Sinusitis is an inflammation of the sinuses (spaces behind the forehead, nose bones, cheeks and eyes) that occurs with an infection caused by a virus, bacteria or fungus.
This disease is very common in winter, although it can also be caused by an allergy or by changes in air pressure, such as when traveling by airplane.
Symptoms of sinusitis
A very frequent symptom of this infection is headache, but it is often not diagnosed correctly and is confused with other types of headache, such as migraine or tension headache. Thus, to correctly distinguish sinusitis from other pathologies, the following symptoms should be taken into account:
- Pain in the face, especially in the forehead, cheekbones or inner part of the eyes.
- Cold with a lot of nasal congestion
- Thick, white or greenish, thick, foul-smelling mucus
- Loss of smell
- Fever (not always)
Treatment of sinusitis
In the first two or three days, sinusitis is treated with anti-inflammatory drugs to relieve symptoms and with nasal washes and topical decongestant sprays to remove mucus.
If after three days the situation does not improve or even worsens, it is necessary to visit a doctor specialized in Otorhinolaryngology to diagnose the disease correctly and propose a treatment, which will usually be antibiotic (surgery is less frequent, since it is performed only in complicated cases).