What is sinusitis? Before we answer that question, we need to learn a bit about your facial anatomy. There are some air-filled spaces in the bones of your head around the nose. These hollow spaces are called sinuses; they come in four pairs or eight in all. They are on either side of the nose in your cheeks, behind and between the eyes, in the forehead, and at the back of the nasal cavity, and just like the inside of the nose, these sinuses are lined with a moist thin layer of tissue called a mucus membrane that helps moisten the air you breath in and also make mucus. This mucus traps dust and germs that are in the air, and on the surface of the cells of the mucus membrane. You will also find microscopic hairs on the mucus membrane called cilia. The Cilia’s job is to clear mucus from the sinuses through a narrow opening in the nose and then move the mucus toward the back of the nose to be swallowed.

But any hindrance in the functionality of your sinuses causes inflammation leading to sinusitis. How? In most cases (around 98%) viruses are the main culprits behind sinusitis. Viruses can damage the delicate cilia, so that mucus is not swept away, they can also make the mucus lining of the nose swollen, which narrows and blocks the small opening from the sinuses into the nose, and when the tiny gaps that drain the mucus out of the sinuses gets closed, mucus gets trapped in them. This accumulated mucus becomes a perfect home ground for the viruses, bacteria, and fungus to grow, thrive, and multiply their families, eventually leading to a severe infection called sinusitis.

But how do we know if it is Sinusitis or just a common cold? Well, initially, a patient should show cold-like symptoms like a runny nose with thick yellow or green mucus. Another major sign a patient will notice is the pain around the head, nose, ears, and teeth, and if you tap on the affected sinus with a finger, it can produce mild pain. Later-on, the person may develop other signs like daytime cough, and puffy eyes (especially in the morning). If all these symptoms, specifically cold, stay for more than 10 days, there are chances that the person may have sinusitis, and needs to rush to the hospital as soon as possible.

The doctor will first identify the type of sinusitis that include; acute sinusitis (which could last up to 4 weeks), sub-acute sinusitis (which could last for 4-12 weeks), or chronic sinusitis (which could continue for months, or even years) and will prescribe the treatment accordingly. Although sinusitis usually goes away without medical treatment, but based on your situation, your doctor might prescribe certain antibiotics for bacterial sinusitis or nasal decongestions that shrink swollen nasal passages, allowing the accumulated mucus to drain out, and in no time you will be fit and fine.