Sinuses are 4pairs of hollow air filled cavities around nose which opens in to the nasal cavities through bony openings called ostia. The four pairs of sinuses are frontal, maxillary, ethmoid, and, sphenoid sinuses. The inflammation of the lining of these sinuses leads to sinusitis which can be acute if less than 10days or chronic if lasts more than 12weeks. The most common cause of sinusitis is. Viral pathology which is self limiting and constitutes nearly 95%of all sinus inflammations. Bacterial infections are less frequent and subsides within 7 to 10days with symptomatic treatments like nasal decongestant s either oral or topical, hot fomentations and nasal douching with saline.
The role of antibiotics comes only when the symptoms persist s even after 10days, if symptoms like fever redness and swelling in face, severe facial and eye irritation occurs or if the patient is immunocompromised with systemic diseases like diabetes. Other reasons for sinusitis can be deviated septum causing blockade of sinuses, allergies, nasal polyps, dental infections, fungal involvement of sinuses and tumor s blocking sinus drainage pathways.so not all sinusitis can be treated with antibiotics and sometimes sinusitis treatment of allergies and rarely removal of polyps correction of septal deviation s, removal of fungal debris, removal of tumors with surgeries like fess, balloon sinuplasty will be the real treatment for sinus pathologies.