Do not endure if you have acute purulent sinusitis

This is an automatically translated article.

The article is professionally consulted by Specialist Doctor II Nguyen Van Thai - Doctor of Otolaryngology - Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery - Vinmec Danang International General Hospital

1. What is acute sinusitis?

The sinuses are hollow bone cavities located in the cranium, around the nose, and connected to the nasal cavity. The inside of the sinuses is lined by a mucosal layer that is continuous with the lining of the nasal cavity, so they also work to warm, humidify and filter the air coming in. The sinuses have the role of lightening the head, having the effect of resonating and warming the air.
Normally, the holes of the sinuses are open, the fluid secreted by the sinuses and the air is always circulating. Acute rhinosinusitis occurs when these holes are blocked, circulation is stopped, most sinusitis is caused by an infection. If the disease progresses within four weeks, it is called acute rhinosinusitis. When the disease persists for more than eight weeks or longer, chronic sinusitis develops.
Acute rhinosinusitis according to common level is: inflammation of the maxillary sinus, ethmoid sinus, frontal sinus, sphenoid sinus, but sometimes inflammation of many sinuses at the same time (polysinusitis).

2. Symptoms of acute purulent sinusitis

Facial pain: This is the main sign of purulent acute rhinosinusitis, patients often have pain in episodes, cyclical, often more painful in the morning due to night time, secretions and pus are more stagnant. in the sinuses.
Nasal congestion : Acute purulent rhinosinusitis has symptoms of nasal congestion causing difficulty breathing due to blocked and obstructed nose, usually occurs on both sides, accompanied by runny nose. Depending on the severity of the disease, nasal congestion can be mild, moderate, intermittent or continuous. Nasal congestion often occurs when lying down and increases at night. In many cases, it reduces the sense of smell and taste, so eating is not good and can be dangerous in case the patient cannot distinguish the smell of toxic gases and vapors.
In addition to the above basic symptoms, people with acute rhinosinusitis also have a number of other symptoms such as ear pain, sore throat, feeling tired, maybe fever and sometimes nausea.

3. Complications of acute purulent sinusitis

While acute viral sinusitis usually resolves on its own without treatment in 7 to 10 days, the rate of spontaneous resolution of acute bacterial sinusitis is small but often requires antibiotic therapy.
Acute bacterial rhinosinusitis, if not treated properly, can lead to a few dangerous complications such as inflammation of the orbital tissues, cavernous sinus thrombosis, epidural abscess, brain abscess. ..

4. Treatment of acute purulent sinusitis

The principle of treatment for acute purulent rhinosinusitis is to solve the following problems:
Solve the cause of allergies. Restore sinus function, re-establish fluid and air drainage into the sinuses. Take care of your nose and sinuses properly and choose a less polluted living environment. In case of acute sinusitis, the doctor will prescribe treatment with antibiotics to kill the bacteria causing the disease. One of the following antibiotics can be used: amoxicillin; trimethoprim - sulfamethoxazole may be effective in the treatment of first-time cases of inflammation.
If you want to treat acute rhinosinusitis at the root, the patient needs to be persistent and follow the doctor's instructions on the course of medication, do not abuse or arbitrarily stop taking the drug when the symptoms are gone, leading to a medical condition. sicker.
When there are symptoms of acute rhinosinusitis, the patient should immediately see an Ear - Nose - Throat specialist for timely treatment to avoid unfortunate complications.

Otolaryngology - Vinmec International General Hospital is an address specializing in the examination and treatment of sinusitis as well as common ENT diseases, head and neck tumors, congenital malformations in the ear area. nasopharyngeal surgery by common surgical methods such as surgery, microscopic or endoscopic tympanic membrane patching, fistula removal surgery, Bondy surgery, nasopharyngeal aerosolization, nasal constriction, nasal coil burning... with the system modern nasopharynx Karl Storz, Computerized tomography (CT Scan) with 640-slice CT Scan for early and accurate diagnosis.

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