Is something floating around in his sinus cavity?

[plansrme]

My 14yo can feel something in his head.  He can tilt his head one way, and it falls that way; he tilts the other way, it falls that way.  He can almost feel it in the back of his throat on occasion.  He feels it move when he runs or shakes his head and, occasionally, when he is just walking.  I'm making him an appointment with the pediatrician tomorrow, but in the meantime, Dr. Google is not much help.  Dr. Hive?  Any ideas?  He does have an orthodontic appliance (a Nance button), and I wondered whether part of that had come off and been inhaled.  He doesn't feel like any of it is missing, though.  Surely there's not actually something floating around in his head, right???  Should I skip the ped. and go straight to an ENT?  He says this has been going on for 2-3 weeks; he only mentioned it to me last week.

 

 

[displace]

The ped can take a look and order an X-ray, but it's possible you need an ent.

[displace]

ETA - it may be worthwhile to visit the orthodontist?

[Pippen]

I'd go with the ped since there's a chance you can get in sooner. 

[JennyD]

Yeah, if you can get into the pediatrician tomorrow I'd go there.  The ped also almost certainly has more experience with the possibility of a foreign object in one's sinuses.

 

Separately, I find it so frustrating when one of my kids recounts some alarming symptom that has apparently been going on for weeks.  WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU FEEL SOMETHING RATTLING AROUND IN YOUR HEAD BEFORE?!

 

 

[ktgrok]

Not the same, but my parents' dog DID have something in her sinuses...an earring backing! She had a fistula from her palate into her sinuses caused by her bottom teeth and she must have been chewing on the earring and it went up the hole. 

[plansrme]

Yeah, if you can get into the pediatrician tomorrow I'd go there.  The ped also almost certainly has more experience with the possibility of a foreign object in one's sinuses.

 

Separately, I find it so frustrating when one of my kids recounts some alarming symptom that has apparently been going on for weeks.  WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU FEEL SOMETHING RATTLING AROUND IN YOUR HEAD BEFORE?!

 

Well, exactly!  Every Google item I find on foreign bodies in one's sinuses notes that this is most common in small children or those who are psychiatric patients.  Don't think I'm not going to mention that when we figure this one out.

 

Not the same, but my parents' dog DID have something in her sinuses...an earring backing! She had a fistula from her palate into her sinuses caused by her bottom teeth and she must have been chewing on the earring and it went up the hole. 

 

Well, that is kind of encouraging, I suppose.  I'll ask if he's been chewing on any earrings. . ..

[dancingmama]

Could it be something like a popcorn kernel?

[plansrme]

Could it be something like a popcorn kernel?

 

Maybe?  He told me about this middle of last week, and I just discounted it.  I told him it was probably fluid in his ears, something giving the feeling of an object, rather than an actual object, but the more I think about it, the more I think there's really something in there.  I'm calling his orthodontist in the morning but probably can't get in there until Wednesday (they're only at this office on Wednesday), because that seems the most likely.  Still--you'd think he could feel if something were missing.

[Hypatia.]

Well, exactly!  Every Google item I find on foreign bodies in one's sinuses notes that this is most common in small children or those who are psychiatric patients.  Don't think I'm not going to mention that when we figure this one out.

 

 

Well, that is kind of encouraging, I suppose.  I'll ask if he's been chewing on any earrings. . ..

 

Has he thrown up recently? I ended up with broccoli lodged in my sinus cavity during a particularly forceful episode of vomiting with morning sickness. 

[Daria]

Dried snot would be my guess.

[katilac]

Has he thrown up recently? I ended up with broccoli lodged in my sinus cavity during a particularly forceful episode of vomiting with morning sickness. 

 

My apologies for laughing at this  :lol:

[plansrme]

Minor update: he now has a nose bleed. This kid never has nose bleeds. The ENT appt is Thursday, and a tech from the orthodontist's office is meeting us in the morning to check the appliance. No recent vomiting, no cold, no broccoli!

[klmama]

Is there a reason not to go see the pediatrician?  He/she might be able to see and remove whatever it is tomorrow, and you could cancel the ENT appointment.   

[katilac]

Just to let you know, I've been tilting my head back and forth all day. Just checking. 

[plansrme]

Is there a reason not to go see the pediatrician?  He/she might be able to see and remove whatever it is tomorrow, and you could cancel the ENT appointment.   

 

Yeah, I don't like our pediatrician.  We have such a huge deductible that we're basically self-pay unless surgery is required, so it's no skin off of anyone else's nose if I bypass the ped and go straight to a specialist.  I actually meant to make an appointment with someone my husband has seen, but he gave me the wrong name of the practice, which happens to be the name of a different practice, so I made an appointment with an entirely different practice than I intended.  Oh, well.

[three4me]

Could he try a nasal/sinus wash in the meantime? Like a neti pot of the neilmed bottle.

[Okra]

Has he thrown up recently? I ended up with broccoli lodged in my sinus cavity during a particularly forceful episode of vomiting with morning sickness.

The things you learn on the well trained mind forums.

[fairfarmhand]

I keep checking back to see what it is. My dd even wants to know.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Katy]

Our whole family is curious too.  At least the ones old enough to understand.

[goldberry]

I keep checking back to see what it is. My dd even wants to know.

 

 

Me too!  Very curious now!

[Terabith]

Not only is my whole family but my daughter’s friend who is a boy but not a boyfriend is, too!

[greenbeanmama]

I probably shouldn't share this...

I get food caught up my nose on a regular basis. Sometimes I swallow, and instead of going down, it goes up. Raw carrots, pasta, and Twizzlers are very common, for some reason. Usually it's only up there a little while (under an hour), but I had jalapeño up there for two weeks straight once. And I have to hold my nose when I throw up, to make sure it comes out my mouth.

 

On a related note, I also cannot go underwater without plugging my nose - whatever is in there that helps other people go under water, I must not have it because I simply cannot do it.

 

All this to say, if it *is* some kind of food that got up there, it probably won't do any harm. I haven't died of rotten carrot in my nasap cavity yet!

[Okra]

.

Edited November 1, 2017 by Okra

[plansrme]

No real update yet--ENT is tomorrow.  The ortho's tech confirmed that the appliance is intact and took an x-ray.  She didn't see anything, but there IS a white spot on the x-ray, on one side of his nose, that isn't matched by a white spot on the other side.  I am so curious to see what the ENT says.  I don't think it is food--it's been 2-3 weeks now since he first felt it (he can date it because he was running a race at the time), and I think food would have disintegrated and come out by now.  But what do I know???  And really, what else could it be?  I'll report back tomorrow.  I keep asking if he can still feel it because I'm kind of afraid it will go away and then we'll just never know!

[Kanin]

I probably shouldn't share this...

I get food caught up my nose on a regular basis. Sometimes I swallow, and instead of going down, it goes up. Raw carrots, pasta, and Twizzlers are very common, for some reason. Usually it's only up there a little while (under an hour), but I had jalapeño up there for two weeks straight once. And I have to hold my nose when I throw up, to make sure it comes out my mouth.

 

On a related note, I also cannot go underwater without plugging my nose - whatever is in there that helps other people go under water, I must not have it because I simply cannot do it.

 

All this to say, if it *is* some kind of food that got up there, it probably won't do any harm. I haven't died of rotten carrot in my nasap cavity yet!

 

A jalapeno....!!  :lol:

[greenbeanmama]

A jalapeno....!!  :lol:

 

Yeah, I could smell "spicy" the whole time too.

 

My husband listens to Moose Butter, who has a song with the lyrics, "I got squirrels in my nose...cuz they are friends with the chickens who are in there too."  My children now sing this every time I get anything caught up there.  They laugh at me often.

[plansrme]

Well, that was anti-climactic.  The ENT was mostly stumped.  She finally convinced herself that it has to be fluid because there's nothing else it could be.  I refrained from telling her about all these people I know who have had broccoli and jalapenos in their sinuses.  She prescribed a week of oral steroids, saline spray and a humidifier at night.  I made an appointment with another ENT--the one I intended to make an appointment with in the first place--on the way home.  If there's no change before this time next week, I'll keep that appointment; if the steroids work, I'll cancel it.  I can see the logic with the steroid--decrease swelling, hope it goes away/dries up/falls out, so we'll give it a shot.

 

By the way, if any of your kiddos wants to be a medical doctor, please advise him/her that it does not inspire confidence when you tell a new patient, repeatedly, that "this is odd."  She did not do an x-ray, which I also thought was odd.  And she disregarded the fact that he has no symptoms of excess fluid--no sore throat, no drainage, no feeling of pressure or pain, no cough.  Just nothing but this feeling that something is bouncing around in there.

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

I probably shouldn't share this...

I get food caught up my nose on a regular basis. Sometimes I swallow, and instead of going down, it goes up. Raw carrots, pasta, and Twizzlers are very common, for some reason. Usually it's only up there a little while (under an hour), but I had jalapeño up there for two weeks straight once. And I have to hold my nose when I throw up, to make sure it comes out my mouth.

 

On a related note, I also cannot go underwater without plugging my nose - whatever is in there that helps other people go under water, I must not have it because I simply cannot do it.

 

All this to say, if it *is* some kind of food that got up there, it probably won't do any harm. I haven't died of rotten carrot in my nasap cavity yet!

 

This just puts a whole new spin on your user name!

[catz]

Did she put a scope up there!? I’ve had sinus surgery and I’ve had them scope up there to check things out. What a slacker!?

[mom31257]

It makes me mad that a doctor would put a patient on a drug before doing an x-ray or even using a scope to look around some. There's evidently not so much swelling that it can't move around. I had so many scopes up my nose in 2012 that I know it is not a big deal for an ENT to do.  

Edited November 3, 2017 by mom31257

[Seasider]

Well, that was anti-climactic. The ENT was mostly stumped. She finally convinced herself that it has to be fluid because there's nothing else it could be. I refrained from telling her about all these people I know who have had broccoli and jalapenos in their sinuses. She prescribed a week of oral steroids, saline spray and a humidifier at night. I made an appointment with another ENT--the one I intended to make an appointment with in the first place--on the way home. If there's no change before this time next week, I'll keep that appointment; if the steroids work, I'll cancel it. I can see the logic with the steroid--decrease swelling, hope it goes away/dries up/falls out, so we'll give it a shot.

 

By the way, if any of your kiddos wants to be a medical doctor, please advise him/her that it does not inspire confidence when you tell a new patient, repeatedly, that "this is odd." She did not do an x-ray, which I also thought was odd. And she disregarded the fact that he has no symptoms of excess fluid--no sore throat, no drainage, no feeling of pressure or pain, no cough. Just nothing but this feeling that something is bouncing around in there.

Hmmm. I think her treatment plan is technique for "....and in the meantime, I'm going to call half a dozen more experienced colleagues who might actually have a clue about how I should help this patient."

 

I am glad to know that he is at least not really in pain over it. Though I would be freaking out about it, if it were me.

[plansrme]

It makes me mad that doctor would put a patient on a drug before doing an x-ray or even using a scope to look around some. There's evidently not so much swelling that it can't move around. I had so many scopes up my nose in 2012 that I know it is not a big deal for an ENT to do.  

 

That is a good point.  I have not filled the steroid Rx yet; I will have to think about that before I do.  

[Word Nerd]

I refrained from telling her about all these people I know who have had broccoli and jalapenos in their sinuses. 

 

I'm sorry you didn't get any answers, but this made me  :lol:.

[kitten18]

That is definitely disappointing. ☹ï¸

[plansrme]

Okay, for those of you playing along at home, we may have an answer:  the thing floating around in his head is. . . PUS!  Yeah, I don't know whether that's better or worse than broccoli or other veggies, but the doctor could clearly see numerous pockets of pus when he scoped.   ENT #2 prescribed antibiotics, which we'll start tonight (I did not fill the Rx for the steroid), and sinus wash (kiddo is so excited about that).  Now, this kid had zero symptoms of infection until he left ENT #1's office, but his nose has run non-stop since then.  He also started coughing and sneezing a couple of days after, although it's hard to notice those symptoms, what with the river of snot running out of him.  But I digress. . .  I don't know if he picked up the infection in ENT #1's office or whether the river of snot is a late-developing symptom of the infection that has been causing the issue all along, but at least ENT #2 saw something (and he showed it to me--it was pretty gross) and has a plan that makes sense.

 

I was really hoping for something more exotic, I think, but actually seeing pus pockets on the camera probably made up for that.  This is probably the most times I've ever typed "pus" in one day.

[Seasider]

Okay, for those of you playing along at home, we may have an answer: the thing floating around in his head is. . . PUS! Yeah, I don't know whether that's better or worse than broccoli or other veggies, but the doctor could clearly see numerous pockets of pus when he scoped. ENT #2 prescribed antibiotics, which we'll start tonight (I did not fill the Rx for the steroid), and sinus wash (kiddo is so excited about that). Now, this kid had zero symptoms of infection until he left ENT #1's office, but his nose has run non-stop since then. He also started coughing and sneezing a couple of days after, although it's hard to notice those symptoms, what with the river of snot running out of him. But I digress. . . I don't know if he picked up the infection in ENT #1's office or whether the river of snot is a late-developing symptom of the infection that has been causing the issue all along, but at least ENT #2 saw something (and he showed it to me--it was pretty gross) and has a plan that makes sense.

 

I was really hoping for something more exotic, I think, but actually seeing pus pockets on the camera probably made up for that. This is probably the most times I've ever typed "pus" in one day.

I just can't tell you how relieved I am that you didn't come back here and tell us that some creature had crawled up there and died.

 

Hope this fully resolves the issue and that your son feels better soon!

[TX Native]

I wonder if you should call ENT #1 and let her know you went to a real ENT who diagnosed and treated your son correctly. So many of my friends and relatives have been misdiagnosed by random docs guessing at things that I think people should get their money back if the doctor just guesses at the wrong diagnosis.

[happi duck]

Thanks for updating!

[Ottakee]

Option #3.....the rivers of pus are due to the unknown object floating around.

 

No matter what glad you.got some better answers and a treatment plan.

 

Why did you opt out of the steroids?

[plansrme]

Option #3.....the rivers of pus are due to the unknown object floating around.

 

No matter what glad you.got some better answers and a treatment plan.

 

Why did you opt out of the steroids?

 

Yeah, Option 3 did occur to me.  Whatever it is does not smell, and it has not disintegrated after four weeks, both of which, I think, rule out food particles.  The dr. today was actually surprised that the pus did not smell (and I have a very sensitive sense of smell; if it did, I would have noticed).  The only solid object I could think of was his palate expander, but the orthodontist says it is all present and accounted for.  We're going back to the ENT in three weeks for a follow-up, so if it has not gone away by then, I figure he will do an x-ray or scan.

 

I did not fill the steroid because her explanation did not match the symptoms he was having at the time--zero signs of inflammation, drainage, cough, sore throat, etc., and I just couldn't figure out what the steroid was supposed to do.  None of the drainage or signs of inflammation arose until he left her office.  

[Katy]

When did pus start to rattle?  I bet it's an infection covering whatever the object is too.

 

Good thing you're addressing it, infection that close to the brain is scary.

[displace]

The steroid can reduce mucus production and make passages more open passages to help improve treatments. If there's pus, there's inflammation.

 

I'd recommend being honest with the doc and ask: do we need this, is it necessary, etc? If you go back and there's still a problem, is it because there's a physical object present or is it because you didn't try the steroid too? Then there may be another waiting round while you try the steroids, and then follow up again. Which is too long a wait for some, and fine for others. So that's a decision for you all to make.

 

Thanks for the update!

Edited November 11, 2017 by displace

[Guest]

Yeah, Option 3 did occur to me. Whatever it is does not smell, and it has not disintegrated after four weeks, both of which, I think, rule out food particles. The dr. today was actually surprised that the pus did not smell (and I have a very sensitive sense of smell; if it did, I would have noticed). The only solid object I could think of was his palate expander, but the orthodontist says it is all present and accounted for. We're going back to the ENT in three weeks for a follow-up, so if it has not gone away by then, I figure he will do an x-ray or scan.

 

I did not fill the steroid because her explanation did not match the symptoms he was having at the time--zero signs of inflammation, drainage, cough, sore throat, etc., and I just couldn't figure out what the steroid was supposed to do. None of the drainage or signs of inflammation arose until he left her office.

Well, but...I would not think all food items would disintegrate in four weeks. I would think most seeds, kernels, nuts could put up a pretty good fight against disintegrating and they could definitely create an aggitation of pus and the body tries to eject the foreign object.