In most patients, sinus infections are managed and cured in under a week, using typical home remedies. For some, however, they might need more potent treatments to get their sinus infection under control. If you’re one of the latter, you can come in for a consultation with your Manhattan, NY ENT, Dr. Richard Nass, to obtain proper treatment for your condition. With this in mind, doctors typically recommend a combination of the following treatments to combat sinus infections.

Nasal Decongestant Sprays

These can help if used for just three or four days max. Nasal decongestant sprays work by shrinking inflamed nasal passages to facilitate proper drainage flow from your sinuses. Take note that overusing these sprays could cause a rebound phenomenon, which is a condition that causes your nasal passages to swell and shut.

Antihistamine and Nasal Decongestant Combination Medications

OTC combination medications like these must be used with proper caution, as some have drying agents that could thicken the mucus. These work by clearing the nasal passages and addressing allergic reactions resulting from or contributing to sinus infections. This is the most common method recommended by Manhattan, NY ENT.

Nasal Corticosteroid Sprays

Prescription nasal corticosteroid sprays help reverse and prevent swelling and inflammation of the sinus openings and nasal passages. They’re likewise used to shrink and prevent the recurrence of nasal growths or polyps.

Antihistamines

Primarily used for allergy relief, these stop inflammation from allergic reactions to help combat allergy symptoms that could result in swollen sinus and nasal passages.

Antibiotics

If your Manhattan, NY ENT determines that your sinus infection is due to a bacterial infection, you will need to take antibiotics. Depending on which antibiotic type you’ll be taking, you may need to take it for three to twenty-eight days. Also, since the sinuses are deeply seated and receive limited blood flow, longer antibiotic treatment might be required for individuals with more severe or persistent cases.

Surgery

If you don’t get relief from drug therapies, your ENT doctor may recommend sinus surgery. In most cases, surgery is used for correcting anatomical defects found in the bone that separates the nasal passages. However, it can likewise be used for opening up closed nasal passages and removing polyps. Surgery can be conducted under general or local anesthesia and is usually an out-patient procedure.

For Sinus Infection Relief, Talk to Us

Arrange a consultation with your ENT doctor, Dr. Richard Nass, here in our Manhattan, NY, practice by dialing (212) 734-4515.

Facial pain is essentially any pain that you can feel in your face, which includes your eyes and your mouth. While it’s typically a result of a headache or injury, it may likewise result from a health issue. In many cases, facial pain is a result of sinus issues and nasal infections.

If you feel facial pain that appears suddenly, consult your doctor as soon as possible. This is especially true if you have a history of sinus problems or nasal infections. At the practice of ENT doctor Dr. Richard Nass here in Manhattan, NY, he can evaluate your condition and help you determine what’s causing your facial pain.

Common Facial Pain Causes

People usually describe facial pain as an achy, stabbing, and cramp-like pain that radiates throughout the entire face. Pain in your face could occur due to various reasons from sinus problems and nasal obstructions.

Types of Facial Pain

The specific kind of pain you’re experiencing would depend on what’s causing it. For instance, pain due to sinusitis typically feels like an aching pain or pressure underneath your eyes and across your cheekbones. If you experience this kind of pain, visit your ENT doctor in Manhattan, NY, as soon as you can to get relief for your pain and prevent further complications.

Diagnosing Facial Pain

During your consultation with your doctor, be prepared to describe your pain, specifically:

• Which portion of your face hurts
• How often you’re experiencing pain
• How does your pain feel like
• Where your pain is starting from
• How long your pain lasts
• Other symptoms you’re experiencing

Need Relief from Your Facial Pain?
 

Call (212) 734-4515 to schedule your consultation with our ENT doctor Dr. Richard Nass here at our Manhattan, NY, practice.

You wish you felt better. Again and again, you have headaches, pressure across your forehead, nasal congestion and more. Dr. Richard Nass, Manhattan otolaryngologist, often performs balloon sinuplasty, a minimally invasive surgical procedure that relieves the symptoms of chronic sinusitis. Learn more here about this quick and effective treatment and how you really can feel better.

FAQs about balloon sinuplasty

What are the sinuses?

You have four areas in your skull which are empty and air-filled. Lined with mucous membranes to keep circulating air moist, sinuses lighten your skull in weight and make your voice uniquely yours. Unfortunately, sinuses become infected when viruses, bacteria, allergens, environmental irritants, mold and fungi invade and stick around.

What is sinusitis?

An infection of the sinuses, sinusitis affects 37 million Americans every year, says the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Acute sinusitis lasts about ten days, whereas chronic sinusitis may drag on and on for months. Both feature types of sinusitis feature symptoms such as:

• Thick, yellow to green mucus
• Headache across the forehead
• Congestion
• Toothache pain
• Fever
• Postnasal drip
• Fatigue
• A full feeling in the face and head

Your ENT doctor uses physical examination, review of your symptoms, nasal endoscopy (inspection with a thin, lighted tube and camera) and digital imaging to determine the cause of chronic sinusitis. Often, injury or congenital defect, along with allergies or asthma, are the culprits.

What treatments relieve sinusitis?

Some infections clear by themselves. Others require antibiotics and decongestant nasal sprays. A simpler intervention, irrigation with a Neti pot, washes the sinuses with saline, relieving congestion and irritation.

What is balloon sinuplasty?

Some patients experience chronic sinusitis. These infections don't respond to antibiotic therapy, decongestants or other treatments. So, your Manhatten ENT doctor often recommends a procedure called balloon sinuplasty. Usually performed with benefit of general anesthesia, balloon sinuplasty involves insertion of a lighted catheter up the nostril and into the area of sinus blockage. Dr. Nass inflates a small balloon attached to the catheter, compressing the tissue causing the blockage. Then, he withdraws the balloon.

Will it hurt and make me sick?

Balloon sinuplasty does not hurt, but it may cause some residual bruising or tenderness. There is no cutting or suturing with this one-hour procedure. Patients find excellent relief for their symptoms and typically experience no real downtime.

Find out more

Dr. Richard Nass helps people who experience problems with their sinuses. Sinusitis can be managed so you feel, and breathe, better. Please phone his Manhattan office for a consultation: (212) 734-4515. You may book an appointment online, too.

How your sinus, ear, nose, and throat specialist in Manhattan, NY, can help with sinus problems

Sinus complications are uncomfortable, annoying, and very stubborn, as they often fail to respond to over-the-counter sinus medications. Fortunately, here at Dr. Richard Nass's Manhattan office, your ENT specialist can help you find relief from sinus problems—read on to learn how.

More about sinus issues and how we can help

Sinus complications often occur due to allergies. Producing symptoms such as a stuffy nose, dizziness, breathing problems, and recurrent headaches, allergic reactions are commonly caused by exposure to grass and flower pollens, pet dander, mold, and dust mites. To alleviate these issues, the first step is to perform an allergy test so as to determine what exactly you are allergic to.

Once you and your doctor have determined the source of your allergies, it’s best to try and avoid those substances. Other allergy treatments include shots and sublingual immunotherapy. Treating the underlying allergy can help prevent future sinus complications.

Other sinus complication can result from inflammations due to virus, fungus, or bacterial infection. In these cases, your sinuses can feel full of pressure and chronic, throbbing pain. Other signs and symptoms include:

• A greenish-yellow fluid coming from your nose
• Persistent coughing and congestion
• Persistent earaches, headaches, or sore throat

If you are experiencing these issues, you can try a few simple home remedies to get relief from sinus problems. Consider:

• Placing a humidifier in your bedroom to soothe your sinuses
• Irrigating your sinuses with saline solution to keep nasal passages clear
• Taking over-the-counter pain and anti-inflammatory medications

For stubborn sinus complications, it’s best to visit an expert ENT specialist. Your doctor may recommend:

• Prescription-strength antihistamines, decongestants, or antibiotics
• Prescription-strength corticosteroids and anti-inflammatory medications
• Sinus surgery including balloon sinuplasty to open up blocked nasal passages

Need relief? Give us a call

If you are experiencing problems with your sinuses, it’s time to call Dr. Richard Nass, your ENT specialist in Manhattan, NY. Dial (212) 734-4515 now to schedule a consultation.

Your facial pain has intensified. It started with a cold, but now, three months later, you really want relief. Dr. Richard Nass is the Manhattan, NY, ENT doctor who diagnoses and treats facial pain related to sinusitis. Count on his expertise to uncover why you're in pain and how to help.
 

What are sinuses?

The sinuses are a system of air-filled spaces inside your skull. They are lined with mucous-producing membranes to keep the air your breath moist and as free from bacteria and particulate matter (such as dust and pollen) as possible. Your sinuses also influence the sound quality of your voice.

The sinuses are located in three different places in your skull:

1. Forehead--the frontal sinuses
2. Behind the cheeks--the maxillary sinuses
3. Behind the nose--ethmoid and sphenoid sinuses

Any or all of these cavities can be problematic, infecting with bacteria or viruses, growing benign polyps, swelling due to environmental irritants (such as cigarette smoke), and allergens (such as plant pollen, dust and animal dander).
 

Facial pain due to sinusitis

Your board-certified ENT doctor in Manhattan, NY, sees many cases of facial pain related to sinusitis. An infection of the sinuses, sinusitis may be acute (lasting up to four weeks) or chronic (lasting 12 weeks or even longer). It exhibits typical symptoms of:

• Headache pain, especially across the forehead and under the eyes
• Runny nose
• Thick, green mucus
• Bad breath
• Toothache pain unrelated to dental abscess or decay

Dr. Nass diagnoses facial pain related to sinusitis with hands-on palpation of the face and with a lighted endoscope. Endoscopy is an in-office procedure which introduces a thin, lighted tube up the nostrils. With it, Dr. Nass looks for:

• Nasal fractures
• Polyps
• Obstructions and other structural problems, such as a deviated septum
• Inflammation from allergies

Treating your facial pain

Dr. Nass uses his diagnostic findings to comprise a treatment plan to reduce or eliminate your sinus facial pain and other symptoms. Common interventions include:

• Removal of nasal polyps
• Use of nasal sprays (steroidal to reduce inflammation)
• Increasing humidity in the sleeping areas at night
• Irrigation with a Neti pot (running sterile water through the nose)
• Over the counter anti-histamines
• Allergy testing and treatment

Get the help you need

Unfortunately, about 12.5 percent of American adults suffer with painful sinusitis, either acute or chronic. And, the symptoms often recur. So, please contact Dr. Richard Nass for a consultation. He'll help you manage your facial pain due to sinusitis so you can feel your very best. Phone the office staff at (212) 734-4515.