Catarrhal sinusitis or the whole truth about a terrible disease!

Sinusitis - a disease in which there is inflammation of the maxillary paranasal sinuses. Very often this disease is called a specialist as the maxillary sinusitis.

Sinusitis occurs as a result of the ingress of bacteria or viruses into the maxillary sinus through the nasal cavity or with the bloodstream, subsequently causing an inflammatory process. Especially often this disease is diagnosed in people with a weakened immune system. However, some other factors may contribute to the onset of the disease.

So, to the emergence of sinusitis contribute to the state of the body, in which the nasal breathing is disturbed. This includes the curvature of the nasal septum, vasomotor and hypertrophic rhinitis, adenoids, allergic diseases of the nose. Very often, sinusitis occurs against the background of a common cold, acute respiratory disease and rhinitis, especially with incorrect and untimely treatment.

What is catarrhal sinusitis?

All paranasal sinuses have small outlets that connect the sinus with the nasal cavity. When there is an edema of the mucosa, these holes are gradually closed. In this case, the mucus can not go outside and begins to accumulate in the maxillary sinus, thereby provoking an active inflammatory process.

In order to combat inflammation, the patient's body produces a large number of leukocytes, which must fight the bacterial infection and dispose of its consequences. If there are not too many such bacteria, and the pathogen itself is not aggressive, then usually the inflammation does not go into a purulent form. In the case when the disease ends only with swelling and sinus inflammation, acute edematous-catarrhal sinus is diagnosed.

It is noteworthy that catarrhal sinusitis in children younger than 4-6 years is diagnosed significantly less often than in the older age group. This is due to the fact that in a child under the age of 4 the accessory maxillary sinuses are not fully developed.

Catarrhal sinusitis is classified as an acute stage of the inflammatory process, in combination with serous excretions from the nasopharynx. Acute catarrhal sinusitis, as a rule, develops with untimely treatment of common cold and other infectious diseases.

Catarrh of the maxillary sinus is characterized by inflammation of the mucosa of the maxillary sinus, in some cases also covering the periosteum and bone. Depending on the cause of the disease, odontogenic, traumatic, rhinogenic and hematogenous types of disease are isolated. With inflammation of the maxillary sinus on the one hand, one-sided sinusitis is diagnosed. In the case when sinuses are inflamed from both sides, a bilateral catarrhal form is revealed.

Signs and symptoms of

When an acute sinusitis occurs, a person initially experiences a rather unpleasant sensation in the nasal cavity, and then - some pressure in the nose, pain under the eyes and cheeks, pressure on the eyeballs and lower eyelids. As a rule, bilateral catarrhal form, with further development, causes painful sensations, which are practically not noticeable in the morning and gradually intensify towards evening.

At first, it is impossible to determine a clear localization of pain and very often a person perceives it as a headache of a general nature. In some patients, inflammation in the maxillary sinus causes sensations resembling dental pain. Such an illusion arises due to the close anatomical location of the inflamed sinuses and upper teeth.

Catarrhal sinusitis at the initial stage provokes obstruction of nasal breathing, permanent nasal congestion and nasal voice, decreased or total absence of smell. In the course of the development of the disease, edema of the lower eyelid and cheeks are often noted. Acute maxillary sinusitis is also characterized by an increase in body temperature of up to 38 degrees without other expressed causes.

In addition, acute catarrhal sinusitis can also provoke a general malaise and weakness. So, patients with such a diagnosis often complain of rapid fatigue, inability to concentrate, decrease in efficiency, sleep disturbances and unwillingness to eat.

How to treat catarrhal sinusitis?

The reasons that caused the disease, in each case, are individual, so it is natural that the course of treatment of this disease is selected separately for each patient. First of all, the treatment has the purpose of removing the swelling of the mucous membrane, thus ensuring a normal outflow of mucus and pus from the inflamed sinuses.

Catarrhal sinusitis whose treatment is performed in the presence of the first symptoms, as a rule, successfully treated completely in 90% of patients. Those patients who turned to the doctor at a time when the disease has already gone far, risking instead of catarrhal sinusitis, to face the need to treat the chronic form of the disease, which is much more difficult.

Depending on the stage of the disease, a specialist can prescribe medication or surgical treatment. In most cases, short-term medical therapy and regular frequent nose flushing help to get rid of maxillary sinusitis. Among the drugs used in this case, there are broad-spectrum antibacterial drugs, decongestants, probiotic and vasoconstrictors.

In difficult cases, experts recommend the use of a surgical method of treatment, in which a puncture of the inflamed maxillary sinus is made. Most often this technique is used when there is a need for emergency treatment of acute purulent maxillary sinusitis, which arose as a result of untimely treatment to a specialist and caused a large accumulation of pus in the affected sinus.