveness of drug treatment, punctures are prescribed – puncture and insertion of a needle into the maxillary sinuses with removal of pus and subsequent washing with a special solution.
Frontitis – treatment
If there is inflammation of the frontal sinus, many patients are interested in how to treat frontal sinusitis. As a rule, effective treatment of the disease is carried out by conservative methods in the hospital:
- vasoconstrictor drops (Naphthyzin, Tizin) and nasal sprays (Cameton, Bioparox) are prescribed;
- in the acute form, antibiotic treatment is performed (Cefazolin, Sporidex, Amoxicillin);
- taking antihistamines (Suprastin, Tavegil);
- homeopathy preparations are used to relieve pain (Sinupret, Sinuforte);
- you can use rice warming at home.
Etmoiditis – treatment
Inflammation of the mucous membrane of the ethmoid bone of the nose or ethmoiditis often occurs in adults or in preschool children. Parents are interested in how to cure sinusitis in order to avoid further development of complications. In order to completely recover from an ethmoidal illness, it is necessary immediately after the diagnosis to begin complex treatment. Ethmoiditis – treatment is carried out only under the supervision of a doctor – involves the use of:
- combined special preparations (Rinofluimucil);
- vasoconstrictor drops (xylometazoline);
- cotton turundas soaked in a special solution of adrenaline;
- antihistamines (Cetrin, Erius);
- UHF on the affected area;
- with the bacterial nature of the disease, antibiotics are prescribed (Cefix);
- nebulizer with special drug solution.
Treatment of sinusitis folk remedies
Many patients with sinus inflammation do not always turn to specialists for help. They try to independently eliminate the signs of an unpleasant ailment, while being interested in how to treat sinusitis at home. As a rule, such treatment begins with rinsing the nose. To do this, use a rubber bulb or an ordinary plastic bottle with a spray bottle, into which salt solution is poured. For washing, you need to bend over the bath and pour the contents into one of the sinuses. There are many more ways to treat sinusitis with folk recipes:
- to get rid of the chronic form of the disease, you need to eat half a glass of honey with cranberries 3 times a day for two weeks;
- treating sinusitis involves chewing small pieces of bee honeycombs;
- the use of inhalation with boiled potatoes, which must be stretched and breathed over its steam, covering his head with a towel.
