Ipsey Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Just looking for any input/experience. My poor DH has had chronic sinus pain for about 15 years. He gets headaches and terrible pressure in his face several times a week. He gets terribly stuffed up and gets frequent infections. He netipots sometimes, and this can help. Several years ago, he had his deviated septum fixed, and that made things better for a while, but it's getting much worse again. I'm going to set him up with a drs. appt (again) but can anyone give my any insight to what's going on, and in particular, if anyone has had sinus surgery that has helped anything like this, we'd be encouraged to know that there may be something out there to help him. Thanks much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Has he been xrayed? I know someone who had those problems and an X-ray revealed a huge ball of mold in her sinus cavity. Once removed, she was fine. My grandmother was a flying nurse during WWII and was not taken care of herself. She was so badly infected that she had the sinuses in her forehead removed. My mother said she suffered from terrible headaches the rest of her life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junie Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 I'll be the word of caution on this thread. A family member had similar problems and had surgery. During the surgery, the surgeon "nicked" her brain and caused damage that had to be repaired with two subsequent surgeries. At one point we weren't sure she was going to make it. She lost a lot of her memory and had to re-learn a lot of things. Hopefully her experience was extremely rare, but I felt it would be a dis-service to my relative not to mention her experience. I hope that others chime in with their experiences. And I hope that my story is the only bad one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 A relative had sinus surgery. It was effective for a minimal time period (1-2 years, then recurred). Has he seen an allergy specialist? Recurrent sinusitis may need a different treatment if he has allergies. If he has allergies and they aren't controlled I think sinusitis will recur. I'd also look into probiotics. There's some promising research. Eta- I'd see an allergist before ent surgeon, and visit back often if treatments aren't working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kebo Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Has he tried an elimination diet to look into food allergies as a cause? It can be really hard to find a professional to help with this -- I ended up doing it on my own, and it made a big difference. There is a lot of information online, some of it contradictory, but it is possible to do it on your own with good results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 I was helped tremendously by the surgery to rout out the inflamed tissue, but if I hadn't been in treatment the allergies that were causing the chronic sinus problems I'm sure I would have been right back to where I started. Doing one without the other just launches those who are predisposed back into the cycle again. My son had the same surgery as a preschooler and two years later had it done again, In his case we were treating for allergies, but what it really came down to was he tripped over into sinus infections very easily after a cold. If he didn't clear up after 10 days the ENT would prescribe Augmentin together with prednisone, which he said was the gold standard for sinus infection at the time. We went this route for a few years and then it wasn't a problem after that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ipsey Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 Thanks, everyone, for the replies. If I recall, he did a huge allergy workup but wasn't allergic to anything. I may need to look back into that--perhaps I forgot. Or maybe we need to have a new one done, since we moved to a different region of the country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandragood1 Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 There is a relatively new sinus surgery that uses a ballon to widen the opening to the sinus. It is an in-office procedure. My cousin had it done a couple years ago and said she had great results. Your do really needs a CT to figure out which treatments to pursue. I'd also get him allergy tested. If only major sinus surgery is an option then I'd try eliminating common allergens from his diet, in rotation, to see if that helps. My father had the big sinus surgery plus tonsils and adenoids removed. He said the pain and the results weren't worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammyw Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 I had sinus surgery 20 years ago and it was the best thing ever. I had grown up around man heavy smokers and I was very allergic. I suffered with monthly sinus infections and many problems. I had the surgery in my early 20s and it literally changed my life. It was laser surgery. Not sure if it's the same these days? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Thanks, everyone, for the replies. If I recall, he did a huge allergy workup but wasn't allergic to anything. I may need to look back into that--perhaps I forgot. Or maybe we need to have a new one done, since we moved to a different region of the country. One more thing I forgot to mention--he should keep a journal. As described above, we were treating my son for allergies, but his problem turned out to be that he tripped into sinus infections very easily during colds. His sinus infections left him with clear, low level chronic post-nasal drip that mimicked allergies. It was only by keeping a journal that I was able to sort it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 If I recall, he did a huge allergy workup but wasn't allergic to anything. I may need to look back into that--perhaps I forgot. Dairy products give me horrible headaches and sinus problems so I stopped eating them. Several months ago I went to an allergy dr. for a different reason, but he still included dairy in the testing. According to the test results, I'm not "allergic" to dairy, and he even encouraged me to try some again, but I have no interest in feeling so awful again. (If you want me to be more graphic about the sinus issues I had, let me know.) Anyway, you don't have to be allergic to something to still have a bad reaction to it. I hope he finds something to help him soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Allergy testing only detects full on allergies, not 'sensitivities'. For sensitivities you need to keep very good eating and symptoms records and be your own detective, and possibly try a 30 day trial of skipping all sensitivity-inducing foods. And/or maybe consult a good naturopath--they have testing that is more sensitive than standard allergen testing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 The above poster with smoke exposure also made me think of home triggers. Your DH may not have allergies but there may be irritants at home/work causing the problems. Common irritants that may not show up in allergy testing includes: perfumes, candles, air sprays, smoke from cigarettes or wood burning, dust (though dust mites should show up on a test), etc. I think an elimination diet may do well too but an allergist can test for common foods (dairy, eggs, etc). If he's negative it's less likely to be a concern. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesertBlossom Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Has he tried an elimination diet to look into food allergies as a cause? It can be really hard to find a professional to help with this -- I ended up doing it on my own, and it made a big difference. There is a lot of information online, some of it contradictory, but it is possible to do it on your own with good results. My brother had surgery but still had problems. He's since decided he has a dairy allergy/intolerance and as long as he avoids it, he feels better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Dh's doctor gave him the go ahead to give over the counter allergy meds a try. Claritin has been helping and dh wishes he'd tried it years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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