How to Diagnose Chronic Sinusitis

It is not always easy to diagnose chronic sinusitis. The symptoms often resemble those associated with a cold or other upper respiratory infection. Your primary care physician can determine if you need the services of a specialist to diagnose and treat your symptoms.

Instructions

Define Diagnostic Criteria

1. Expect a complete medical history to be part of the criteria used to diagnose chronic sinusitis. This will include determining if there is a family history of sinus or allergy-related illness.

2. Plan on having an x-ray of the sinuses. Trapped air and fluid in the sinuses will show up on x-ray.

3. Realize the health care provider will likely tap on your face along the sinus pathway to diagnose sinusitis. This percussion is done to reveal tenderness often associated with chronic sinusitis.

4. Accept that it may be necessary to undergo a CT or an MRI of the skull to look more in depth at the sinus track. This diagnostic test is also used to evaluate the thickness of the sinus tissues.

5. Understand your doctor may shine a light on your sinuses. If sinusitis is present, the sinuses will not glow as they do in normal, uninfected sinuses.

6. Prepare for an examination using a nasal endoscope. This instrument is a thin flexible tube your doctor will insert through your nostrils to view the inside of the sinuses. A fiber-optic light clearly defines any signs of sinusitis.

7. Expect to wait a few days to get results from nasal and sinus cultures to identify specific bacterial pathogens that might be the cause of sinusitis.

Observe Symptoms of Sinusitis

1. Recognize the connection between aching in the upper teeth and sinus congestion. Sinusitis can put pressure on the nerves along the jaw and teeth. This pressure often feels like a toothache.

2. Consider fatigue a possible symptom of chronic sinusitis. Only your doctor can determine if you have an infection that is responsible for unusual tiredness.

3. Find a common complaint among chronic sinusitis sufferers is a reduced sensitivity to taste and smell. In some cases, there is total loss of these senses.

4. Realize that one can have chronic sinusitis without noticeable symptoms. If the infection is in the deep sinuses, it may be in existence for months before symptoms arise.

Tips & Warnings

• If left untreated, chronic sinusitis can cause deterioration of the mucous membranes lining the sinus cavities.

• An acute flare up of asthma may be the result of chronic sinusitis. Seek immediate medical attention if breathing difficulties arise.