What Is Chronic Sinus Infection?
When the mucosal lining of the sinuses remains constantly inflamed, the condition is known as chronic sinus infection. There is a natural healing mechanism in our body. You do not experience severe chronic sinus infection symptoms when you have a mild sinus infection. Sometimes, due to our poor health, a mild sinus infection can progress to acute sinusitis and subsequently, chronic sinus infection. Another term for chronic sinusitis is recurrent sinus infection. They mean the same thing.
Causes of Sinus Infections
Most sinus infections appear after you have suffered from a common cold, viral influenza or allergies. The common symptom of these illnesses is nasal obstruction.
Top 5 Chronic Sinus Infection Symptoms
1. Nasal obstruction. Allergies related to certain categories of food, mold, pollens, pet dander and other foreign particles are known to cause nasal congestion. Nasal congestion could also be caused by the presence of nasal polyps or an abnormal structure of the nose such as a deviated septum.
2. Nasal discharge. Nasal discharge could be stained with pus giving a yellowish-green colour. Foul-smelling discharge could mean bacterial infection of the maxillary sinuses arising from a dental problem.
3. Postnasal drip. On waking up in the morning, if a lot of mucus have collected overnight, it is one of the significant chronic sinus infection symptoms. Often, you could feel a lump of thick and sticky mucus gushing into the nasopharynx occasionally.
4. Persistent cough. If a person has a persistent cough which does not go away with prescribed medication, sinusitis is suspected.
5. Eustachian tube dysfunction. Chronic sinusitis sufferers often suffer from the feeling that their ears are clogged up. This is caused by the sticky mucus obstructing the openings of the eustachian tubes. Sometimes, the eustachian tubes can become inflamed and producing abnormally thick mucus as well.
Chronic Sinus Infection Treatment
If there is no abnormality of the nose structure, then prescribing antibiotics to treat the bacterial sinus infection would be appropriate. Antibiotics are classified as narrow-spectrum drugs when they work against only a few types of bacteria.
Broad-spectrum antibiotics, on the other hand, affect many types of bacteria. However, the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics presents the danger of promoting antibiotic resistance.
For chronic sinus infection treatment, the ENT specialists would favor the use of a broad-spectrum antibiotic. Avelox® (moxifloxacin) and Cedax® (Ceftibuten dihydrate) are highly recommended for sinus infection treatment.
Besides antibiotics, antihistamines and corticosteroids would be needed to clear the allergy symptoms and inflammation respectively.
