Cold or Sinusitis?


Is It a Cold or Sinus Infection?



Watery eyes, a stuffy nose, sneezing: How long these symptoms last can be a clue to what’s causing your congestion. Is it a cold or a sinus infection?

Cold

If it’s a cold virus, you may find yourself close to a tissue box for several days. Most of the time, colds get better on their own in 10 days or less.

Cold Symptoms

Colds bring on a nasty mix of symptoms that can really wear you down. They can include:

Treating Your Cold

Because the common cold is a virus, antibiotics won’t help. But over-the-counter medications may make you feel better.
“The remedies you choose should be targeted at specific symptoms, so something for your headache, for your congestion, for your fever,” says Camelia Davtyan, MD, a professor of medicine at UCLA.
Davtyan also stresses getting plenty of fluids and rest. The latter, she recognizes, is often hard.


Sinus Infection

When your nasal passages become infected, that’s a sinus infection. And they’re harder to get rid of. Viruses, bacteria, or even allergies can lead to sinus infections.
Colds don’t usually cause sinus infections, says Davtyan, but they do offer a breeding ground for them.
“You touch your nose a lot when you’re sick, and each time you bring more bacteria to the sinuses,” she says. “Because your sinuses can’t drain, the bacteria stay there and grow.”

Sinus Infection Symptoms

Look for the following symptoms:


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Amplodipine: Uses and Side Effects

  Why is this medication prescribed? Amlodipine is used alone or in combination with other medications to treat high blood pressure in adults and children 6 years and older. It is also used to treat certain types of angina (chest pain) and coronary artery disease (narrowing of the blood vessels that supply blood to the heart). Amlodipine is in a class of medications called calcium channel blockers. It lowers blood pressure by relaxing the blood vessels so the heart does not have to pump as hard. It controls chest pain by increasing the supply of blood to the heart. If taken regularly, amlodipine controls chest pain, but it does not stop chest pain once it starts. Your doctor may prescribe a different medication to take when you have chest pain. High blood pressure is a common condition and when not treated, can cause damage to the brain, heart, blood vessels, kidneys and other parts of the body. Damage to these organs may cause heart disease, a heart attack, heart failure, stroke, kidn
Read more

Chronic Cough: Causes and Treatments

A cough that lasts eight weeks or more is called a chronic cough. Even chronic coughs often have a treatable cause. They can result from conditions like postnasal drip or allergies. Only rarely are they a symptom of cancer or other potentially life-threatening lung conditions. A chronic cough can have a big impact on your life, though. It can keep you awake at night and distract you from work and your social life. That’s why you should have your doctor check out any cough that lasts for more than three weeks. Causes of chronic cough The most common causes of a chronic cough are: postnasal drip asthma , especially cough-variant asthma, which causes a cough as the main symptom acid reflux or  gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) chronic bronchitis  or other forms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) infections, such as  pneumonia  or  acute bronchitis ACE inhibitors , which are medications used to treat high blood pressure smoking Less common causes
Read more

Pneumonia: Causes and Symptoms

Image
Pneumonia  is an  inflammatory  condition of the  lung  affecting primarily the small air sacs known as  alveoli . [4] [13]  Typically symptoms include some combination of  productive  or dry  cough ,  chest pain ,  fever , and  trouble breathing . [2]  Severity is variable. [2] Pneumonia is usually caused by infection with  viruses  or  bacteria  and less commonly by other  microorganisms , certain  medications  and conditions such as  autoimmune diseases . [4] [5]  Risk factors include  cystic fibrosis ,  chronic obstructive pulmonary disease  (COPD),  asthma ,  diabetes ,  heart failure , a history of  smoking , a poor ability to cough such as following a  stroke , and a  weak immune system . [6]  Diagnosis is often based on the symptoms and  physical examination . [7]   Chest X-ray , blood tests, and  culture  of the  sputum  may help confirm the diagnosis. [7]   Link:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumonia Symptoms of pneumonia Pneumonia symptoms can be mild to
Read more