How Are Sinus Headaches Diagnosed
Most of the time when people diagnose themselves with a sinus headache, its really a migraine. So, its important to see your healthcare provider to get an accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment.
Your healthcare provider will perform a physical exam and ask about your symptoms. If your symptoms are severe or ongoing, you may also need imaging tests. A magnetic resonance imaging test can rule out serious brain conditions. Multiple imaging tests can reveal sinus blockages and include:
- X-rays.
- Computed tomography scan.
- Nasal endoscopy .
How To Get Rid Of A Sinus Pressure Headache
If you suffer from allergies, you may have congested sinuses as well, and this can lead to a sinus pressure headache. If youre wondering how to get rid of a sinus pressure headache, the first thing you need to understand is that these types of headaches can have several causes. Consequently, sinus headaches have a few different remedies.
What Are The Best Sinus Headache Treatments
If youre suffering from headaches, they could have several different causes, including congestion in your sinuses. You may feel pain and pressure in your face due to sinusitis , and the first step toward effective treatment is an accurate diagnosis.
In this blog, board-certified ear, nose, and throat specialist Dr. Cecil Yeung will explain more about these types of headaches as well as sinus headache treatment.
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How To Cope With A Covid
One of the top symptoms of COVID-19 is painful, often debilitating headaches. Heres why your head may be throbbing and how to get some relief.
Victor Bordera/Stocksy
Headaches are among the most common, and troubling, symptoms of COVID-19. About 1 in 5 people infected with the virus develops neurological symptoms either while theyre sick or later, as part of long COVID persistent symptoms that may last several months and about 70 percent of them will experience headaches, a study published in January 2022 by The Journal of Headache and Pain found.
The headaches caused by the virus differ from your typical headaches in that they may be more painful and longer in duration, and they may not respond to over-the-counter treatments such as aspirin, according to a review of literature published in November 2021 by the journal Current Pain and Headache Reports.
COVID-19 headaches vary substantially, from pressure-type pain to severe, throbbing pain with some migraine-like features, notes Teshamae Monteith, MD, an associate professor of clinical neurology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and chief of the Headache Division at the school.
With the virus, headaches generally last days to weeks but, for some people, it may be a feature of long COVID and persist for more than three months, Dr. Monteith says.
Here are five frequently asked questions about COVID-19 headaches and their answers:
Will Surgery Cure Sinus Infections And Inflammation
If the sinus headache persists, and repeated courses of treatment fail to relieve the sinusitis, surgery may be an option. Otorhinolaryngologists may be able to widen the openings that allow the sinuses to drain and decrease the risk of recurrent inflammation that may obstruct the sinuses from draining.
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Tips To Help You Get Relief From Your Head Cold
Oh, your aching head! If youâre suffering from unbearable nasal congestion and headache, you probably have a head cold. The reason youâre so stuffed up? When you have a head cold, the membranes lining your nasal passages become swollen and produce excess mucus to flush out whatever is causing the irritation, whether itâs a virus or an allergen. You might experience pain in your forehead, under your eyes or in your upper teeth.
The key to getting rid of a head cold is to reduce sinus swelling and help mucus drain from your sinuses. Although it might seem counterintuitive, keeping your nasal passages moist is the best way to clear out congestionâdry sinuses will only result in further irritation.
Try these simple tips to clear up a head cold and help relieve headache and sinus pressure.
Since breathing in dry air will dry out your sinuses, itâs best to add moisture back into your environment by using a cool-mist humidifier or steam vaporizer. You can also try breathing in steam from a hot shower. Doing so can help soothe the irritated membranes lining your nasal passages.
A great way to ease a headache and sinus pressure is to place a warm compress on your forehead and nose. If you donât have a compress, try moistening a washcloth with warm water and applying it to your face several times a day. This will help relieve nasal congestion and relieve your head cold symptoms.
Natural Sinus Pain Relief
In addition to remedies and medications, practices that promote relaxation may help you to manage and prevent sinus pain. This can include:
- Massage: Relax in a dark, quiet room. Gentle head and neck exercises or gently massaging your head and face may also help.
- Meditation: Research suggests that mindfulness meditation may help decrease the intensity of head pain. Focusing on your breathing, body sensations, and surroundings can be a useful coping strategy to manage pain.
You may want to enroll in a local mindfulness-based stress reduction training program to learn techniques commonly used in studies on meditation and head pain.
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Ways To Relieve Sinus Pain
A cold makes it hard to breathe. When your sinuses get blocked, you might hurt too, especially around your forehead, eyes, cheeks, and nose. The pain might get worse when you touch your face or hold your head down.
You don’t need a doctor to deal with sinus pain caused by colds. It tends to get better along with your other cold symptoms. Sometimes, though, bacteria in blocked sinuses can lead to an infection known as bacterial sinusitis. Sinusitis from a bacterial infection might cause pain longer than the week of a typical cold. Your doctor may give you antibiotics and other medications to help you feel better.
Whether your sinus pain is caused by a cold or a bacterial infection, here’s how you can relieve it:
WebMD Medical Reference
Solutions For Dry Air
Dry air can irritate your sinuses, so ensuring it isn’t too dry can be helpful. You can use a humidifier or vaporizer to increase the humidity in your home. Other ways to benefit from using water include soaking a towel in warm water and holding it over your face for a few minutes. You can also use a saline solution nasal spray for the same purpose.
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Sinus Headache Or Migraine: How Are They Similar
Many people are unaware that migraines and certain types of head pain, such as sinus headaches, feel very similar. Many other types of headaches are commonly mistaken for sinus infections or migraine syndrome, respectively. Both conditions can cause mild to severe malaise and make it difficult to think clearly, perform tasks, or enjoy activities.
Sometimes, getting relief is as easy as avoiding stressful situations, increasing hydration, resting, and taking painkillers like NSAIDS or other medications. Other times, relief is elusive. The pain and distress associated with migraines and sinus headaches can be difficult to alleviate with conventional remedies and require medical care or advanced treatment.
Regardless of the type of head pain you experience, one thing is certain, the frequency and inconvenience of episodes can make living challenging and more stressful. Sinus headaches and migraines are known for striking without warning. The first step to making them less traumatic and debilitating is to learn the symptoms that differentiate sinus headaches from migraines.
Eucalyptus Oil For Sinus Headache Treatment
The cineole component present in Eucalyptus oil holds anti-inflammatory properties which reduce the inflammation. Eucalyptus is also rich in decongestion properties which reduce the mucus production which reduces the congestion in the sinus cavities.
Process 1:
Process 2: With Carrier Oil
- Dilute few drops of eucalyptus oil in 2 teaspoons of coconut oil or olive oil.
- Rub the mixture gently on sinus regions which include areas around nose, forehead and cheeks to get relief from the sinus pressure and headache.
Tip: Take a clean handkerchief or cotton pad and pour few drops of eucalyptus oil on it. Smell the eucalyptus placing the handkerchief near the nose. You can smell it throughout the day whenever required.
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Symptoms Of Sinus Headaches
These are some of the symptoms of sinus headaches:
- Pressure-like pain in specific parts of your head or face, on one or both sides
- A dull ache behind your eyes, forehead, cheekbones, the bridge of your nose, or upper teeth
- Pain that gets worse if you bend forward or move your head suddenly
- Pain that is worse in the morning, because mucus accumulates in the nasal passages overnight
- Pain that becomes more acute when you experience temperature changes, such as going out into the cold after being in a warm room
- Fever
- Puffy, swollen, or tender face
- Discomfort or a feeling of fullness in your ears
- Tearing or redness in the eyes
- Inability to smell
Symptoms of a sinus headache typically start around the same time as the sinus infection, or right after. They get better or worse in parallel with your sinusitis.
Is It A Sinus Headache Or Migraine
If you have sinus pain with no congestion, you may actually have a migraine. If you are congested and have an extremely painful headache, you may have either a migraine OR a sinus headache.
Migraines are more common, but sinus headaches do occur and can be just as painful. Thats why were explaining how to get rid of sinus pain.
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What Are The Symptoms Of A Sinus Headache
Sinus headaches often cause the following symptoms:
- Pressure and pain in your face or head
- Pain that gets worse when you bend over, move suddenly, or lie down
- Pain thats worse in the morning
- Pain that gets worse when youre exposed to sudden temperature changes
- Swelling in your face
- Pain in your upper teeth
Chronic Sinusitis And Sinus Headaches
Sinusitis happens when the sinuses or cavities around the nasal passages become swollen. The sinuses can become inflamed if you have an infection or because of an allergic reaction. The symptoms usually go away within a couple of weeks, but some people experience longer or recurring sinus infections. If you have chronic sinusitis, you could be dealing with symptoms such as nasal discharge, congestion, and pain or sinus headaches for many months.
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The Pain From A Sinus Headache Is Felt When The Membrane Swells Up Due To An Infection This Causes Pressure And Pain Also Causing Fluid To Build Up In The Sinus
Sinuses are connected spaces situated behind the forehead, nose, and cheekbones. Sinus headaches occur when there is inflammation due to an allergic reaction or an infection in the sinuses, adding pressure and causing blockages leading to pain. The pain from a sinus headache is felt when the membrane swells up due to an infection. This causes pressure and pain, also causing fluid to build up in the sinus.Also Read – Hair Care Tips: Struggling With Frizzy Hair? These Effective Home Remedies Can Give Smooth And Shiny Hair – Watch
Dr Manaswini Ramachandra, Consultant ENT Surgeon, Apollo Spectra Hospital, Bangalore explains that a person experiencing sinus headaches may feel the pressure build up in their cheekbones, forehead, and nose. She says, The pain may escalate when the person coughs, or heaviness would be felt while the person tries to bend down. As the symptoms of sinus headaches overlap with that of Migraines, most often, it is confused with the same. Usually, when people complain of sinusitis, it is generally found to be a migraine. Migraines last only a few hours, whereas sinus headaches can last for many days. Pain, pressure, fullness in the cheeks, brow, and forehead, stuffy nose, fatigue, and aching feeling in the teeth are a few symptoms.Also Read – Hepatitis in Children: Here’s What Scientists Have to Say About Cause of Mystery Outbreak
The Hot & Cold Compress
For treating sinus headache, the hot and cold compress is the best choice.
When you apply this remedy, it will help to relieve blocked sinuses as well as open them up in order to decrease the inflammation. Thus, if you have sinus headache, lets follow this detailed direction below:
- Now pour warm water into a pad to make hot compress meanwhile wrap some ice cubes to make cold compress
- Then apply the hot compress for 3 minutes
- Next apply the cold compress immediately after taking the hot compress
- Leave it on more than 30 seconds
- Do this process from three to five times a day
- Repeat every day until your condition is better
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Differentiate Between Sinus Headache And Migraine Headache
Many people who assume they are having sinus pain due to sinus pressure are actually having a migraine headache. Migraine pain can involve the same nerves as the sinus cavities and is frequently accompanied by nasal congestion, nausea, and aggravation by bright light. “If sinus pain is caused by a migraine, the best natural treatment is lying down in a dark, quiet room,” advises Das.
What Are The Complications Of Sinus Headache
In rare cases, complications around the eye area can happen, resulting in the area being swollen and inflamed. This may even affect your vision.
If you have a high fever that persists, discolored nasal discharge, rattling in your chest, or difficulty breathing, see your doctor about these symptoms. While a sinus headache might seem like a harmless health condition, its important to determine its cause.
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Top 17 Natural Home Remedies For Sinus Headache Relief
Sinus headache is one kind of headache which is accompanied with sinusitis. But you should know what are the symptoms of sinus headache as well as the reasons why sinus headache is caused. On the first hand, sinus headache can cause pressure and pain around the sinuses for example, in the forehead, above the nose, behind and between eyes. And this area can be tender to the touch. On the other hand, if you have headache pain only, you may not have sinus headache. So how can you know whether you have sinus headache or not? The answer is that with headache pain, there are some symptoms as well which include fatigue, cough, stuffy nose, sore throat, and nasal discharge. And the factors which cause this disease are swelling in the nasal passage, nasal bone spur, sinus congestion and inflammation. Therefore, in order to escape from this pain, you often go to the doctor and have a check. Then what you need to do is take some medicines every day until your sinus headache is gone. However, its not essential enough. Now, why dont you try some natural remedies to cure sinus headache? If you wonder to know what the natural treatments are for this case, please continue reading this article on our page AllRemedies.comwhich will present to you the best natural home remedies for sinus headache relief that you can follow to get rid of it easily and fast.
Five Ways To Relieve Sinus Pressure
The pain, facial pressure and congestion of sinus infections affect more than 26.9 million Americans roughly 11 percent of adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Most sinus infections, also called sinusitis, do not need to be treated with antibiotics, and will usually go away within 7-10 days.
One of the most annoying symptoms is the sinus pressure around the eyes, head and cheeks. Fortunately, there are several home remedies and medications that can help provide relief.
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Articles On Types Of Headaches
Your sinuses are air-filled spaces inside your forehead, cheekbones, and behind the bridge of your nose. When they get inflamed — usually because of an allergic reaction or an infection — they swell, make more mucus, and the channels that drain them can get blocked.
The build-up of pressure in your sinuses causes pain that feels like a headache.
What Are The Treatment Options
Your primary care provider, or a neurologist, can provide recommendations for treating your headaches based on their severity and frequency, and can rule out more serious causes of your headache. Treatment for migraines includes both over-the-counter and prescription medications and preventative medications for patients with severe or frequent headaches, or if headaches are present for more than 15 days per month.
Over-the-counter pain medications such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen can also be associated with rebound headaches or medication-overuse headaches if taken too often. Tell your doctor how often you take pain medications for headaches. Avoid triggers, and talk to your doctor about your sleep habits. Keep a headache diary to record your headache symptoms, triggers, and treatments.
Sinus headaches caused by migraines or tension headaches should not be treated with antibiotics. Because there are similar symptoms between acute sinusitis and migraine headaches with nasal and sinus symptoms, it can be difficult to tell if your symptoms are truly a sinus infection. Sinus pain and pressure without discolored nasal discharge is most likely not a sinus infection. If you have been diagnosed with frequent sinus infections and have been treated with repeated episodes of antibiotics without improvement, migraines or tension headaches could be causing your sinus pain and pressure.
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