Paranasal sinuses are the spaces filled with air operating in concurrence with the nasal cavities and are located in the facial areas as well as parts of the skull. There are basically four main paranasal sinus cavities which could become inflamed, causing the pan sinusitis condition. On average, when someone gets a sinus infection, maybe one or two sinus cavities are affected instead of all of them like with pan sinusitis.



To understand why pan sinusitis may be more serious, you have to first understand where all of those paranasal sinuses are located. There are four fundamental groups of these paranasal sinuses: frontal, ethmoid, maxillary and sphenoid. With the frontal sinuses, these are usually over the eyes behind the forehead. The maxillary sinuses are to be found under the eyes and behind the cheek bones.

The ethmoid sinuses encompass a very small area between the nose and eyes and are usually located in the ethmoid bone. The sphenoid sinuses are housed in the sphenoid bone which is located in the middle of the base of the skull and right under the pituitary gland. As these four main locations include quite a bit of the head, having an infection in all of these areas can account for why pan sinusitis can be miserable for you if you are suffering from it.

Diagnosing and Treating Chronic Sinus Infections

If you have ever experience a sinus infection, you know that the pain, pressure and fatigue can be severe enough to get in the way of daily activities. Most sinus infection sufferers will be able to find relief in a matter of days or weeks, but envisage dealing with those uncomfortable symptoms for twelve weeks or more at a time. That is exactly what happens when you have a chronic sinus infection. Because these symptoms tend to linger for very long periods of time, a chronic sinus infection can affect your quality of life. Because of this, it is therefore important to understand how to recognize a chronic sinus infection, so that you can work with your doctor in finding the most effective treatment option for you.

Symptoms of Chronic Sinus Infections

The symptoms of a chronic sinus infection are almost similar to those of an acute infection, except that the symptoms tend to last longer and do not respond to treatments as easily. It is also unusual to run a fever with a chronic sinus infection, although many people do with the acute variety of infection. Other common symptoms does include pain and pressure in the face around the sinus cavities, a thick yellow or green discharge from the nose, difficulty breathing through the nasal passages and fatigue. You might also put up with from less common symptoms, like bad breath, teeth or jaw pain and an earache. These symptoms can vary and depend on the particular sinuses that are involved, so it is a good idea to check with your doctor even if you don't have all of the classic symptoms of an infection.

Characteristics of Diffuse Sinusitis

Sinus problems have cause misery for millions of people every year and each person usually has a different reason for developing this problem. Acute sinusitis is the name for a characteristic sinus infection that goes away usually with a round of antibiotics and with the use of decongestants or anti-inflammatory medicines. Nevertheless, when a person has diffuse sinusitis, they have a much deeper problem that requires more than just prescription medication.

Acute Sinusitis versus Diffuse Sinusitis

With acute sinusitis, you will probably have pain in the sinus cavities that are located mostly in the facial area like behind the eyes and you might even experience tooth pain. For some reason an infection has develop and prevented proper draining of the sinus cavities, creating a build-up of fluids (mucus) that got infected. Fortunately, antibiotics usually help in the treatment of acute sinusitis, unlike in the case of diffuse sinusitis.

Frequently, another underlying cause is the problem in these cases and unfortunately, it is only after a lot of suffering and trial and error of treatments that the condition is diagnosed. When CT scans are done, usually diffuse sinusitis can be plainly seen and can be caused by such deformities as polyps or abnormal growths in the sinus cavities. These will cause a thickening of the mucosal membranes along nasal passageways and sinuses and is the main reason why diffuse sinusitis is not often treatable by medication alone.