Acute Attack Of Sinusitis

The sinuses are the air filled spaces between the bones of the face and skull. Air passes in and out of these spaces, and they produce mucus that is drained in the nose.

The term sinusitis means inflammation of these sinuses. The opening of the sinuses gets blocked hence the mucus is not able to go into the nose, which causes the collection of mucus inside the sinuses, which in turn causes pain. Sometimes seasonal changes can affect the sinuses.

The symptoms of sinusitis include cough, nasal congestion, pain around the nasal area and face or head, yellow or green nasal discharge etc.

Sinusitis can be acute or chronic. It is not possible to differentiate but acute sinusitis is most common types.

In acute sinusitis infection grows fast but lasts for a short period. In this it may be difficult to breathe by nose and swelling occurs around the eyes and face. It is mainly caused by common cold. Some dental infection can also be the cause. Tumors of the nose, pregnancy, smoking, untreated cold can also lead to it.

It is easy to treat acute sinusitis. As soon as the first symptom appears start drinking more water. Take steam or put saline nasal drops to keep nostrils moist. Avoid eating dairy products like milk, cheese, butter etc because they form mucus in the body. One should also avoid swimming as it pressures the sinuses.

But if your symptoms are severe, there is thick yellowish or greenish mucus or if symptoms prevail for more than seven days consult your doctor. Some antibiotics and painkillers would be given to lessen your pain. But these medications can have some ill effects like vomiting, nausea or stomach pain.

As such it is not common that sinusitis can become dangerous but in children if not treated properly it can spread to eyes that can cause blindness.