- Sinusitis symptoms include nasal inflammation, reduced sense of taste or smell, nasal discharge, difficulty breathing through the nose, pain, tenderness, or swelling around the cheeks, eyes or nose.
- Some sufferers might face other symptoms including ear pain, bad breath, fatigue, or aching in the upper jaw and teeth.
- There are both surgical and nonsurgical treatments available, including balloon sinuplasty.
Dr. Matthew Blair of Gulf Coast Breathe Free said there are many different symptoms that a sinusitis sufferer has to deal with, including facial pain.
“Facial pain is a common complaint I get a lot and, not all facial pain is sinus disease,” Blair said. “It’s my job as an otolaryngologist to rule out the sinuses as a problem. Severe sinus disease usually causes a lot of facial pain, usually in the upper teeth. The reason being is that the molar actually sits on the floor of the sinuses underneath the eyes, on the maxillary sinuses, and also the nerves that give sensation to the face of the sinuses, giving you sensation to your teeth. So you can get a lot of pain referred from your sinuses into your teeth in your face.”
According to a report by the Mayo Clinic, acute sinusitis not only makes it difficult to breathe through your nose, but can also lead to swelling around your eyes and face, which can also cause facial pain and headaches. Symptoms of chronic sinusitis can include the usual suspects, but other, more unexpected suspects such as nasal inflammation, a runny nose, postnasal drainage, congestion, pain or facial swelling, headaches, loss of smell and taste, a sore throat, bad breath or fatigue, the Mayo Clinic report stated.
In addition to headaches, toothaches, nasal drainage or fever, people experiencing symptoms that aren’t improving for more than a week should see a physician, according to according to NHS Inform. An ear, nose and throat specialist might recommend a saline solution or over-the-counter treatment. If those don’t improve symptoms, a doctor might prescribe antibiotics or a corticosteroid spray, and possibly recommend sinus surgery.
Aside from other treatments and surgeries, another option is balloon sinuplasty, an inpatient procedure that’s simple and only takes about an hour, according to Entellus Medical. The preparation takes about 30 minutes, before which anesthetics are applied to the nose. A thin instrument with a balloon is then guided through the sinus cavity, the balloon is inflated for five seconds with saline solution and the balloon is removed once the sinuses are clear.
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