Acute sinusitis is a condition typically caused by the common cold that leads your sinuses to become inflamed and swollen.
Sinusitis can even be responsible for pain that you might attribute to other things.
"With acute sinusitis, it might be difficult to breathe through your nose. The area around your eyes and face might feel swollen, and you might have throbbing facial pain or a headache," according to Mayo Clinic.
It can even cause your teeth to hurt, according to Dr. Jamie Oberman of Frederick Breathe Free Sinus & Allergy Centers.
"Your teeth hurt because the floor of the sinus, the maxillary sinus, is the roof of the mouth," Oberman said. "They share the same anatomy, and they share same nervous intervention. That's why facial pain is always considered a sinus pathology and a very common complaint and symptom of folks... who suffer from those issues."
The most common treatment is antibiotics, Oberman said.
"The more infections you have, the more antibiotics that are prescribed, the more bacterial resistance you have," he explained. "So we're to the point where the antibiotics no longer work. Bacteria are smart microbes that are able to develop and adapt to what technology and medicine has developed, including antibiotics, and they develop the means to become resistant to those antibiotics."
Most cases of acute sinusitis resolve within seven to 10 days, according to Mayo Clinic. If sinusitis persists for more than 12 weeks, even with medical treatment, the condition is classified as chronic sinusitis.
Frederick Breathe Free Sinus & Allergy Centers offers an online Sinus Self-Assessment Quiz to help you evaluate your symptoms.
Frederick Breathe Free Sinus & Allergy Centers is committed to providing the best sinus and allergy relief in Frederick and the surrounding area, using the most advanced, proven patient-friendly techniques available. With 29 million Americans suffering from sinusitis and 242,000 annual chronic sinusitis ER visits, our mission is to provide minimally invasive options for needed long-lasting relief so that patients can get back to living. We call this mission Breathe Free and Live Well, and it is the North Star that guides us in each unique, collaborative patient interaction.
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