¿Los senos paranasales te deprimieron esta primavera? Qué hacer con la sinusitis crónica

It’s that time of the year: the flowers are blooming, the grass is turning green and people who suffer from nasal allergies and sinus pain are struggling to catch their next breath. Many people in Texas suffer from chronic sinusitis, a common condition that involves the sinuses becoming inflamed and swollen.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), almost 12% of people in the United States have been diagnosed with sinusitis, and another study found that 15.5 percent of women were diagnosed with the condition compared to 9.8 percent of men.

Analicemos qué es la sinusitis, cómo saber si la está experimentando y formas de encontrar alivio.

¿Qué es la sinusitis crónica?

La sinusitis crónica es una inflamación del revestimiento de los senos paranasales que dura tres meses o más y es una de las enfermedades crónicas más comúnmente diagnosticadas. Es causada por condiciones bacterianas, virales y alérgicas, así como por problemas estructurales como obstrucciones en la apertura de los senos paranasales.

Los signos y síntomas de la sinusitis crónica pueden incluir:

• Dolor facial, presión, congestión o plenitud
• Dificultad para respirar por la nariz
• Secreción de mucosidad amarilla o verde por la nariz.
• Dolor de dientes
• Pérdida del sentido del olfato o del gusto.
• Dolor de cabeza
• Fatiga
• Dolor de garganta
• Mal aliento

Qué hacer si tiene sinusitis crónica

If you have chronic, or ongoing, sinus pain, your doctor has several testing options for determining the cause. These can be as simple as an allergy test or taking a mucous culture from inside your nose, to using a flexible tube with a light to look into your sinuses or ordering a CT or MRI scan to get images of what’s going on inside your sinus cavities.

Opciones de tratamiento para la sinusitis

The most frequently used treatments for chronic sinusitis are medical therapies, minimally invasive procedures or conventional sinus surgery. Medical therapy treatments include sprays, antibiotics (for bacterial infections), steroids and allergy shots (if allergies are the cause). There is also conventional sinus surgery, which involves removing tissue in order to open the sinus passages, and balloon sinuplasty can be used to widen the sinus passageways.

Talk to your doctor about what treatment is right for you. Don’t have a doctor? Find one near you today.