Nasal inflammation is an inflammation or swelling of the tissue that lines the sinuses. | Unsplash/Brittany Colette
Nasal inflammation is an inflammation or swelling of the tissue that lines the sinuses. | Unsplash/Brittany Colette
Sinus problems can be caused by allergies and inflammation of the sinuses, according to Dr. Daniel Mongiardo of Dr. Daniel Mongiardo Sleep & Sinus Center.
"Allergies cause inflammation," Mongiardo told NC Kentucky News. "If you've ever stepped outdoors and you have hay fever, your eyes get swollen, you start sneezing and have watery eyes, well, the same thing happens on the inside."
Imagine the sinuses as "a big room and a very, very small door," Mongiardo said. "Allergies will cause a shutting of that door so air doesn't flow, and if air doesn't flow, bacteria grows in absence of new oxygen."
In some cases, medication will help keep the sinuses open.
"Sometimes all it takes is just irrigating the sinuses with saline to keep the sinuses clear from all the pollen and bacteria," he said. "That's a very simple solution with some patients."
When those solutions don't work, there is an outpatient treatment called balloon sinuplasty. A catheter with a tiny balloon attached to the end is inserted into the sinus cavity, then slowly inflated to open the blocked sinuses. Balloon sinuplasty is minimally invasive and has been shown to be very effective for chronic inflammation of the sinuses.
"Sinuplasty is very, very effective to stretch that opening," Mongiardo said. "It takes less than 10 seconds per sinus once the nose is decongested and anesthetized with nasal sprays. So it's very, very quick and virtually painless."
There are four different types of nasal inflammation: acute, sub-acute, chronic and recurrent. Acute nasal inflammation beings very suddenly and includes pain that typically lasts four weeks or less. Sub-acute nasal inflammation lasts four to eight weeks. Chronic inflammation lasts eight weeks or longer. Recurrent inflammation is defined by several repeated attacks that happen within the span of one year.
Nasal inflammation is very common, a condition that affects an estimated 37 million people in the U.S. each year. It can be caused by something as simple as the common cold, according to the American Sinus Institute. A deviated septum or a shift in the nasal cavity can also cause agitation of the sinuses.
Dr. Daniel Mongiardo Sleep & Sinus Center has an online sinus quiz for those who want to evaluate their symptoms.
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