The common cold is a viral infection that often causes a condition called sinusitis. These happen together so often that you may think of them as a singular illness. The congestion and excess mucus caused by the cold can fill up sinus cavities and interfere with drainage.
Sinus congestion can also create conditions that provide conditions for bacterial growth. When a bacterial infection takes hold, you may suffer from sinusitis longer than the typical 10 days of other cold symptoms.
You may experience pain or tenderness around your nose, eyes, and forehead while sinusitis is active. This isn’t a coincidence. Facial pain is a key symptom of sinusitis. It’s pain that gets worse when you bend over.
Persistent sinusitis, which lasts weeks longer than normal cold symptoms, could be a sign of a bacterial infection, and you may need medical care to clear it up.
It’s time to contact Lawrence Otolaryngology Associates. As sinusitis specialists, we can diagnose and treat your facial pain as well as some of the conditions that might be making you prone to the problem.
As well as the common cold, other conditions and illnesses can increase your chances of developing sinusitis. They include:
Virtually any upper respiratory infection that causes congestion can trigger sinusitis if it’s viral or bacterial in origin.
It’s possible to be congested without having sinusitis. The primary difference is that sinusitis causes facial pain while other conditions may not. This pain is a key symptom that’s often used to confirm or rule out sinusitis.
Your face might feel tender when you have sinusitis, particularly on the forehead, bridge of the nose, under your eyes, and on your cheeks. Pain from sinusitis typically presents between your eyes, on your forehead, beside your nose, or in your upper teeth and jaws.
Facial pain often results from conditions that physically block the normal drainage pathways of mucus, causing a backup into the usually air-filled spaces of the sinuses. Without drainage, infection persists and can get worse, causing your pain symptoms to continue.
Acute sinusitis typically lasts fewer than eight weeks, while we describe the infection as chronic after the 12-week mark.
If you have facial pain and other symptoms that last longer than eight weeks, it’s a good time to make an appointment with the head and neck specialists at Lawrence Otolaryngology Associates for an examination and diagnosis. Call or click to book your visit today at the office in Lawrence or Ottawa, Kansas.
