How a Cold Causes Sinus Pain and Pressure

Written by WebMD Editorial Contributors

• What to Do

You’ve got a bad cold, the kind that makes you feel like your head is stuffed with cotton and your nose is a drippy, leaky faucet. On top of the congestion, your sinuses feel like they’re under pressure.

Blame the cold virus. It has attacked the membranes of your nasal passages and your sinuses, which makes them swell up and sends mucus production into overdrive. That clogs up your sinuses, which causes sinus pain and pressure.

An antibiotic won’t help. They only fight bacteria, not the viruses that cause colds.

Until your cold goes away, you can try one of these remedies to ease the sinus pain and pressure.

Over-the-counter medications. Decongestants shrink swollen blood vessels in the nasal passages. This should ease sinus congestion, lessen the pressure, and help with drainage. You can get these meds as pills, liquids, and nasal sprays.

Some medicines combine a decongestant with an antihistamine, which can help your runny nose, or a pain reliever that can ease sinus pain.

Don’t use nasal decongestant sprays for more than 3 days in a row, because that can make your congestion worse after you stop.

Decongestants can raise blood pressure. So if your blood pressure is already high, check with your doctor first. Also make that call if you have diabetes, an enlarged prostate, thyroid disease, or heart disease. While you take this type of medication, watch for side effects like nervousness, urinary retention, dizziness, and sleeplessness.

Over-the-counter pain relievers — such as acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and naproxen — can ease the pain caused by sinus pressure. Read and follow the directions on the label on all your medicines, since they may be included in any combination cold or allergy drug. You don’t want to accidentally take too much.

Moisten the air. To breathe easier, turn on a humidifier while you sleep, or stand in a steamy shower for a few minutes. The steam will loosen tight mucus. You can hold a warm, wet washcloth to your nose or breathe in steam from a bowl of warm water to get a similar effect. Make sure it’s not too hot, so you don’t burn yourself.

Bioelectronic sinus device. This works by using microcurrents to stimulate nerve fibers in your sinuses. Sold over-the-counter, it helps reduce sinus inflammation, pain, and congestion. 

Saltwater (saline) sprays. Spraying a saline solution into your nose or pouring it into each nostril with a Neti pot can help clear out the mucus and other gunk that clogs you up. The salt water loosens up thick mucus, and it also flushes out some of the germs that made you sick in the first place.

When you irrigate, flush, or rinse your sinuses, use distilled, sterile, or previously boiled water to make up the solution. Rinse the irrigation device after each use and leave it open to air dry.

Sip some more. The liquid loosens the mucus that’s backed up in your sinuses. Hot tea is good. So is chicken soup.

Add a pillow. You need to rest when you’re sick. Prop up your pillow to raise your head so you breathe better.

Call your doctor if your symptoms stick around for more than a week to 10 days, or if they get worse after about 5 days.

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How Polyps Affect Allergies, How to Treat Them

Written by Rick Ansorge

• What Are Nasal Polyps?
• Symptoms of Nasal Polyps
• Nasal Polyp Causes and Risk Factors
• Diagnosis of Nasal Polyps
• Treatment for Nasal Polyps
• Complications of Nasal Polyps
• More

Nasal polyps are common, noncancerous, teardrop-shaped growths that form in the nose or sinuses. They’re usually found around the area where the sinuses open into the nasal cavity. Mature ones look like peeled grapes.

Often linked to allergies or asthma, they may cause no symptoms, especially if they’re small and don’t need treatment. Larger ones can block normal drainage from the sinuses. When too much mucus builds up in the sinuses, they can become infected.

Unlike polyps that form in the colon or bladder, nasal ones are rarely cancer. Experts think that long-term inflammation causes them or that they run in families.

Nasal polyps aren’t painful to the touch. Medications or surgery can treat most. They may come back, though..

If you have any symptoms, they may include:

• Stuffy or blocked nose
• Sneezing
• Postnasal drip
• Runny nose
• Facial pain
• Trouble with sense of smell
• Loss of taste
• Itching around the eyes
• Infections

The most common symptoms are a runny, stuffy, or blocked nose.

Many people also have wheezing, sinus infections, and are sensitive to fumes, odors, dust, and chemicals. It’s less common, but some people with nasal polyps also have a severe allergy to aspirin and reaction to yellow dyes. If you know you have that allergy, ask your doctor to check for nasal polyps.

Nasal polyps make you more likely to have long-term (chronic) sinusitis. Large ones can even change the shape of your nose.

Nobody really knows what causes nasal polyps, or why they happen in some people, but don’t happen in others. Some experts believe it may have something to do with the immune system or the chemical makeup in the lining of your nose and sinuses. But we need more research.

Anyone can get nasal polyps, but they’re most common in adults over age 40 and are twice as likely to affect men as women. Children under age 10 rarely get them. If they do, a doctor will check for signs of cystic fibrosis.

Nasal polyps are linked to allergic rhinitis, asthma, aspirin allergy, sinus infections, acute and chronic infections, something stuck in the nose, and cystic fibrosis. But many times, the cause is unknown. Sometimes, people get them before they develop asthma or sinusitis.

Some experts think that symptoms of allergies — including a runny nose, sneezing, and itching — make some people more likely to get nasal polyps. But the allergy connection is controversial. Other researchers think that sinus infections are to blame.

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 (CT)
• 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.

Medications: If you need treatment, you’ll probably start with a nasal corticosteroid spray. In many cases, that can shrink or even get rid of nasal polyps. But some people need to take corticosteroids such as prednisone by mouth for a week. If that doesn’t work, your doctor may give you a shot of a medicine called dupilumab (Dupixent).

Unfortunately, nasal polyps tend to come back if the irritation, allergy, or infection continues. So you may need to keep using a corticosteroid spray and get checkups with a nasal endoscope every now and then.

In general, medications such as antihistamines and decongestants aren’t great at managing nasal polyps. But you may need antihistamines, to control allergies, or antibiotics, if you have an infection, before you start on steroids.

Surgery: Sometimes, nasal polyps are so large that medications don’t work. In such cases, surgery may be an option.

The doctor would likely use a small nasal telescope that removes nasal polyps. You can go home the same day as the surgery.

Surgery helps in most cases. It may be less effective if you have nasal polyps, asthma, and aspirin sensitivity. If that’s you, medication may be more helpful.

Nasal polyps can block your airflow and keep fluids like mucus from draining properly. They also cause lots of irritation and inflammation while they’re forming. All of those things can bring complications, including:

• Sinus infections
• Asthma flare-ups
• Obstructive sleep apnea, a potentially serious condition where you stop and start breathing while you sleep

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Sinusitis: symptoms, causes, diagnosis and treatment

Attention!

The information in the article is for reference only and cannot be used for self-diagnosis and self-treatment.
If you have symptoms of the disease, contact your doctor.

Contents:

• Types of sinusitis
• Causes of sinusitis
• Symptoms and signs of sinusitis
• Diagnosis of sinusitis
• Treatment of sinusitis

Sinusitis is an inflammatory lesion of the mucous membrane lining the inner surface of the maxillary sinus.

The disease is manifested by headache, discomfort in the paranasal area, as well as symptoms of general intoxication. The disease is acute or has a chronic course. It affects adults and occurs in older children. Sinusitis has an ICD code – J32.0

Types of sinusitis

The division of sinusitis into forms is determined by the nature of the course, the causes and localization of the pathological process. The lesion can be bilateral and unilateral.

Purulent

A variant of sinusitis in which a bacterial infection of the mucous membrane of the maxillary sinuses occurs. These spaces are filled with pus. The pathological process captures one or both sinuses. With purulent sinusitis, the patient develops pain in the middle part of the face. This type of pathology is that pus in the sinuses can provoke inflammation of the membranes of the brain.

Catarrhal

This type of sinusitis is an infiltration of the mucous membrane lining the sinuses. It is manifested by edema, accompanied by the release of serous-mucous fluid in a moderate amount. With catarrhal sinusitis, the mucous membrane is hyperemic, plethoric. There is parietal thickening of the vascular plexuses in one or both sinuses. Often there is immediately bilateral catarrhal sinusitis.

Odontogenic

It is characterized by the presence of inflammation of the sinus mucosa, which is caused by the penetration of the pathogen from the main focus of infection. It is located in the region of the upper jaw. The most likely source of infection in odontogenic sinusitis is a diseased tooth. This occurs in those people who have structural features of the jaw. In them, the tops of the roots of the teeth are located immediately under the mucous membrane.

Bilateral

This variety is characterized by simultaneous damage to the paranasal sinuses on both sides. It is less common than a unilateral lesion. Bilateral sinusitis is more severe than unilateral sinusitis. It often takes a chronic course.

Acute

This form of the disease is detected in patients more often than others. Acute sinusitis is characterized by the occurrence as a complication of an acute respiratory viral infection. In the sinuses, edema quickly forms and exudate accumulates. Clinical manifestations of the disease appear with lightning speed. It lasts no more than three months. Then the manifestations of the disease disappear.

Chronic

This form is a complication of acute sinusitis. It occurs when untimely, improper treatment of the disease or its premature completion. Chronization of the process contributes to: the curvature of the nasal septum, hypertrophied adenoids, the growth of polyps, the presence of a tumor in the nasal cavity.

Causes of sinusitis

It becomes acute due to the development of complications of viral infections with damage to the nasopharynx. This occurs due to mucosal edema, due to which the narrowing of the opening for communicating the sinus with the nasopharynx begins. Exudate accumulates in its cavity. Excellent conditions are created for the reproduction of bacteria.

Main causes:

• allergic rhinitis;
• chronic coryza;
• vasomotor rhinitis.

Against the background of a decrease in immunity, the patient may develop acute inflammation of a fungal nature. Acute sinusitis can be managed quickly with adequate therapy.

Causes of transition to chronic form:

• presence of bronchial asthma or allergic rhinitis;
• frequent respiratory infections;
• permanent residence in conditions with polluted air;
• polyps and tumors in the nasal cavity;
• deviated septum;
• abuse of vasoconstrictor drops;
• smoking;
• dehydration;
• taking drugs that reduce immunity.

Symptoms and signs of sinusitis

Sinusitis has striking characteristic symptoms. The main manifestation of the disease is pain, which is localized in the middle third of the face and paranasal region. Pain in sinusitis have features. Their intensity increases in the evening, and in the morning they are practically absent. How does sinusitis manifest itself?

Symptoms of acute sinusitis

• headache in sinusitis has a bursting, intense character;
• there are signs of general intoxication: general weakness, nausea, feeling of weakness;
• body temperature rises;
• marked lacrimation and photophobia;
• nasal breathing difficult;
• the sense of smell in sinusitis is impaired;
• Nasal discharge may be clear or purulent.

If the process has moved to the periosteum, note the swelling of the orbit and cheeks on the side of the lesion. In children, the symptoms of sinusitis are pronounced. Signs of general intoxication prevail over local signs of inflammation.

Symptoms of chronic sinusitis

• body temperature rises slightly, often this sinusitis in adults occurs without fever;
• increased weakness and fatigue;
• bursting headache, worse towards evening;
• reduced sense of smell;
• possible cough with little sputum;
• constant runny nose.

Sinusitis in adults without symptoms

Sinusitis without any symptoms often occurs in the elderly and debilitated people. The only manifestations of the disease may be increased weakness and fatigue, but this is attributed to other health problems.

Sinusitis without symptoms is dangerous due to its complications. The infection spreads to other organs. Therefore, if you suspect a disease, you should immediately consult a doctor.

Sinusitis without fever

The presence of a temperature reaction is a manifestation of the body’s fight against infection. If immunity is reduced, then this does not happen. The temperature remains normal. Sinusitis flows without it in chronic forms.

Sinusitis without a runny nose and nasal congestion

Infection flows without a runny nose, if caries has dissolved the oral septum and penetrated inside. This is facilitated by injuries of the facial bones, a curved nasal septum.

Diagnosis of sinusitis

Before treating sinusitis, it is necessary to carefully examine the patient. The patient is examined as follows:

• The doctor first studies the history of the disease and the patient’s complaints.
• He examines the nasal cavity and the projection of the paranasal sinuses. Performs palpation of facial soft tissues
• During rhinoscopy, a doctor examines the nasal mucosa using a special device. Finds its swelling and hyperemia.
• An ENT doctor examines the respiratory and olfactory functions of the nose using special tests.
• Sinuses are seen through diaphanoscopy. With unilateral sinusitis, darkening of half of the face is fixed.
• X-rays provide a clear picture of the paranasal sinuses. Sinusitis in the picture is visible as darkening of the sinus.
• Ultrasound can detect the presence of fluid.
• CT and MRI are performed if tumors, polyps and cysts in the sinuses are suspected, complicating the course of the disease.
• Diagnostic puncture is performed to obtain exudate for the subsequent determination of the causative agent of the disease during bacteriological culture.
• Endoscopic diagnostic methods are used to study the state of the maxillary sinus mucosa during examination.
• Methods of laboratory diagnostics: blood for HIV, immunoglobulins, immunogram.

If necessary, additional diagnostic methods are used to clarify the diagnosis.

Treatment of sinusitis

How to cure sinusitis? Now there are several effective methods that allow you to get rid of it.

Inflammation of the maxillary sinus mucosa fills with exudate, which can be very viscous. He doesn’t leave on his own. He has to be evacuated. One of the methods of treatment is the puncture of this cavity.

Maxillary sinus puncture

Maxillary sinus puncture is a puncture of its wall with a sharp instrument. This is necessary to evacuate the inflammatory contents. It is often used for drainage in sinusitis, in case of accumulation of viscous contents inside the sinus, which does not go away on its own. It cannot be extracted by other methods.

Puncture for sinusitis quickly alleviates the patient’s condition immediately after the evacuation of the inflammatory exudate. The sinus is also punctured when the patient’s condition is threatened by a breakthrough of purulent exudate into the surrounding tissues with the development of irreversible consequences (meningitis, otitis media, encephalitis, sepsis).

Procedure steps:

• The puncture is performed in the area of ​​the lower nasal passage using a special needle with a curved and beveled tip.
• Under visual control, it is inserted into the lower nasal passage. Here the bone is with a minimum thickness, which makes it easier to perform a puncture. The needle rests on his vault. Its penetration depth is up to 2.5 cm.
• The needle is advanced to the outer edge of the orbit. Using a syringe, the doctor evacuates the contents of the sinus and rinses it with antiseptic solutions.
• After the procedure, the patient is laid on one side for half an hour. Make sure that the solution comes out of the sinus cavity.

Methods of treatment of sinusitis without puncture

It is preferable to treat without the use of a sinus puncture, since this method of treatment often causes complications – bleeding, vascular thrombosis, and more. There are other methods that are effective for this disease.

Antibiotics for sinusitis

Antibiotics for bacterial sinusitis are the treatment of choice. Several of these groups of these drugs are used for treatment. The most commonly used are penicillins, fluoroquinolones, macrolides, cephalosporins. The drug for treatment is chosen by the doctor.

Treatment procedures

Less invasive methods are used for treatment. They are used in sinusitis for washing the sinuses.

Use the following methods:

• Cuckoo. The patient is placed on the couch. Then, using a tube, an antiseptic is fed into one nasal passage, and a tube is placed in the other to pump out exudate from the sinuses.
• Balloon sinusoplasty. Gas is pumped into the sinuses – it expands the lumen of the anastomoses. Then the contents of the sinuses are removed.

With the help of procedures, an effective treatment of sinusitis is carried out. Techniques allow you to remove inflammatory exudate from them without punctures of the sinuses. They are so safe that they treat sinusitis during pregnancy.

Physiotherapy

Used in complex therapy in the treatment of sinusitis. Methods activate biochemical processes, restore metabolism.

For treatment use:

• electrophoresis;
• radio wave therapy;
• ultrasonic treatment;
• UHF.

Physiotherapeutic methods in combination with other types of therapy can significantly speed up the healing process.

Drug therapy

In addition to antibacterial agents, other drugs are used. For this, the following means are used:

• antihistamines – help relieve tissue swelling;
• vasoconstrictor sprays and drops – they facilitate nasal breathing;
• glucocorticoids – reduce the manifestations of allergies, have anti-edematous and anti-inflammatory effects.

Success in the treatment of the disease depends on the rational combination of all methods of therapy. With the ineffectiveness of conservative treatment for sinusitis, operations are performed. In sinus surgery, the sinus is opened and the pathological contents are removed.

What can you do at home?

Treating sinusitis at home is dangerous. Do not self-medicate. Home treatment is used to alleviate the condition before going to the doctor. We will analyze what can be done at home with sinusitis.

Sinus nasal drops

This sinus remedy has a local effect. They must be supplemented with drugs of general effect.

The following drops are used:

• vasoconstrictor – relieve tissue swelling, normalize nasal breathing;
• antiseptics – inactivate pathogenic microorganisms that provoke inflammation;
• antibacterial drops – have a bactericidal effect;
• mucolytics – liquefy the pus in the sinuses and facilitate the excretion of mucus.

These products are a good addition to the main treatment.

Washing the nose

How to wash the nose with sinusitis? Solutions for washing the nasal cavity help to remove the contents from the sinuses. Washing the nose with sinusitis moisturizes the mucous membrane. To do this, use ready-made solutions that are sold in a pharmacy – Humer, Dolphin, Aqua Maris. You can rinse your nose with saline or furacilin solution.

Inhalations

Inhalations are recommended for the treatment of chronic sinusitis. The easiest way is to use steam treatments. Inhalations for sinusitis are best done with a nebulizer. It sprays medicinal solutions in the form of fine particles. They penetrate well into the sinuses.

Painkillers and antipyretics

If you have a high temperature above 38C0, you can take antipyretics. They will help bring her down. Headaches can be temporarily relieved by pain medication.

Self-massage

• Wash and dry hands thoroughly before the session. Movement should be light.
• The wings of the nose are gently massaged with fingertips. Pinch the tip of the nose.
• Knead the area of ​​nasolabial folds. Then gently rub the cheek area.
• Then they move on to stroking the bridge of the nose. Massage the area of ​​the outer corners of the eyes.

Do not exceed five minutes. Massage can be done up to five times a day.

Before applying the massage, you should consult with your doctor.

Folk remedies

Treatment of sinusitis with folk remedies is carried out only as an additional measure. It should not replace conventional therapy.

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How to effectively treat sinusitis without punctures

Before considering effective non-surgical methods of treating sinusitis, it is necessary to understand how it occurs.

Usually, nasal breathing is difficult with this disease, headaches are observed, and purulent nasal discharge is present. How to choose between non-surgical methods of treatment of sinusitis and punctures? Let’s figure it out.

The standard treatment for acute sinusitis is usually understood as punctures, that is, punctures of the maxillary sinuses, and subsequent antibiotic therapy. Of course, both punctures and the use of antibiotics cause reasonable concerns in patients. The punctures are quite painful, and the use of antibiotics is associated with rather unpleasant restrictions.

For antibiotics to be really effective for sinusitis, they usually need to be injected rather than taken as tablets. Punctures do not lead to a positive result in all cases. Often the patient leaves the doctor with remaining problems, that is, the punctures are ineffective.

Diagnosis of sinusitis

Problems with the surgical treatment of sinusitis are sometimes due to the fact that initially the patient had not sinusitis at all, but another disease, such as chronic rhinitis. Let’s look at the symptoms that are often mistaken for manifestations of sinusitis.

Nasal congestion

In some cases, sinusitis is confused with chronic rhinitis. With sinusitis, nasal congestion is relatively rare, which cannot be said about chronic rhinitis. In chronic rhinitis, washing the nose rarely helps, while in sinusitis it is very effective, as well as blowing your nose.

In acute manifestations of sinusitis, swelling of the nasal mucosa is usually mild. If, after instillation of vasoconstrictor drops into the nose, nasal breathing returns to normal for at least 30 minutes, then this already serves as a basis for doubt that the patient has sinusitis.

Headaches

Sinusitis does not lead to standard headaches, but to painful sensations in the facial area. The inflammatory process in sinusitis sometimes affects the periosteum or, even worse, the outgoing branch of the trigeminal nerve. When the doctor during the reception palpates the zygomatic region, he is trying to detect just that.

If the patient has pain in the forehead or bridge of the nose, as well as in the area of ​​the temples or parietal bone, then most likely the cause is a vascular headache, not sinusitis. This kind of headache resembles a migraine and is caused by blood stasis in the venous plexus at the base of the skull.

If you take a tablet of pentalgin or another drug containing caffeine that constricts blood vessels, you will feel better in case of vascular pain. But against the pain of an inflammatory nature, noted with sinusitis, these medications are almost useless. Thus, if pentalgin relieves your pain, then it is unlikely that the problem is caused by sinusitis.

X-ray characteristics of the maxillary sinuses

X-ray images of the maxillary sinuses should not be interpreted by the radiologist, but by the attending otolaryngologist. Accumulations of pus in the sinuses and their swelling are often equally visualized on radiographs. If it is wrong to take puffiness for purulent accumulations, then a puncture can be done in vain, which will not give any positive results. Often, the liquid content of the maxillary sinus with sinusitis is characterized by a clear visual level, which suggests its purulent nature.

In normal sinus opacities, radiographic findings should be supported by other diagnoses . The practice is unacceptable when a diagnostic puncture is performed with the sole purpose of determining the presence of pus in the sinus. An MRI or CT scan often allows you to clarify the results of an x-ray study, to differentiate between normal swelling and the presence of pus. The same applies to ultrasound scans of the sinuses.

How necessary are punctures for sinusitis

It is well known that the paranasal sinuses naturally communicate with the nasal cavity through fistulas. Through these fistulas, the liquid discharge of the maxillary sinuses naturally enters the nasal cavity. Thus, punctures are only an additional hole, which is absolutely not necessary for the normal functioning of the sinuses.

Most maxillary sinuses can be irrigated by extracting the purulent contents through the natural fistula. Modern otolaryngology has a wide range of effective methods for washing the maxillary sinuses through the fistula. This uses a variety of cannulas, catheters and other approaches that do not require puncture.