“Sinusitis is the inflammation of the airy spaces, namely the sinuses, located between the facial bones. It causes a throbbing pain in the face and is accompanied by nasal congestion and postnasal drip
Is headache usually caused by sinusitis?
No, this statement would be wrong. Most of the headaches, approximately 85 percent, are tension-type headaches, and 5 percent are caused by sinusitis. Of course, there are other reasons.
Sinusitis is more common in winter, can we call it a winter disease?
>Sinusitis may develop especially after untreated cold or flu. Since we catch colds more frequently in the winter months, we can call sinusitis a winter disease, but there are many patients who have sinusitis in the summer and suffer from this condition.
Can sinusitis recur?
If you have frequent sinusitis despite appropriate treatment, there is definitely an underlying reason. Either bone curvature causing nasal congestion, nasal flesh growth, or the person's allergic nature may be causing sinusitis. Rarely, there may be other reasons, but it needs to be investigated.
What are the diseases that occur due to sinusitis?
Sinus infection affects the surrounding tissue and If it spreads to the bone structures, it can cause inflammation of the facial bones, blindness, meningitis and brain abscess. These are extremely dangerous situations that require urgent treatment. Sinusitis, especially in children, is a condition that needs to be monitored carefully.
What are the tips of the treatment?
Appropriate antibiotic use may be required. In addition, supportive treatment may also be given. In acute cases, the treatment period usually varies between 10-14 days. In chronic cases, drug treatment should be continued for one month. If you have a runny nose that lasts more than 7 days or a prolonged cold or flu, you are likely to have sinusitis. Therefore, do not just dismiss it as a cold, be sure to take precautions.
So when is surgery needed?
In cases where the disease becomes chronic, medication is required. If there is no response to treatment, surgery is required. To restore ventilation of the sinuses, sinus The channels are cleaned with endoscopic sinusitis surgery. If the infection spreads to the eye, brain and surrounding bone structures, that is, if complications develop, surgical treatment is required. Surgical treatment is very satisfactory in chronic bacterial sinusitis.
What do you recommend to prevent sinusitis?
Fatigue, which reduces our immune system and therefore our resistance, Insomnia and malnutrition should be avoided. Nasal congestion must be treated. Also, you should not go out into cold weather with wet hair. The humidity of the air in our home and workplace should not be too low. Let's pay special attention to prolonged flu and cold
What are the causes of nasal congestion?
The curvature of the middle compartment, which consists of cartilage and bone in the inner part of the nose, is a very important reason. Nasal growths and polyps that occur in allergic people also cause nasal congestion. Smoking and air pollution are also important causes.
Can you explain how smoking causes nasal congestion?
Cigarette smoke impairs the cleaning function in the nose and sinuses. Thus, particles and dust remain in the nose, which causes edema of the tissue on the inner surface of the nose, and the nasal flesh swells and enlarges.
What is the connection between nasal congestion and sinusitis?
First of all, the sinuses must be well ventilated to maintain their functions. Sinusitis may develop as sinus ventilation is negatively affected in nasal congestion. In addition, obstruction in the channels through which the fluid in the sinuses is regularly discharged predisposes to sinusitis. Therefore, it is important to find and treat the underlying cause of nasal congestion in order to prevent frequently recurring sinusitis attacks.
From what age can nasal bone curvature, i.e. deviation surgery, be performed?
Nasal bone curvature surgery can be performed after the development of the facial bones is completed. Surgery can be performed from the age of 17-18.
How is the surgery performed?
Although my preference is for general anesthesia, it can be done with local anesthesia. It can also be done viation surgery. Correction of the cartilage and bone parts that narrow the nasal canals is performed through an incision made from the inside of the nose, but in some cases we need an open technical approach. It is necessary to perform functional rhinoplasty, especially in cases where there are curvatures and collapses on the outer part of the nose that seriously affect breathing. Since the nose is a dynamic structure, it would be wrong to think that only deviation or nasal concha causes nasal congestion. Nasal wings, nasal roof, nasal root and axis curvature problems can cause nasal congestion.
So what do you do about nasal concha enlargement?
First of all, also known as turbinate swelling. It is necessary to define the nasal flesh growth well. In allergic cases, allergy treatment must be performed. For nasal flesh enlargements that we diagnose with tomography, we sometimes perform drug treatment, sometimes radiofrequency surgery, and sometimes we solve this problem with reduction surgery.
How is the recovery process after nasal surgery?
Nose surgeries are more comfortable today than in the past, for example, surgery can be performed without using tampons, which is a nightmare for patients. Sometimes we do not place anything in the nose, we keep the apparatus, which we call corrugated silicone, in the nose for a maximum of 24-48 hours, but the patient can breathe through the nose. The healing process is quite fast. Even in the most severe surgeries, one can return to social life on the seventh day at the latest. Although pain and bruising vary from person to person, they are not disturbing.
There are many patients who have had nose surgery but still have nasal congestion. This situation frankly scares those who want to have surgery. Can I get your opinions?
The nose is actually a very dynamic structure. There are many factors that affect nasal breathing. Apart from the curvature of the nasal bone and the enlargement of the nasal flesh, many reasons such as collapse of the nasal wings, narrowness of the nasal dorsum, weak cartilage structure of the nose but thick and sagging skin can cause nasal congestion. I think the most important point here is to make the diagnosis correctly. Even if you solve the problem of nasal bone curvature, you cannot detect the inward collapse of the nose wing during breathing and The breathing problem will not go away unless you correct it. In experienced hands, the possibility of revision after nose surgery is very low, around 5%, and these are problems that can be solved with minor interventions that take 15-20 minutes.
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