North Baltimore Journal

• Some common symptoms of sinusitis include nasal inflammation, reduced sense of taste or smell, nasal discharge, difficulty breathing through your nose, and pain, tenderness, or swelling around the cheeks, eyes, nose or forehead.
• Symptoms that some sufferers might find surprising could include ear pain, bad breath, fatigue, or aching in your upper jaw and teeth.
• There are nonsurgical treatments available to help with sinusitis symptoms, including balloon sinuplasty.

Dr. Jamie Oberman of Frederick Breathe Free said there are some symptoms that sinusitis sufferers have to deal with that they might not realize are coming from sinusitis, and facial pain can be one of them.

According to the Mayo Clinic, acute sinusitis can not only make it difficult to breathe through your nose, but the area around your eyes and face could get swollen, and you could be dealing with throbbing facial pain and headaches.

"Your teeth hurt because the floor of the sinus, the maxillary sinus, is the roof of the mouth," Oberman said. "They share the same anatomy and they share the same nervous intervention. That's why facial pain is always considered in sinus pathology and a very common complaint and symptom of folks who have sinus pathology, and is very much of a quality of life detriment, if you will, for folks who suffer from those issues."

Physical symptoms of chronic sinusitis can include the usual symptoms that everyone expects, but other symptoms that might not be known either. These can all include nasal inflammation, a runny nose, postnasal drainage, congestion, pain or swelling in the face, headaches, loss of smell and taste, a sore throat, bad breath or fatigue, according to the Mayo Clinic.

People experiencing symptoms that aren't improving for more than a week should see a physician. An ENT specialist might recommend a saline solution or over-the-counter medication, and if those don't help symptoms improve, they might prescribe antibiotics or a corticosteroid spray. If those treatments do not resolve the sinusitis symptoms, the ENT specialist might recommend sinus surgery.

Some sinusitis sufferers might also be unaware of nonsurgical treatments that are available, including balloon sinuplasty. A balloon sinuplasty is an in-office procedure that's simple and only takes about an hour, according to Entellus Medical. The preparation takes about 30 minutes and involves anesthetics being applied to the nose for more comfort. A thin instrument with a balloon is then guided through your sinus, the balloon is gently inflated for five seconds with saline, and when your sinuses open, the balloon is removed.

To learn more about sinus symptoms and treatments, take this free quiz.