Headache, or cephalgic syndrome, is a frequent companion of sinusitis. Doctors associate it with general intoxication against the background of infection of the body and the pressure of the inflamed sinuses. The tissues of the head are compressed, blood circulation is hampered, edema occurs. Cephalalgia is especially pronounced in the morning, when bending. With a large accumulation of pus, a feeling of squeezing of the occipital region appears.
The headache with sinusitis is recognizable at the location: the zones adjacent to the inner parts of the nose are more often affected. It is possible to get rid of unpleasant sensations with the help of analgesics for a short time, the pain returns with renewed vigor. It is often confused with migraine, they try to stop it with some drugs. But self-medication can lead to serious complications. Only a doctor can determine the true cause of a headache based on research.
The maxillary sinuses are the internal nasal cavities located under the eyes. They are lined with mucous membranes. When it becomes inflamed for some reason, the cells begin to produce a thick purulent secretion. It leaves with difficulty naturally through the nasal passages, accumulates inside the cavity, and pathogens develop in large numbers. As a result, sinusitis occurs. The nature of the diseases can be different, the main reasons are:
- infection of the nasal mucosa with viruses, microbes, pathogenic fungi;
- complication of an untreated rhinitis caused by ARVI;
- an allergic reaction to irritants;
- weakened immunity after an illness, surgery;
- accumulation of nasal secretions in the sinuses due to deformation of the septum, regardless of whether it is congenital or acquired;
- physiological narrowing of the nasal passages;
- severe hypothermia of the body;
- abnormal secretory function of the nasal mucosa against the background of the influence of harmful factors of industrial and household nature (dustiness, gas pollution, tobacco smoke, toxic suspensions);
- long-term use of vasoconstrictor nasal drugs (sprays, drops);
- diseases of the oral cavity due to inadequate care and caries;
- pathological proliferation of nasal tissues (adenoids, polyps, tumor formations);
- high dose of radiation;
- too low air humidity in the apartment – the mucous membrane dries up, dry crusts appear, foci of inflammation;
- chronic diseases of the larynx, upper respiratory tract, frequent sinusitis, rhinitis.
A headache with sinusitis is sometimes overlooked. It is often considered a migraine caused by psycho-emotional overload. Often, the headache is relieved with all kinds of anesthetic drugs, this aggravates the course of sinusitis, and delays the healing process.
The symptoms of migraine are severe throbbing attacks all over the head or on one side. They appear from irritants: harsh sounds, bright light, smell.
Headaches with sinusitis are characterized differently, they are necessarily accompanied by nasal congestion, impaired breathing, loss of smell, general weakness.
Sinusitis is accompanied by the release of white or yellowish mucus, migraine – nausea and vomiting. It is characteristic of adult women, often the disease is inherited. And headaches with sinusitis can occur in men and children. They often appear in allergy sufferers, people with pulmonary pathologies. If snot appears, the voice has become nasal, with a headache it is necessary to consult an otolaryngologist. Nasal discharge is not typical for migraine , tearing does not occur, chills, hyperthermia do not appear. It hurts not only the forehead and the back of the head, but the whole head completely. Sinus inflammation is different.
How a head hurts with sinusitis
Cephalalgia occurs when the nose is blocked. After the thick mucus has passed, there is temporary relief. In the morning, the patient feels worse, this is due to the accumulation of nasal secretions in the maxillary sinuses. After vasoconstrictor drugs, the swelling of the mucous membrane subsides, sometimes cephalalgia completely disappears.
The main symptoms of sinusitis:
- the feeling of heaviness in the back of the head increases with tilting, a sharp turn of the head to the side;
- there is a pulsation in the area of the maxillary sinuses, pain appears in the bridge of the nose.
Analgesics only dull the pain, they do not completely eliminate the severity;
- pains are pressing in nature, spread from the bridge of the nose to the temples;
- with unilateral sinusitis, pain is characteristic only on one side;
- general intoxication of the body is observed.
Where and how the head hurts with sinusitis largely depends on the course of the disease. In an acute form, the temperature rises, the place in the area of the maxillary sinuses swells, reddening of the sclera is possible, as from irritation. What else hurts with sinusitis:
- eyeballs – it hurts to press on them with your hands;
- muscles in the area of the nose, pulsation appears in the maxillary sinuses;
- aches periodically occurs in the nose;
- the sensitivity of the frontal areas in the region of the brow ridges is aggravated;
- with the contraction of the facial muscles, an unpleasant sensation of excessive stretching appears;
- often there is a toothache – from the side of inflammation it can be painful to press on the gum;
- sometimes headaches are accompanied by ear lumbago, this is due to swelling of the middle ear.
When the disease becomes chronic, the following symptoms may be:
- prolonged sinusitis;
- redness of the larynx;
- persistent sore throat;
- heaviness in the area of the eyes, forehead, especially with pressure.
If anatomically the teeth grow so that their roots extend into the maxillary sinus area, a sharp toothache is possible.
With sinusitis, visual impairment is possible, a complication in the form of conjunctivitis. Due to the inflammatory process, bad breath occurs, a layer of yellow plaque appears on the tongue.
To eliminate cephalalgia caused by sinusitis, it is necessary to find a focus of inflammation. For this, radiation studies are carried out. The x-ray clearly shows where the large accumulations of mucus are located, they are the cause of the cephalgic syndrome. As an emergency measure, Ibuprofen can be taken before going to the doctor – it will relieve pain, alleviate the general condition. At elevated temperatures, Paracetamol is recommended.
Pain relievers such as Ketonal with the active ingredient ketoprofen can effectively relieve severe pain with sinusitis. These are triple-action drugs, they stop the inflammatory process, lower the temperature, and relieve pain.
But to treat cephalalgia separately from sinusitis is pointless. Only by eliminating the disease, you can completely get rid of unpleasant symptoms. When the diagnosis is established, the otolaryngologist develops a therapeutic complex. Medication for sinusitis involves taking the following drugs:
- non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, they are necessarily prescribed at an elevated temperature, an acute form of the disease;
- antihistamine sprays or tablets that eliminate mucosal irritation in case of allergic manifestations;
- vasoconstrictor agents that relieve swelling and facilitate the mastered discharge of mucus;
- drugs with a mucolytic effect, thinning the produced nasal secretion.
At high temperatures, antipyretic drugs are prescribed. The therapeutic regimen is recommended by the doctor. Each drug has limitations and contraindications; it is not safe to take them at your own discretion.
Treatment directions
It is better to get rid of sinusitis in a complex manner. In addition to taking medicines, they use folk methods, physiotherapy. In extreme cases, when the accumulation of mucus cannot be eliminated in a natural way, surgical intervention is required – the festering secret is eliminated forcibly with a syringe.
The course of the disease largely depends on its cause, it can be of a different nature:
- infectious nature;
- physiological;
- allergic;
- hereditary;
- mechanical;
- medication.
This is taken into account by the doctor when developing therapy in several directions at the same time.
Physiotherapy treatment
A gentle and effective method of getting rid of sinusitis and headache is hardware recovery:
- UHF improves blood circulation in inflamed tissues. Filtration of lymph and utilization of decay products is accelerated due to the restoration of the permeability of cell membranes;
- electrophoresis provides deep heating and saturation of lesions with drugs. After it, the headache immediately subsides due to the localization of the inflammatory process and the activation of the natural discharge of stagnant mucus;
- ultraviolet treatment of the nasal mucosa reduces the population of pathogenic microorganisms, dries out the mucous membrane, increases immunity due to the formation of vitamin D in the tissues;
- ultrasound provides a deep massage of the sinuses of the nose , improves metabolic processes, relieves the feeling of constriction, activates the production of liquid nasal secretion, it dilutes stagnant, it is evacuated in a natural way;
- magnetotherapy lowers blood pressure due to the vasoconstrictor effect, relieves cephalgic syndrome, the head stops hurting after several procedures.
Puncture with sinusitis
With a volumetric accumulation of pus, increased secretion density, narrowed nasal passages, using special instruments or syringes with bone needles, a hole is made to evacuate the purulent masses. The puncture is performed through the nose in a procedure room under local anesthesia. The sinuses are treated with antiseptic solutions – they are pumped in a large volume, the effect of washing is noticeable immediately:
- the feeling of constriction disappears;
- the temperature drops;
- nasal breathing is restored;
- the nasal tone disappears.
The procedure has no consequences, the puncture in the bone tissue heals within two, maximum three days. Puncture allows you to get rid of sinusitis forever. Through the puncture, the tissue of the maxillary sinuses is taken: the structure of the cells of the mucous membrane is studied under a microscope. Complications after a puncture are extremely rare, so you should not be afraid of this procedure. Often, a puncture is the only way to eliminate headache, jaw and toothache.
Home treatment
Among the methods of traditional medicine, doctors recommend:
- washing with salt water, better with sea salt, it contains iodine;
- treatment of the nose with decoctions of antiseptic herbs;
- the use of homemade ointments based on propolis, honey and sea buckthorn oil.
It is recommended to put turundochki soaked in a weak solution of thuja oil, eucalyptus into the nasal passages every day for 10 days. They are kept from 30 minutes to an hour. They significantly alleviate the condition, the headache subsides.
It is important to use the reserves of traditional medicine to enhance immunity: drink a decoction of rose hips, anti-inflammatory herbs. For sinusitis, diaphoretic, antipyretic teas are also recommended. Aloe juice with honey is considered an effective remedy . The composition can be taken orally to strengthen the body, mixed with butter, used to lubricate the nasal passages. Beekeeping products can cause allergies, do not forget about this.
Types of complications and harm to self-medication
With sinusitis, a visit to a doctor is considered a prerequisite, this will help to avoid serious complications:
- meningitis;
- loss of teeth;
- osteoperiostitis (inflammation of the bone tissue).
Self-administration of drugs is also fraught with harmful consequences. Allergic reactions may occur, side effects, toxic lesions will appear. Why is self-medication dangerous:
- taking the wrong drugs can lead to a complete loss of smell;
- long-term use of vasoconstrictor drugs provokes rhinitis drug;
- a change in the structure of the mucous membrane contributes to the development of infections;
- if the cause of the headache with sinusitis is not eliminated, the development of the inflammatory process is possible, its spread to the brain.
Only the correct selection of drugs ensures the effectiveness of the treatment of headache with sinusitis without serious consequences.
How a head hurts with sinusitis: how to determine the symptoms in an adult
Headache with sinusitis is attributed to any problem other than a nose disease. And this is a minus, since time is lost, during which the pathology can be cured with minimal losses. In this case, a headache with sinusitis is confused with migraine. And they try to remove it with painkillers, rest, etc. Such measures aggravate and lengthen the course of the disease. Therefore, it is important to differentiate the types of unpleasant symptoms. With a migraine, soreness in the head will manifest itself with strong pulses both in the entire zone and on one side. Moreover, they are provoked by harsh sounds, bright light and even an inappropriate smell. Headaches with sinusitis necessarily have additional symptoms in the form of nasal congestion, problems with breathing and loss of smell. Characteristic discharge of a white or yellow tint appears from the nose. With migraine, the accompanying symptoms will be nausea and vomiting. Migraine is more common in women and is often inherited. All suffer from sinusitis, regardless of gender and age.
In the frontal part Headache in adults with the development of sinusitis is usually localized in the frontal part. And this is understandable, since the maxillary sinuses are located in the depths of the nasal cavity, just closer to the frontal zone. Therefore, the pressure caused by the mucus accumulated in the nose makes itself felt especially persistently here. This symptom begins to appear at the initial stage, and then, as the situation worsens, it becomes brighter.
The sensation is unpleasant, oppressive and affects the eyes, eyebrows and brow ridges. This is again due to the proximity of all these organs and body systems to the nose. There is little space in the head, and most of the organs are closely intertwined with each other. For example, teeth often hurt due to sinusitis – from the side where inflammation develops, it hurts to press on the gum. If sinusitis is one-sided, unpleasant phenomena can be noted only on one side.
Pulsating pain in the occiput and intensifies In the occiput, the pressure is felt mainly in the morning and because the pressure is directed here from the night. After all, a person lies on the pillow with the back of the head. After he disperses and wakes up completely, the pain also moves – it flows forward. Occipital pain with sinusitis suggests that the third stage of the disease has begun. And in such a situation, urgent treatment is required. Attacks can be more intense, and also appear when sneezing and even when leaving a warm room on a cold street – a temperature difference is triggered. Pain in the temporal region – what to do if it presses on the temples In the temples, soreness with sinusitis is explained by the same pressure spreading throughout the head. It is usually said that such a symptom appears after the start of self-treatment of sinusitis without any consultation with a specialist. Such a symptom usually occurs with an acute form of sinusitis, and only a set of measures can cope with it.
Other Symptoms of the Headache problem with sinusitis is accompanied by other symptoms. And they are quite well defined by their belonging to pathology. Therefore, before trying to relieve a headache, it is worth seeing if none of the following are available. Noise in the head With an infectious disease, which is sinusitis, noise appears in the head. Such an unpleasant symptom is characterized as monotonous and rustling. Ears begin to paw against its background, the head throbs strongly. After all, the violation of air exchange in the nose is disrupted, which causes swelling of the mucous membranes, inflammation and distortion of sound waves. Pain in the head against the background of pure breathing. The nose can breathe with sinusitis – at a number of stages or in the chronic course of the disease, the ventilation of the nasal passages is not so much disturbed. But the swelling of the mucous membrane inside persists, which interferes with the normal outflow of mucus and leads to its accumulation. An extra layer in the nose causes changes in physiological processes, which increase the pressure inside. This can make your head hurt. But a person can breathe. With sinusitis, if breathing persists, there is no sense of smell, i.e. a person cannot distinguish between smells.