Allergy Sinus Symptoms

Archive for the ‘sinus symptoms’ Category

Nasal polyps are soft, jelly-like overgrowths occurring in the lining of sinuses. They appear as grayish grape-like mass in the nasal cavity. Polyps in the nose and sinuses are rarely malignant. But large polyps can cause nasal blockage, making it hard to breathe. Even so, most nasal polyp problems can be helped.

Nasal polyps occur in around 1 in 200 people. Most of the time, the cause is never known. Some may be a result of swelling from a sinus infection. Other factors like asthma or aspirin sensitivity and allergies may also trigger polyps and make them grow faster. Also, the chance of reoccurrence is greater even after sinus operations.

Polyps block the nose, and in most cases there is a decrease in the sense of smell. Since much of our sense of taste is related to our sense of smell, patients with polyp may describe a loss of both taste and smell.

Nasal obstruction can also occur – the pathways where the sinuses drain into the nose can be blocked by polyp. This would cause the mucous to remain in the sinuses, causing congestion. It can also cause pressure over the forehead and face. When mucous is in the sinuses too long, there is a high risk of infection.

Although most people with nasal polyps have no symptoms and require no treatment, those who do experience symptoms have different treatment options.

If the polyps are a result of a sinus infection, they often will be treated as how sinusitis symptoms are treated. Aggressive medical treatment of sinus infection is helpful to treat polyp growths. Nose sprays are the most effective because they allow easy topical application of medication to the infected areas.

Other treatment options include:

• Surgical removal – the polyp is extracted surgically from the affected area. Removing the polyps with surgery usually allows people to breathe easier through the nose. The surgery lasts approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour. The surgery can be done under general or local anaesthesia, and the polyps are removed using endoscopic surgery. Recovery from this type of surgery is anywhere from one to three weeks. However, there is a risk of re-growth in 50% of patients.
• Cortisone or steroids – the polyp will shrink down temporarily and slow down polyp growth. Cortisone cannot be taken long term because of high risk of side effects.
• Sinus Rinse or Nasal Lavage – Sinus rinses with warm water mixed with a small amount of salt can be very helpful to clear sinuses. This method can also be used as a preventive measure to discourage the polyps from growing back and should be used in combination with a nasal steroid.
• Allergy desensitization injections- sometimes used in allergic patients with hay fever and polyps. While this often helps with hay fever and therefore reduces the fever’s negative effects on the polyps, there is no guarantee that the injections help shrink the polyps directly.
• Although there is no real way to prevent or eliminate nasal polyps completely, therapy aimed at the cause can help.

Carla San Gaspar
http://www.articlesbase.com/medicine-articles/treatment-options-for-nasal-polyps-736684.html

Have you experienced bloating after eating something? Or nauseous after drinking milk, maybe? Ever wondered why that happens?

Food sensitivity is something that most of us have learned to live with. For one thing, it goes undetected almost 90% of the time because symptoms may occur as late as after 3 days of consuming the offending food. For another, food sensitivity triggers subtle and sometimes unrelated symptoms. For instance, a sensitivity to yeast may lead to excessive drainage from the sinus! Even doctors misdiagnose food sensitivity because of this.

Food sensitivity vs. food allergy

Most of us know an allergy when we see one. Food Allergies are sudden reactions by the body. Symptoms are almost immediate and quite severe. This is why it is easy to spot an allergy and not too difficult to find its cause. On the other hand, food sensitivity is very subtle and slow in coming. When you are sensitive to a certain kind of food, you are unable to digest and process it fully. This leads to a number of unrelated symptoms like persistent headaches, joint pain or tiredness.

Generally, a good percentage of people are sensitive to gluten, wheat, dairy and fructose. But food sensitivity is not limited to food stuff alone. You could be sensitive to food coloring, food chemicals or preservatives – anything that is in the food.

Most of the times, doctors and sufferers push aside food sensitivity because they believe that the problem is miniscule. But, research shows that food sensitivity is one of the leading causes of needless suffering in millions of people. Worse, undetected food sensitivities exacerbate the symptoms of other diseases and leave sufferers more vulnerable to a number of serious health risks.

Most of the symptoms of food sensitivity are insidious. These are those uncomfortable pains and itches that we generally put up with. Mild ulcers, bloating, mild diarrhea, headaches, itching skin and mouth ulcers are some examples. However, by exposing ourselves continuously to the harmful effects of offending foodstuffs, we compromise our health seriously and even pave the way for serious diseases like bowel cancer, liver cirrhosis, osteoporosis, anemia and ulcer.

When we are young, the body is able to recuperate faster and compensate the damage caused by offending foodstuff. But symptoms tend to become more severe with age. To make matters worse, food sensitivity aggravates conditions that typically appear in old age like diabetes, heart problems, kidney problems and liver dysfunction. Interestingly, food sensitivity can occur any time. So, a person may not suffer from any symptoms when they are in their 20s or 30s, but may start feeling the effects in their 40s. Sometimes, stress and lifestyle factors can trigger sensitivities.

If left undetected, food sensitivities can cause a lot of unnecessary damage. Fortunately, food sensitivity can be remedied quite easily by identifying the foods that a person is sensitive to and avoiding them. By managing food sensitivity properly, sufferers can improve their resistance and live their life with renewed energy.

Reports suggest that more than 75% of people in the US are sensitive to one or other kind of food. If you are one of them, it makes sense to investigate your food sensitivity, doesn’t it?

gardnerwilkinson
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/the-effects-of-food-sensitivity-685492.html

If you are going through a sinus congestion and want to treat your problem then yoga (natural healing) is a really a good alternative as medication. Taking an allopath will definitely give you quick relief from the sinus symptoms (for that matter any condition related to the common cold can be cured almost instantly with an allopath, however a few side effects may be experienced) but if the occurrence is too frequent then it is best to consult with your doctor and you may also want to go for yoga classes. An allopath can help you by promoting healthy sinus drainage, you can avail nasal spray but it is advised not to use for more than four days as it will cause rebounding. Antihistamines can be helpful as an allergy treatment but when you are treating for sinus drainage, it has a reverse effect because it thickens the mucus which eventually turns into an infection. 

 Hence it should be very clear to the readers that antihistamines should be used for allergies treatment whereas decongestant for promoting sinus drainage. If the sinus congestion is severe, a nasal steroid spray can be helpful as it is also beneficial for reducing swelling. Promoting healthy sinus drainage is really important when the allergy is severe as it will prevent infections. The above medication can be obtained as an over-the-counter solution but if they prove to be ineffective then you will definitively need to consult with your doctor in order to get stronger medication. The effects of the common cold & flu can definitely make you feel uncomfortable, especially if it leads to sinusitis and culminates in a post nasal drip & congestion.

 Combination of over the counter drugs and prescription medication can be helpful if approved by your physician but those who suffer from these conditions on a regular basis can opt for acupressure, massage or even pranayam. Massage can be definitely good remedial action to get control over sinus with exercises which are easy to follow and can be performed by the patient him/herself without anybody’s help. To perform this massage just keep your hand warm, and start from the centre of your forehead by circling your fingertips through the temples. After that, your fingertips slowly move to the bridge of the nose and in similar fashion across the cheeks. You can continue through the jaw lines from your ears all the way to your chin.

One more treatment suggested is acupressure; this method can be used along with facial massage. Here in acupressure you are supposed to give pressure on certain parts of the face for certain amount of time. It is just very difficult to describe how to go about the acupressure with just plain words as to identify exact point is really important part in it and can be learnt with the help of audio-visual learning techniques; may be you can refer DVD, or search for some videos on net. Also you can consult practicing acupuncturist for further details. You can use either of the above mentioned treatment as per your convenience but just remember a common thing is that, consume lot of fluids, mainly water as it will help in thin the mucus & help in sinus drainage.

John
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/how-to-treat-sinusitis-effectively-719235.html

What seems like common cold the first time its symptoms appear may actually turn out to be a case of sinus attack. Just like when they contract the cold virus, children cough, sneeze or get red noses when sinus attack hits them. What makes sinus attack different from common cold is the length of time the affliction wears itself out. It takes victims–young and old–a longer time to recover from sinusitis than from common cold.

The bones in our head and face have blank niches or spaces filled with air, called sinuses. Sinuses can be found at the back of the nasal cavity, on both sides of the nose, inside the forehead, behind both and in between eyes. Sinuses come in pairs; there are normally four pairs in each person. They start showing as early as the first few months of conception; they continue to develop until late adolescent age.

Why our bodies need to develp sinuses is not clear to many. However, scientific studies suggest that sinuses make us feel less burdened by the weight of our head due to the light air that fills them. Scientists say that if anything solid were to take the place of the air pockets, our heads will become much heavier. Sinuses are also believed to enhance the depth and tone of our voice. For example, our voices often sound differently when we are suffering from common cold or, worse, sinus attack.

Sinuses cover themselves with moist and thin layers of tissue called mucous membrane. This membrane makes it possible to add moisture to the air that comes in through normal breathing. They likewise secrete a gooey liquid called mucus that fills parts of the nose, also known as snot. This liquid serves to collect dust and germs that fly in the air before they can go farther inside the body.

Mucus membranes of sinuses surrounding the nasal area grow tiny hairs or cilia. These hairs sway in ways that facilitate mucus flow in and out of the nose. The cilia are disabled and the back flow of the mucus gets disrupted when a person contracts the cold virus. This explains why persons with cold develop symptoms like runny nose and clogged nasal cavities. The infection causes the swelling of mucus lining within the nasal area. This prevents the tiny passages between the sinuses and nose from working properly, effectively trapping more mucus within the sinuses. The immobile mucus becomes a friendly host for the virus, fungi and bacteria to breed.

Prolonged conditions stretching up to two weeks mean that the cold virus infection has worsened to become a sinus infection. Acute sinusitis describes an infection that drags on for more than two weeks. Beyond this period–stretching beyond three months–the ailment is called chronic sinusitis. Due to their less developed immune systems, children are at greater risk of getting hit by sinus attacks than adults.

Symptoms of sinusitis include bad breath, mild fever, daytime cough, puffy eyes, and incessant nasal discharge. There are children who also show signs of crankiness, physical exhaustion, and pain in various parts of the head.

Doctors who treat children suffering from symptoms of sinusities normally check, apart from sinuses, the nose, throat, and ears for infection. They tap or press lightly the patient’s forehead and cheeks. They prescribe antibiotics for infections caused by bacteria. This medication normally takes effect within days after taking the dosage. But in cases of chronic sinusitis, patients need to take the dosage for a longer period of time to ensure total removal of bacteria. Decongestants or nasal sprays dry up blocked or runny nose.

Children in particular should not cease from taking the medication until their conditions completely improve. Doctor’s advice, particularly when patients are not showing any improvement for an unusually prolonged period of time, is necessary. The doctor may recommend sinus CT scan for the afflicted child. Surgery is an option.

If anything good can be said about sinusitis, it is this: The infection is not contagious. Unless discomforts are such that they are keeping the infected child from moving about, he or she may conitnue going to school or mingling with friends without fear of contaminating anyone. What the child needs to avoid are allergies and environmental pollutants. This will at least reduce the risks of going down with the infection–again.

Abhishek Agarwal
http://www.articlesbase.com/babies-articles/sinusitis-in-children-important-tips-for-parents-740026.html

 

With a sinus infection, your nasal passages or sinuses become inflamed and swollen. There are two sinuses on your forehead, two are located at either side of the bridge of your nose called the ethmoid sinuses, and there are also two behind your cheekbones, the maxillary sinuses. It is the maxillary sinuses that are most commonly affected by sinusitis.

 

Often, no treatment for sinusitis symptoms is required especially if the infection is only viral. But painkillers may be needed and, occasionally if the infection is diagnosed to be bacterial, antibiotics are prescribed.

 

The most common symptoms of sinusitis may include:

 

* Pain and tenderness of the infected sinus.

 

* Swelling around your eyes, cheeks, nose or forehead. You may experience a throbbing pain which is worse when you move your head.

 

* Nasal obstruction or congestion, causing difficulty of breathing through your nose. If your nose becomes blocked with mucus, the pain and tenderness in the affected area may become worse.

 

* Drainage of a thick, yellow or greenish discharge from the nose or down the back of the throat.

 

* Aching in your upper jaw and teeth, where it becomes more severe when you eat.

 

* Reduced sense of smell and taste.

 

* Cough, which may be worse at night.

 

* A high temperature or a slight fever.

 

You may also experience a number of other symptoms, including:

 

* Tiredness

 

* Headache

 

* Ear pain

 

* Sore throat

 

* Bad breath (halitosis)

 

* Pressure in your ears

 

* Fatigue or irritability

 

* Nausea

 

* A feeling of being generally sick

 

Children with sinus infection may be irritable, breathe through their mouth, and have difficulty eating. Because their sinuses are blocked, their speech may sound nasal (through the nose). This is known as hyponasal speech. If you notice these symptoms in your child, you should take them to see your doctor.

 

You may have several episodes of acute sinusitis, lasting less than four weeks, before developing chronic sinusitis. You can go to a general physician, and may be referred to an allergist or an ear, nose and throat specialist as needed for further evaluation and treatment.

 

See a doctor:

 

* If you’ve had sinusitis a number of times and the condition fails to respond to treatment

 

* If you have sinusitis that lasts more than 7 days

 

* If your symptoms don’t get better after you see your doctor

 

See a doctor immediately if you have symptoms that may be a sign of a serious infection:

 

* Pain or swelling around your eyes

 

* A swollen forehead

 

* Severe headache

 

* Confusion

 

* Double vision or other vision changes

 

* Stiff neck

 

* Shortness of breath

 

To look for the cause of your symptoms, your doctor will feel for tenderness in your nose or throat. Your doctor may use a tool to hold your nose open and apply medication that constricts blood vessels in your nasal passages. This makes it easier to see inside your nasal passages. Your doctor will then shine a light into your nasal passages to look for inflammation or fluid. This visual inspection will also help rule out physical conditions that trigger sinusitis, such as nasal polyps or other abnormalities.

 

Sinusitis – Sinus Dynamics can provide you different information on the different sinus infection symptoms.

 

 

Jay
http://www.articlesbase.com/medicine-articles/what-happens-when-i-have-sinusitis-750569.html