NE Valley Times

• Millions of Americans suffer from chronic sinusitis every year.

• Symptoms of sinusitis include congestion, nasal discharge, facial pain, fever, headaches and toothaches.

• If left untreated, sinusitis can increase the risk of stroke, heart disease, diabetes and arthritis.  

Dr. Franklyn Gergits of Sinus & Allergy Wellness Center says inflammation from chronic sinusitis can lead to serious health complications, including strokes and heart disease, thanks to severe inflammation.

"The inflammatory changes that take place inside the sinus cavities can be similar to the inflammatory conditions that can take place with undiagnosed dental infections and cavities," he told NE Valley Times. "When there's extra inflammation inside the body, the body handles that in different ways. Sometimes that inflammation can present itself to the blood vessels, and that could cause strokes or heart attacks. If we're not getting good sleep, then our heart rate could increase when we're sleeping at nighttime. That can lead to cardiovascular stressors that might be linked to our nasal airway. So if our airway is not maximized, then we might see that situations like stroke and heart attacks could occur from inflammation." 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that chronic sinusitis affects 28.9 million Americans, or 11% of the adult population. Chronic sinusitis is also responsible for 4.1 million doctor visits and more than 230,000 emergency room visits each year.

People who suffer from sinusitis might experience congestion, facial pain, headaches, toothaches, nasal drainage, a reduced ability to smell, fever and bad breath, according to Scotland's National Health Service. If you do, and your symptoms don't improve after more than a week, then it's time to seek professional help.

An ENT specialist might recommend a saline solution or over-the-counter medication, and if those don't work, your doctor might prescribe antibiotics or a corticosteroid spray. If other treatments don't work, the specialist may then recommend sinus surgery.

Sinusitis causes inflammation in the sinus cavities, which can increase the risk of stroke, heart disease, neurological disease, rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes if left untreated, according to Next Avenue.

"We often try medicine first," Gergits said. "If that doesn't work, sometimes [we recommend] an examination by an ear, nose and throat doctor. [During] our examinations, we might see dental infections. Sometimes dentists send patients our way, and sometimes we send our patients to the dentist to try to reduce inflammation."

To solve the problem, more doctors are offering balloon sinuplasty, an outpatient procedure that takes only 10 to 15 minutes, and patients typically recover within one to two days. Most patients can resume their normal activities almost immediately, although they may experience swelling for up to a week, according to Eisemann Plastic Surgery Center.

If you're interested in learning more about the symptoms of sinusitis and allergies, take this Sinus Self-Assessment Quiz.