If your face aches, if your sinuses are tender (or if they feel like there is excessive pressure), if you have a headache that feels like it's centered around your eyes or in the front of your head, or if you have pain in your cheeks, your upper jaw, or even your teeth, you may have a case of sinusitis.
The condition is basically caused by an inflammation and congestion of the nasal passages and paranasal sinuses. Pain may result as a consequence of inflammation from colds, the flu, or environmental pollutants. Swelling of nasal passages blocks normal mucous flow between sinuses and the nose. Usually, the sinuses warm, moisten and filter the air we breathe. The mucous secretions are supposed to empty into the nasal cavity; but when they don't, the fluid gets trapped in the sinuses. Inflammation may be accompanied by a bacterial infection.
You may ask yourself, how did I get this way? Well, first of all, you are not alone. Sinusitis is one of the five most common ailments in the United States—between thirty and fifty million people suffer from it each year. The people most likely to get it are the people you would expect: teachers and health care workers, who are often exposed to infections, like the common cold. But people with allergies (which cause congestion), smokers (tobacco smoke irritates the nasal passages and lowers the body's natural resistance) and people with deviated septums are also prone to sinusitis.
Most cases of sinusitis are not serious, and respond to treatment. But, untreated sinusitis can lead to much more serious complications, like acute bronchitis, ear infection and even pneumonia.
Once a diagnosis of sinusitis is made, your doctor can prescribe a course of treatment that will clear up the source of the infection, and your symptoms. Treatment involves:
- Controlling the source of sinus infection
- Re-establishing proper nasal drainage
- Relieving sinus pain
Your doctor may prescribe antibiotics to eliminate the infection and, as the infection subsides, so should the pain. Since antibiotics may take several days to work, your doctor may also suggest an over-the-counter decongestant and analgesic, to relieve the sinus pain while re-establishing proper drainage.
Be careful not to use an antihistamine. Antihistamines do let you breathe a little easier—by reducing swelling—but they also dry up the nose and thicken the mucus, which is the opposite of what you want.
You can also try hot, wet compresses, a heating pad, and steam from a vaporizer or teakettle.
