Panama City Reporter

For nearly 37 million Americans, a sinus infection can be a painful condition, but the issue can also have financial repercussions.

It can even force a world-famous pop star off the stage as she deals with the symptoms.

In 2016, a sinus infection caused Grammy-award-winning singer Ariana Grande to cancel a show in Portugal after she dealt with a painful sinus infection that made singing and performing impossible. Yahoo! News reported at the time that the singer canceled the performance at the Rock in Rio music festival as the result of a sinus infection and throat infection. She had to cancel the appearance on doctor’s orders. 

“I have a throat and sinus infection, and my doctors have advised me not to sing for a few days,” Grande wrote on Instagram. “I promise to make it up to you and give you the best show I'm capable of when I return. Again, I'm so sorry to the babes who were coming to see me. I love you with all my heart.”

Three years later, in 2019, Grande once again was silenced by another sinus infection, which, according to Huffington Post, forced her to cancel a show in Lexington, Kentucky. Grande said on Instagram that she had been feeling under the weather for quite some time before canceling the appearance.

According to Dr. Matthew Blair, an otolaryngologist with Gulf Coast Breathe Free Sinus & Allergy Centers, antibiotics can prove to be a good treatment option for patients. However, antibiotic resistance can build over time. Patients also can have allergic reactions to the medication. 

“Antibiotics are always the first treatment for acute sinusitis,” Blair told Panama City Reporter. “But when you have chronic sinusitis, antibiotics may not work that great because the blood supply to the sinuses isn't that great, believe it or not. So the goal of treatment is to open up the sinuses with a sinus balloon, having a good opening, and then have the patient irrigate their nose with a solution of steroids to decrease inflammation, as well as a choice of antibiotic, and that can be tailored to your specific situation." 

Blair also noted that patients who do develop resistance to an antibiotic over time may end up taking stronger antibiotics or IV antibiotics. That can result in a host of other issues. 

“So if you create an antibiotic resistance in bacteria, you can give it to your family member or to the community itself. So that's one of the fears of using antibiotics too often,” Blair said.

The causes of nasal inflammation vary greatly. During her 2019 bout with sinus infections, Grande used what appeared to be a humidifier to help her beat the condition, but she still had difficulty swallowing the next day, according to the Huffington Post.

If you're interested in evaluating your sinus or allergy symptoms and are considering seeing a doctor, take this Sinus Self-Assessment Quiz.