Tag: fever

Causes Of Sinus Infections

Sinus infections are more commonly known as sinusitis. It can definitely create a lot of pain and discomfort to the affected individual. To better understand your health condition, there is a need to determine its causes and one way to do that is by consulting a medical professional.

How can you tell if you have a sinus infection? Well, its really easy and you just need to look out for some symptoms such as a feeling of tenderness around your eyes, nose, forehead, and cheeks. Some patients even suffer from headaches, nose discharge, congestion, or fever, and cough. Most sinus infections are chronic and so you will need an experienced doctor to avoid frequent occurrences in a year. With the proper treatment, you can get rid of your sinus infection in no time.

Sinuses protect your skull. Sinuses come in four pairs which connect it to the nasal passages and the nostrils. When youre able to inhale germs, the infection will start. When the lining of your sinuses become inflamed, you will be suffering from a sinus infection.

Common colds are the main reasons for sinusitis. When you have a cold, there tends to be congestion inside your nasal passages. The sinuses drainage is inhibited, thereby causing the inflammation.

Scuba diving and flying can also cause sinusitis. You see, when you dive under water or you fly up into the air, the pressure changes. This change in pressure can cause inflammation in the nasal passages, causing sinusitis. Pregnant women are more prone to sinus infections because of the changes in the hormone level inside the body. Because of the hormonal changes, the nasal passages tend to swell causing discomfort and pain. Women who are taking contraceptives like pills are also prone to sinusitis because the pills trick the body into thinking that the person is pregnant and in turn, it creates hormonal changes as well. Asthmatics are also at high risk of developing the infection.

On most sinus infection cases, doctors prescribe antibiotics like amoxicillin, clarithromycin, and moxifloxacin. Depending on the severity of the infection and the age of the individual, the doctor can prescribe broad-spectrum or narrow-spectrum medications. Some medicines may cost big money especially if the infection occurs frequently but if it means reducing or eliminating the pain, anyone will be willing to spend that kind of money.

To sum it all up, the causes of sinus infections are the following: when you inhale germs, common colds, change in pressure when scuba diving or flying, pregnancy, and the intake of birth control pills. If any of the situations applies to you, you will be at high risk of developing the infection as well. When you feel any pain around your eyes, nose, forehead, or cheek, take that as a warning and schedule an appointment with your doctor right away. Sinusitis can really cause a lot of pain and discomfort. There are several effective medicines like antibiotics that the doctor can prescribe. Consult your doctor now and have your condition examined.

Once youre given a prescription, you need to follow all the instructions carefully. That way, your condition will get better and the pain will go away. Know the causes of sinusitis so that you can easily tell if youre exhibiting some of the symptoms. Sinus infections can be cured, so dont hesitate to visit your doctor.

Treatments Of Sinus Infections

Every year, more and more individuals are afflicted with sinus infections. Since this condition can create a lot of discomfort, those who are afflicted with it want to find the best cure. But what are the best treatments for sinus infections?

There are passages found behind the eyes, nose, and cheeks, and they are called sinuses. These passages are susceptible to infections which can be caused by allergies, viruses, and even colds. If you had an injury or a sinus disease in the past, you may also be prone to sinus infections. Swimming and infected tooth can also lead to this condition.

Sinus infections are easy to tell. Some of its symptoms are weakness or tiredness, fever, nasal congestion, runny nose, and coughing. A very evident symptom is when your coughing gets severe in the night. Other than that, you may also notice a greenish nasal discharge, bad breathe, and headache.

There are now different approaches on how to treat sinus infections. Aside from the medical prescriptions, afflicted individuals can also turn to alternative treatments. There have been claims that home remedies for sinus infections are quite effective.

For instance, if you have a sinus infection, try inhaling steam so that your sinuses will be unclogged. For more effective results, put a drop of eucalyptus oil or lavender on the water.

The trapped mucus will surely be released faster. While youre inhaling the steam, you can also massage the spots around your eyes, cheeks, and forehead. Do you like spicy foods? Well, if you do, the spicy foods are also a great help for unclogging trapped mucus.

Sometimes, home remedies dont work exactly the same way for you and the sinus infection becomes worse than ever. If you cant address the infection through natural home remedies or treatments, its time to consult a doctor and ask for a medicine. Most sinus infection medicines are aimed at reducing the swelling of the sinusitis and nasal passages. The medicine can eliminate the infection and promotes sinus drainage; that way, the passage is always open.

The root cause of the sinus infection should be identified and treated accordingly. If the infection is due to bacteria, antibiotics are often prescribed to get rid of the bacteria found in your sinus cavities.

If there is no improvement after the natural and medical treatments, youre left with only one option and that is surgery. A certain surgical procedure will be conducted to correct the health condition or problem.

Even if there are lots of medications for sinus infections, prevention is still the best answer. One way to effectively prevent sinus infections is to have a healthy immune system. If you have a healthy body, then it will be easier to fight infections and diseases. Always see to it that the surroundings are clean. Allergens can cause the infection so you need to get rid of allergens like dust and dirt.

Live a healthy lifestyle now. With a healthy body and immune system, sinus infections cant afflict you. Take nutritional supplements and eat the right kinds of foods at the right amount. Sinus infections can be prevented and if you already have the condition, there are different ways to treat it. Know more about the treatments for sinus infections. Visit your doctor or you can also ask a local naturopath for more helpful information.

Sinus Infections

Modern living has its consequences. There are now complex health conditions and problems that arise like sinus infections. But because of todays modern world, there are also lots of medications and treatments for different kinds of illnesses or diseases.

Achieving optimum health is not as easy as you think. People are already used to bad diets, polluted areas, and unhealthy lifestyles. Because of this, they are more prone to chronic fatigue, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, sinus problems, and many other health conditions.

Antibiotics are overused these days. People tend to use them in inappropriate conditions and so it complicates thing further. There are even times when sinus infections dont react or respond to antibiotics especially if the root cause is fungus. Antibiotics can be narrow or broad spectrum.

The right antibiotic should be prescribed at the right health condition or problem. This is to prevent resistance to the medicine. Are you aware that improper use of antibiotic can cause side effects? Thats true and if there is no improvement in your sinusitis, it only means two things the wrong antibiotic was prescribed or you need a new treatment.

For instance, if the sinus infection did not respond to the antibiotic prescribed by the doctor, you can turn to alternative treatments like Chinese herbal remedies, acupuncture, and Ayurveda. However, the effectiveness of these alternative treatments vary from one individual to another; so you still need to find a suitable treatment that can work for your current condition.

Some people afflicted with sinus infections tend to have white or clear mucus in their sinuses. This indicates that the antibiotics wont work. Other symptoms include fatigue, loose stool, and lowered appetite. The doctor must be informed of the symptoms youre feeling.

The usual symptoms of sinusitis are greenish nasal discharge, nasal congestion, dental or facial pain, headache, eye pain, and frequent coughing during the night. Other people feel ill, have sore throat, bad breathe, and fever. Chronic sinus infections are hard to diagnose. If you have the symptoms for over two months now, then you have chronic sinusitis; but still, only the doctor can properly diagnose your true condition.

Fungal sinusitis is also possible and antibiotics wont work for this kind of infection. It can be caused by molds and other irritants. You can use alternative treatments for this kind of infection and according to some individuals, some of these treatments can work miracles. You can drink a warm cup of apple cider vinegar (disregard the taste even if its nasty), use a saline solution, or you can also regularly take garlic capsules. There are still other ways to treat fungal sinusitis and you can easily obtain the needed information online.

Maintaining a healthy and physically fit body can prevent future sinus infections. A healthy body will also have a strong immune system which can easily fight off infections. If the sinusitis is caused by bacteria, then a certain kind of antibiotic might work for it but the doctor should consider the severity of the infection, and age/weight of the patient.

Sinus infections can be cured although there are times when the infection returns. A serious dialogue with your doctor is needed so that the two of you can come up with an effective solution to address your condition.

If you want, you can also join yoga practices and use other herbal treatments in conjunction with your medical prescriptions. Always talk to your doctor first before trying any medicine or treatment.

How To Keep Yourself from Being Infected With Swine Flu

How To Keep Yourself from Being Infected With Swine Flu

Swine flu is an illness which derives its name from a virus that infects pigs. While the virus cannot affect people, they are likely to get an infection from time to time. The virus is communicable and can be transmitted from one person to another.

The symptoms of swine flu are like those manifested in a regular flu and may include cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, fever, chills and fatigue.

The H1N1 virus continues to become widespread in the United States. The Center for Disease Control believes that the number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths will continue within the coming days and weeks.

The Center for Disease Control is aggressively responding to the growing outbreak. The objective of the agency is to curb the spread and severity of the illness as well as to inform health care providers, public health officials, and the general public to fend off the challenge by the medical crisis. Likewise, the CDC is giving interim guidance on a daily basis as a response to the rapidly growing crisis.

For treating swine flu, there are antiviral medicines that can be administered. So far, oseltamivir, amantadine, rimantadine, and zanamivir are the approved drugs for swine influenza treatment in the United States.
However, amantadine and rimantadine will not work against swine flu as the H1N1 virus was found to be resistant against these medicines. Laboratory procedures, on the other hand, have proven that H1N1 is susceptible to oseltavimir and zanavimir.

Using antiviral drugs in the treatment of swine influenza works by making your illness milder and making you feel relieved earlier than expected. Aside from that, antiviral medicines prevent the onset of serious complications.

Antiviral medicines are most effective when administered after the onset of the illness usually within a couple of days. However, it should be considered two days after the onset of symptoms, especially for hospitalized patients or those at greater risk for influenza-related complications.

Administration of anti viral drugs is also useful in preventing influenza when given to an individual who is not sick but has exposed to a person with swine influenza.

It can reduce the possibility of infection by 70% to 90%. The duration of intake will be determined by the condition of the patient. Currently, there are no accessible vaccines for protecting against H1N1.

In order to keep yourself from getting infected by the virus, here are some of the things that can be done:

– Keep yourself informed about H1N1. You can visit the official website of the World Health Organization or check brochures from local hospitals or medical facilities.
– Since the influenza virus can be transmitted from one person to another through coughing or sneezing, you can keep yourself busy by doing the following:

– When coughing or sneezing, cover your nose and mouth with a tissue. After using the tissue, dispose of it and throw it in the trash.
– Wash your hands with soap and water after coughing and sneezing. Use alcohol-based hand sanitizers whenever necessary.
– To prevent germs from spreading, refrain from touching your eyes, mouth, or nose.
– If you become ill, the CDC recommends that you avoid contact with other people at work or school so as not to infect them.
– Comply with public health advice concerning school closures, crowd avoidance, and social distancing efforts.

As far as swine flu is concerned, health authorities are doing everything they can to prevent the outbreak of another deadly virus.