PHX Reporter

• Some common symptoms of sinusitis include nasal inflammation, reduced sense of taste or smell, nasal discharge, difficulty breathing through your nose, and pain, tenderness, or swelling around the cheeks, eyes, nose or forehead.
• Symptoms that some sufferers might find surprising could include ear pain, bad breath, fatigue, or aching in your upper jaw and teeth.
• There are nonsurgical treatments available to help with sinusitis symptoms, including balloon sinuplasty.

Dr. John Stewart of Arizona Breathe Free warns patients that symptoms of chronic sinus dysfunction can go far beyond simple congestion.

"Are you having difficulty sleeping at night?" he asked the PHX Reporter. "Is congestion, facial pain, or post-nasal drainage keeping you awake? Is your partner fed up with your snoring? These symptoms could be indicative of chronic sinus dysfunction, a complex medical condition with a simple convenient comfortable procedure.”

According to a report by the Mayo Clinic, acute sinusitis not only makes it difficult to breathe through your nose, but can also lead to swelling around your eyes and face, which can also cause facial pain and headaches. Symptoms of chronic sinusitis can include the usual suspects, but other, more unexpected suspects such as nasal inflammation, a runny nose, postnasal drainage, congestion, pain or facial swelling, headaches, loss of smell and taste, a sore throat, bad breath or fatigue, the Mayo Clinic report stated.

In addition to headaches, toothaches, nasal drainage or fever, people experiencing symptoms that aren't improving for more than a week should see a physician, according to NHS Inform. An ear, nose and throat specialist might recommend a saline solution or over-the-counter treatment. If those don't improve symptoms, a doctor might prescribe antibiotics or a corticosteroid spray, and possibly recommend sinus surgery.

Aside from other treatments and surgeries, another option is balloon sinuplasty, an inpatient procedure that's simple and only takes about an hour, according to Entellus Medical. The preparation takes about 30 minutes, before which anesthetics are applied to the nose. A thin instrument with a balloon is then guided through the sinus cavity, the balloon is inflated for five seconds with saline solution, and the balloon is removed once the sinuses are clear.

To learn more about sinus symptoms and treatments, take this free quiz.