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Acute sinusitis

Medically reviewed by Drugs.com. Last updated on Aug 29, 2023.

Overview

Acute sinusitis causes the spaces inside the nose, known as sinuses, to become inflamed and swollen. Acute sinusitis makes it hard for the sinuses to drain. Mucus builds up.

Acute sinusitis can make it hard to breathe through the nose. The area around the eyes and the face might feel swollen. There might be throbbing face pain or a headache.

The common cold is the usual cause of acute sinusitis. Most often, the condition clears up within a week to 10 days unless there's also an infection caused by bacteria, called a bacterial infection. Home remedies might be all that's needed to treat acute sinusitis. Sinusitis that lasts more than 12 weeks even with medical treatment is called chronic sinusitis.

Symptoms

Acute sinusitis symptoms often include:

Other signs and symptoms include:

When to see a doctor

Most people with acute sinusitis don't need to see a health care provider.

Contact your health care provider if you have any of the following:

See a health care provider immediately if you have symptoms that might mean a serious infection:

Causes

Acute sinusitis is an infection caused by a virus. The common cold is most often the cause. Sometimes, sinuses that are blocked for a time might get a bacterial infection.

Healthy sinuses

Sinuses are cavities around nasal passages. If the sinuses become inflamed and swollen, a person may develop sinusitis.

Acute sinusitis

Acute sinusitis is most often caused by the common cold. Signs and symptoms may include a blocked and stuffy (congested) nose, which may block your sinuses and prevent drainage of mucus.

Risk factors

The following can raise the risk of getting sinusitis:

Complications

Acute sinusitis doesn't often cause complications. Complications that might happen include:

Prevention

Take these steps to help lower your risk of getting acute sinusitis:

Diagnosis

A health care provider might ask about symptoms and do an exam. The exam might include feeling for tenderness in the nose and face and looking inside the nose.

Other ways to diagnose acute sinusitis and rule out other conditions include:

Treatment

Most cases of acute sinusitis get better on their own. Self-care is usually all that's needed to ease symptoms.

Treatments to ease symptoms

The following might help ease sinusitis symptoms:

Antibiotics

Antibiotics don't treat viruses, which are the usual cause of acute sinusitis. Even if bacteria caused the acute sinusitis, called a bacterial infection, it might clear up on its own. So a health care provider might wait and see if the acute sinusitis gets worse before prescribing antibiotics.

But, if you have severe, worsening or long-lasting symptoms, your symptoms might need to be treated with antibiotics. Always take the whole course of antibiotics even after symptoms get better. Stopping antibiotics early might cause symptoms to come back.

Immunotherapy

For sinusitis caused or made worse by allergies, allergy shots might help. This is known as immunotherapy.

Lifestyle and home remedies

These steps can help relieve sinusitis symptoms:

Neti pot

A neti pot is a container designed to rinse the nasal cavity.

Alternative medicine

No alternative therapies have been proved to ease the symptoms of acute sinusitis. Products that have certain herbs in them might be of some help. These therapies have cowslip, gentian root, elderflower, verbena and sorrel in them.

Check with a health care provider before taking herbal or dietary supplements. Be sure they're safe and that they won't get in the way of medicines you take.

Preparing for an appointment

Here's information to help you get ready for your appointment.

What you can do

Make a list of:

For acute sinusitis, questions to ask your provider include:

Be sure to ask all the questions you have.

What to expect from your doctor

Your care provider is likely to ask you questions, such as:

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