Sinusitis

• According to the Merck Manual, there are two types of sinusitis - acute sinusitis and chronic sinusitis. Since I'm better now, I probably suffered from acute sinusitis about two weeks ago. It is considered acute when the symptoms resolved within 30 days.


• The common symptoms of sinusitis are pain, tenderness, nasal congestion, and headache. Yes, I had runny nose, headache, and some vague pain surrounding my nose. My nose was so runny that I used up the entire toilet paper roll. As the Merck Manual rightly said, one might get sinusitis after a common cold. Well, I did. Luckily, it didn't end up chronic.


• Sinusitis is considered chronic if one has the symptoms for more than 8-12 weeks.


• Doctors do not know for sure what causes it. Doctors will diagnose a sinusitis based on your symptoms, x-ray, and a CT scan.


• So, how do you cure sinusitis? Since acute sinusitis is caused by bacterial infection, it involves taking antibiotics. Chronic sinusitis may be a little more complicated and it might involve surgery to treat it. Please read here for a more complete information on sinusitis.