Antibiotics and sinus infections

Here I sit with another sinus infection that just will not go away. It calls me its best friend, and is unable to part ways. This is about the third time I have gotten the dreaded sinus infection this year. And it usually lasts for about 7-10 days. In a few words, I’m sick of being sick.

Should I go to the doctor and get a round of antibiotics? I’ve never taken antibiotics for a sinus infection but hear about people that do.

Sinus Infections

I am really getting annoyed with these sinus infections. Every other week I come down with them. After looking back at what I was doing when I ended up getting sick, I realized that the day before I have gotten sick (the last 2 times) I was at a high school wrestling tournament and middle school basketball games. I think it is safe to say that those events were filled with lots of sweaty, probably infected air. It has been very cold outside.

They say that symptoms of sinus infection are nasal congestion, headache, pressure in the nose and head, and personality change. I laugh at the ‘personality change’ symptom. Yes, my personality changes when I’m sick!!!

This caused me to do some research online about what exactly causes sinus infections, also called sinusitus. I quickly discovered that sinus infections are one of the most chronic diseases affecting Americans today.

Some interesting research at the Mayo Clinic on sinus infections seems to indicate that fungus may be the culprit causing all the problems. They found fungus in 96% of the chronic sinus participants nose mucus.

It seems that the infection is caused by our immune systems response to the fungus. Our system sends what is called eosinophils to attack the fungi and the eosinophils irritate the membranes in the nose. As long as fungi remain, so will the irritation.

And, they have discovered that since antibiotics attack bacteria, they are ineffective at dealing with the fungi.

So, what does it all mean? Well for now, they need to do more research and the drug companies will need to develop medications to deal with the fungi.

Since antibiotics probably won’t help, we need to rely on home remedies. I have been taking some Airborne every day–the immune booster available over the counter, drinking lots of green tea and water and I will add to my list today–warm compresses around the nose to relieve pressure in the nasal passages.

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