Sinuses: the mysterious holes in our heads
Nothing can contain a lot of something. That's the story of the sinuses: four pairs of air-filled holes behind the nose and around the eyes. These eight cavities decrease the weight of the head, help the voice resonate, and even moisten and warm inhaled air -- a natural humidifier.
At least, that's what doctors think the sinuses are there for. Like the appendix, sinuses are not a vital organ. One can do just fine without sinuses. People born without sinuses, or who have them surgically replaced, don't appear to have any significant problems. Moreover, the main beneficiaries of sinuses often are viruses and bacteria. The warm, sheltered environment can be a veritable Petri dish for bugs in our heads.
Sinuses have an antimicrobial defense in their mucus linings. The mucus itself contains bug-fighting antibiotics. Small hairlike cells called cilia push the mucus around, taking any trapped bugs with it. In most people, most of the time, this defense keeps sinuses healthy. But virtually everyone will experience the sorry effects when this defense breaks down. A large minority will experience it repeatedly.
Because the sinuses are connected through the nasal passages to the outside air, they are exposed to all sorts of disease and misery-causing agents, such as allergy-producing substances, mold, bacteria or viruses. They often attack the tender mucus lining of the sinuses, inflaming it and causing a condition known as sinusitis. Overproduction of mucus clogs the sinuses, producing that all-too-familiar stuffy feeling. More than 35 million Americans are estimated to get sinusitis every year.
Worse, the sinuses' closeness to the eyes, brain, teeth roots and middle ear (indirectly connected to sinuses via the eustachian tube, which reaches the nasal passage) provide a road for all the invading nasties to spread.
Colds often produce acute sinusitis, which subsides relatively quickly once the cold is over. But millions of people have ongoing, or chronic sinusitis, which produces a more or less constant state of discomfort. These are the people who get colds or infections that never quite seem to go away.
Sinus disorders produce a wide array of very uncomfortable symptoms that are often hard to pin down. Sinus headaches can be confused with migraine headaches and vice versa. Head congestion, facial pain and fatigue are extremely common complications, along with sore throat. Sinus blockage can also cause pain in the teeth, forehead, ears and neck. Congestion can block the eustachian tubes, impairing hearing.
More than one-third of patients with chronic cough also had sinusitis, according to a November 2005 study by researchers at the famed Mayo Clinic. The study placed sinusitis among the top three underlying causes of chronic cough, along with acid reflux and inflammation of the nasal passages, or rhinitis.
The pain and discomfort of sinusitis can make getting to sleep difficult. More indirectly, sinusitis can cause snoring or other airway obstructions. In turn, that can cause a condition known as sleep apnea, in which the person stops and resumes breathing many times a night. Sleep apnea is linked to serious health problems, such as high blood pressure and diabetes.
Acute sinusitis can be treated with over-the-counter pills or inhaled medications such as Afrin that relieve inflammation, allowing mucus to drain, or prescription inhaled medications such as fluticasone (the active ingredient in Flonase, now sold as a generic drug), an inflammation-reducing corticosteroid. Other ways of relieving symptoms are inhaling mist from a vaporizer or taking a hot shower. The moisture soothes nasal passages and helps get rid of mucus. Drinking plenty of fluids also thins the mucosal secretions.
Chronic sinusitis caused by an infection is best treated by clearing up the infection. For bacterial infections, antibiotics are prescribed. Inhaled antibiotics are often more effective than pills, a team of Stanford University Medical Center researchers found in a study published in the December 2002 issue of the medical journal Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery. Antibiotics are useless against viral infections, but those usually clear up within a couple of weeks.
For more information about these body parts, go to www.entnet.org/healthinfo and www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/sinusitis.htm.
- Contact staff writer Bradley J. Fikes at email@example.com or 9760) 739-6641.