Sinusitis (or rhinosinusitis, to use its medically correct term) can be subdivided in many different ways. It is worth saying a bit more about this to make you aware of what to look out for if you think it may be affecting you.
The commonest way in which we subdivide sinus disease is into acute and chronic. These two terms refer to the length of time the disease has been going on, rather than — as you may think — the severity of the disease. Acute means short-term, and chronic means longer-term and ongoing, the general cut-off point being more or less than 12 weeks’ duration of symptoms.
Acute rhinosinusitis may clear up completely between attacks but become recurrent, the general term being acute recurrent if you have more than four attacks a year.
Chronic rhinosinusitis (symptoms lasting more than 12 weeks) is often further subdivided into chronic rhinosinusitis without nasal polyps (CRSsNP) and chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP), which give rise to a similar — but sometimes different — spectrum of symptoms.
With these facts in mind, there is an excellent patient guide written by a group of eminent ENT colleagues, called the ‘European Position Paper on Rhinosinusitis and Nasal Polyps’, which we would encourage you to look at if you wish to learn more about sinus disease and its treatment. It is not a quick read, but it is written with patients in mind and contains a huge amount of useful information for you to read and digest. You can read or download the document (in PDF form) here.
The message to take away from us and this paper is that many people who think they have rhinosinusitis (particularly those with headaches without any of the other symptoms described in the guide) actually don’t — and there is more to your symptoms, their successful investigation, diagnosis and ultimately correct treatment than you may have thought. If you do have rhinosinusitis, however, there is also excellent advice and explanation to help you understand your condition.
As ever, the key is to be investigated and treated by someone who has specialist knowledge in the treatment of nose and sinus conditions, so that speedy and appropriate management can be started. This is just the sort of service we aim to offer you in our practice. If you think we could help you in any way with nose or sinus issues, please make an appointment to see us through the referral portal on the homepage of this website, or via your GP.