How to Treat a Sinus Infection

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Doctor David Hill and today we're going to be talking about how to treat a sinus infection. First of all we need to talk about the different kinds of sinus infections people can get. The most common is the common cold. It's caused by a virus and yes it infects the nose but it also infects the cavities within the head that normally hold air. These are the sinuses and there are four pair of them. One pair here behind these bones, one pair behind these bones and two more pair deeper in the head. When a cold occurs we call that a viral rhinosinusitus and you may see fluid in the sinuses on X-ray. But the important thing is this is a virus and there's really not a lot to do about it other than symptomatic care. The second type of sinusitis is an acute bacterial rhinosinusitus. This means that instead of a virus now you have a bacterial infection but it hasn't been there very long, usually a week or two. This usually occurs as a result of a cold, usually later on in the cold and you know that it's there because of the fever that comes back after it's gone away within the first few days of the cold or because the cold symptoms are simply lasting too long. In adults facial or headache pain may be a presenting sign although in children this is relatively rare. How you treat an acute sinusitis depends on whether the patient is an adult or a child. We know in children antibiotics can be helpful in reducing symptoms and making the disease go away sooner. In adults it's not so clear whether antibiotics really have a role, and many physicians are moving away from antibiotics and toward more natural interventions like for example, nasal irrigations with a neti pot. The last kind of sinusitis is called a chronic sinusitis, and this can be very difficult to treat. There are some surgeries, antibiotics that have been tried. Nasal steroids may make a little bit of difference and in fact nasal steroids may hasten the relief from an acute bacterial sinusitis as well. But it's not an all clear still that there's really a slam dunk therapy for where a chronic sinusitis is. So if you've had a sinusitis for more than a month you really want to work closely with your ear, nose and throat doctor or your primary care doctor to look through the various modalities that are available and figure out if where there's one that seems like it might work best for you. Talking about treating sinusitis, I'm Doctor David Hill."