In shortA cold usually improves within 10 days. Facial pain and a blocked nose beyond 10 days, or symptoms that worsen after improving, deserve a doctor’s check.
"I think I have sinus." I hear this in my clinic nearly every day, usually from someone with a blocked nose, a heavy face and a headache. Sometimes they are right. Often it is just a stubborn cold. Let me share how I tell the difference, and what actually helps.
Meet your sinuses
Sinuses are air-filled spaces behind your forehead, between your eyes and inside your cheeks. They are lined with a thin layer of mucus that catches dust and germs and drains through small openings into the nose. When a cold or an allergy swells those openings, the mucus gets trapped and the sinuses feel full and sore. That is sinusitis.
Cold or sinusitis? Watch the clock
Most sinus infections start as a cold, and many are caused by viruses and get better on their own. Time helps us decide what is going on.
Signs it may be more than a cold
- Blocked nose and facial pressure or pain that lasts more than 10 days without improving
- Thick yellow or green discharge together with facial pain
- A high fever and a severe facial pain or headache that begins suddenly
- Symptoms that get better and then suddenly get worse again
- Loss of smell, a bad taste or bad breath, and pain in the upper teeth
What can you do at home?
What helps
- Plenty of fluids and rest
- Saline nasal spray or rinses, as advised
- Warm steam inhalation, carefully
- Extra pillows at night to ease the blockage
- Treating the allergy if there is one
Please avoid
- Taking antibiotics left over from the last illness
- Using decongestant nasal drops for more than a few days
- Smoking or smoky rooms
- Blowing your nose forcefully
- Ignoring symptoms that keep coming back
On antibiotics: they do not work on viruses, and most sinus infections are viral. Whether they are needed is a decision for your doctor after examining you. Taking them when they are not needed brings side effects and no benefit.
If you keep getting 'sinus attacks' every few weeks, ask about an allergy, a crooked nasal septum or nasal polyps. Treating the cause is far better than treating every attack.
When to see us quickly
Please seek help promptly if you notice swelling or redness around the eye, double vision or changes in sight, a severe headache with a stiff neck, or confusion. These are uncommon, but they need urgent attention.
Dr. Rekha AR treats sinusitis, nasal allergies, deviated septum, nasal polyps and breathing difficulty at CARE Speciality Clinic. See our ENT page for more.
See a doctor in HSR Layout, Bangalore
CARE Speciality Clinic offers ENT specialist in HSR Layout, Bengaluru with Dr. Rekha AR, open Monday to Saturday. Patients come from Agara, Koramangala, BTM Layout, Sarjapur Road, Bellandur and Haralur. Book online or call 96320 71178.
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Consultant ENT Specialist, MBBS, DLO. Sees patients Mon–Sat at CARE Speciality Clinic, HSR Layout.
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This article is for general information and does not replace a medical consultation.