Acute sinusitis
The acute sinusitis usually occurs suddenly and once, in most cases it is only of short duration. The main cause of its development is in most cases a simple cold or other harmless cold infections. In the course of the infection, pathogens (bacteria or viruses) can migrate from the nasal cavity into the maxillary sinus, where they provoke the appearance of mucosal swelling.
These swellings, in turn, cause a narrowing of the natural secretion outflow pathways, thereby triggering inflammatory processes. An acute sinusitis is usually accompanied by an inflammation of the maxillary sinus: The duration of such a form of sinusitis is roughly comparable to the duration of a cold infection. After one week at the latest, the symptoms should have decreased significantly or have already disappeared completely.
- High fever,
- Headache,
- Feeling of pressure in the head area and general discomfort.
Chronic sinusitis
The chronic form of sinusitis describes a disease of the paranasal sinus, the average duration of which is longer than two to three months. From a medical point of view, inflammatory processes in the maxillary sinus area, which occur repeatedly within a very short time, are also counted among the chronic forms of sinusitis. In the majority of cases, chronic sinusitis develops directly from an acute inflammation of this paranasal sinus.This fact can be explained by the fact that acute inflammation is given an insufficiently long healing time by many affected patients.
For this reason, although the symptoms of sinusitis may subside after the usual duration of this disease, the bacteria that have migrated in can multiply again and cause the inflammatory processes to flare up again. In addition, certain antibiotic resistances can also lead to the development of a chronic sinusitis of long duration. Other possible causes, which differ mainly with regard to the duration of the triggered sinusitis, are The symptoms of a chronic sinusitis are perceived by the affected patients over a period of several months.
Among the most common symptoms are those that occur over a long period of time: General signs of infection such as fever and malaise can also occur in connection with sinusitis over a period of several months. During the entire period of the existence of a sinusitis, the affected patients should drink a lot of fluids, especially water and tea. In addition, warm baths or the use of hot water bottles help to alleviate the symptoms during the first days of illness.
The use of saline nasal sprays or nasal drops can also help to reduce the swelling of the mucous membranes. To relieve the pain, painkillers such as paracetamol or ibuprofen can be taken during the inflammation if necessary. In the case of a bacterially triggered sinusitis, an antibiotic should also be taken.
If the maxillary sinus inflammation is more likely to be due to anatomical reasons (curvature of the nasal septum) or is favored by polyps, surgical treatment may be necessary. The straightening of the nasal septum or the removal of polyps may already be sufficient to minimize the risk of recurrence of sinusitis. The reason for this is that a good drainage of nasal secretion significantly reduces the probability of the development of inflammatory processes within the maxillary sinus.
- Allergies,
- Curvature of the nasal septum,
- Nasal polyps or severe inflammation of the roots of the teeth.
- Persistent loss of odor (anosmia),
- Strong, thin nasal discharge (rhinorrhoea),
- Secretion discharge in the throat,
- Strong sensations of pressure in the area of the head (especially the paranasal sinuses and the eye socket) and
- Headache.
