{"id":997,"date":"2019-06-24T16:55:19","date_gmt":"2019-06-24T03:55:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.p3research.co.nz\/?p=997"},"modified":"2022-07-20T11:17:39","modified_gmt":"2022-07-19T22:17:39","slug":"what-is-chronic-sinusitis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.p3research.co.nz\/what-is-chronic-sinusitis\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Chronic Sinusitis?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Sinuses are air-filled spaces within the facial bones, connected to the nose by narrow passages, like a series of caves underneath the surface of the face. Their main function is to produce mucus, which keeps the nasal passages healthy, but they also serve to reduce the weight of the skull.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> Sometimes the sinuses can fill up with excessive mucus and get blocked, like with a common cold. If a secondary infection sets in this can cause facial pain or pressure, loss of smell, and production of thickened mucus, which in turn can lead to post-nasal drip and cough. This is called acute sinusitis, and usually lasts one to two weeks  In most cases this will resolve without antibiotics.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"300\" height=\"313\" src=\"https:\/\/www.p3research.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Sinusitis-e1561348332944.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1006\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Acute Sinusitis<\/strong> can be treated with simple\npainkillers like paracetamol or ibuprofen. Over-the\ncounter decongestants (tablet or nasal spray) and sinus rinses with saline and\nbicarbonate solution&nbsp; are available from\npharmacies eg NeilMed, or can be made at home. In severe cases antibiotics and oral\nsteroids may be prescribed, but these can have side effects so medical\nassessment is essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some people are prone to getting repeated attacks of\nsinusitis, either because they have narrow nasal spaces, allergic diseases like\nhay-fever which cause persistent inflammation of the nasal passages, or even\npolyps which are benign growths from the nasal lining which block the sinuses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes <strong>Acute Sinusitis<\/strong> can lead on to <strong>Chronic Sinusitis.  <\/strong>This is defined as nasal blockage, obstruction or congestion, facial pain or pressure, anterior (front) or posterior (back) nasal discharge and reduction or loss of sense of smell lasting at least twelve weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Chronic Sinusitis<\/strong> is usually treated with sinus\nrinses, regular steroid nasal sprays which reduce inflammation, such as Alanase\nor Flixonase, antibiotics and symptomatic treatments like painkillers as\nrequired. Decongestants are <strong>not <\/strong>appropriate\nfor longer term use as they can cause tolerance and rebound symptoms when taken\nfor more than five days continuously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>People who do not respond to these treatments sometimes\nrequire surgery to remove polyps or widen the nasal passages and clear out the\nsinuses, but surgical availability&nbsp; is very limited in the New Zealand public\nsystem and can be out of reach for people who do not have private medical\ninsurance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\"><em>Dr Joanna Joseph<br>GP and P3 Investigator, Wellington Unit<\/em><\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sinuses are air-filled spaces within the facial bones, connected to the nose by narrow passages, like a series of caves underneath the surface of the face. Their main function is to produce mucus, which keeps the nasal passages healthy, but they also serve to reduce the weight of the skull. Sometimes the sinuses can fill [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.p3research.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/997"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.p3research.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.p3research.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.p3research.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.p3research.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=997"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.p3research.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1787,"href":"https:\/\/www.p3research.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/997\/revisions\/1787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.p3research.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.p3research.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.p3research.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}