How can I drain my sinuses?

[snoooop]

I've had recurrent bouts of sinusitis for years, to the point now where I often don't notice I have it because I'm so used to it.

I think I have another infection now as my eyebrows and under my eyes hurt when I press along them, and I keep smelling a weird phantom smell that no one else can smell. I can't really describe it but it just smells like an infection, as weird as that sounds.

Also in an MRI that I've had for unrelated issues it's shown that my left frontal maxillary sinus has near complete opacification. No idea what that means, it was just in my notes. Guessing it means it's blocked?

Anyway does anyone have any tricks on how I can clear them out? I've been doing steam inhalations but it doesn't seem to be doing much.

Infortunely you might need to have them surgically evacuated.

That's just what I was hoping to avoid! It's something my GP mentioned a year or so ago. Unfortunately now I've moved to the Middle East and don't have a great deal of confidence in the doctors I've seen so far. Need to keep looking for somewhere decent.

Do you know much about the procedure?

Syringe water up your nose?

Head under water in bath?

No idea, dr google might know?

I am in the same boat I think op. Had (what feels like) inflamed sinuses for 15 years. My GP recommended a spray - Beconase, it clears the nasal passage but doesn't deal with the inflammation. She also recommended Sterimar which I haven't tried yet.

Another thing is a neti pot (?) I haven't tried it myself but have seen people on here rave about it. It's nasal douching essentially. Sounds lovely!

Opacification of your sinus means it showed up white or gray instead of black on a CT. That's usually because of polyps, thick mucus, or inflamed tissues from chronic sinus infections.

Any "home" remedies for clearing your sinuses might aggravate already inflamed tissue and make the problem worse. You'd be better off to get a medical specialist to check; although I appreciate that's much harder abroad!

Basically it’s a general anaesthetic, they will go in via a small incision on the upper side bit of the nose and clear out the passage that connect the sinus to the outside - any polyps etc will be pulled out.

It’s usually very effective - riskiest bit is the general. I’d suggest asking around for recommendations on good ENT specialists

I used to use a neti pot years ago! I forgot all about that, I'll order another one.

It's just this weird smell that's really annoying me. I had it a few months ago as well, and again didn't really realise I had a sinus infection as my nose wasn't blocked and I felt ok, until one night I rolled over in bed and my nose felt full. Grabbed a tissue and blew and over ten minutes filled half a tissue box with bright fluorescent yellow snot

I've just googled about the opacification thing, and it says it shows up as white on a scan instead of black. I had another MRI two years before my last one and I have the pictures on a CD from that, and I remember seeing a huge bright white area up near my nose on the left side! That must be it. Which means it's been blocked for years!

Whoops x post.

Right looks like I had best start finding ENT recommendations. Do you know what the recovery is like? I come back to the UK with work over the summer so I might be able to get it done then if I can't find somewhere good over here.

I can't even imagine what it would be like afterwards- I wonder if I would feel a difference day-to-day.

It's all my fault really, when I was younger I thought a sinus infection was just like a cold and didn't need antibiotics or anything so would just leave it. It wasn't until a few years ago when I asked my GP about it he told me off for never going to the doctor about it. Whoops.

You might have chronic inflammation of your sinuses which is causing recurrent infections.
Opacification just means that on a scan your sinuses which show up as black usually (hollow cavity) are in your case opaque (blocked).
This could be caused by a few things. It could be inflammation of your sinus lining, particularly if you had an infection at the time, or could be nasal polyps. Polyps are not too alarming but can often lead to chronic sinusitis (recurrent infections)

Inhaling steam or flushing out your nose won't help. You can't drain anything away.

If it's a bad infection causing a lot of pain and high temperature you'd benefit from a course of antibiotics.

Whoops sorry cross posted with a few replies there!

Don’t use a neti pot - they’re fine for mild colds and stuffiness but they won’t touch this.

Recovery is usually ok from a maxillary sinus drain. If it’s a deeper one it’s more complex.

Recovery takes a little while (it’s not painful it just takes a while to heal and you may need drainage ) and you will need good follow up care so you’d probably be better having it done where you are and where you can see the same people for follow up.

Definitely find a good ENT - it’s possible you can have them drained and avoid surgery but you do need it looking at properly to determine what the issue actually is (infection, blockage, narrow passages, polyps etc.) Infection can eventually spread to bone.

I wish my GP would refer me on to a specialist. She said I had to buy this product called Sterimar which I believe is a douche thing, if the Beconase didn't fix it (was it likely to fix it when i've had the problem for 15 years?!).

Highly unlikely to fix a fifteen year blockage. Sinus drainage needs to be done in clinic at that point, doesn’t always have to be surgical but it’s unlikely you’ll do any good at home.

Tell her you’ve done it and had no effect. Request referral.

I had a sinus drainage done a few years ago (not in the UK) in an ENT clinic where I was referred to as emergency (I thought I would see and Ent to discuss next steps but she did the drainage there and then). I walked out 1.5 hours later again. I only had a local anaesthetic. It wasn't nice but not as bad as a wisdom tooth extraction. I was back to work 2 days later.

I didn't know it was done under GE in the UK. Seems quite extreme to me but you definitely cannot do it yourself. You need to crack the wall between the nose and your sinuses open to drain it. This is no diy job!

Drainage is a slightly different procedure to surgical evacuation/widening.

Op may well be able to have drainage though :) she just needs to be evaluated by ENT

Yeah, thanks, it hasn't fixed it. I do need to go back.

OP I've had the phantom whiff! It's awful - truly awful!

I cleared it with beconase REGUARLY and anti inflammatory/sinus tablets.

Good luck - for months, half my face was in agony but I just persevere with the spray and tablets.

Sorry to hear you've got sinus problems OP :(

I had Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery a couple of years ago. It's the only thing they could do, and it's taken my sinus to the best they'll ever be (mine are very largely affected by the shape of my skull so the surgery will never permanently fix it), I also had a septoplasty, because that was another big cause of one side failing to drain properly.

For quite a long time before the surgery my ENT surgeon was telling me using the neti-pot was actually a good idea. Very hot water, but not boiling, as hot as you can stand it, so long as you actually use the saline solution - it's pointless otherwise. Neilmed do kits with a pot and 30 or so sachets of saline.

There's also Flixonase, which is a steroid spray, used once per day (prescription only). For some people it can clear a blockage really quickly and keep it away because it works with reducing inflammation.

My sinuses were so badly blocked for upwards of 15 years that when I had a CT scan before the surgery the radiographer said the blockage was so solid it looked like bone It's amazing what they can find in there!

The entire right side of my face was white on the CT scan, getting loads of migraines etc so I had sinus op a couple of years ago now.
They widened the sinus cavity, removed polyps, cleared everything else out.
Wasn't much fun afterwards, but think it was general anaesthetic that didn't agree with me. Maintenance forever is needed, I use nose spray and salt water douching daily.
I know exactly the smell you mean, for me now it means extra douching and I can usually clear the blockage so to speak.

I'm so glad you know the smell I mean! I've tried explaining it to people and they just think I'm nuts because I can't describe it apart from it smells like someone when they have a bad cold, which is weird!

I'm lying in bed prodding my eyebrows and cheeks and it's all very tender, I think I've just become so used to it now. I also have a lot of problems with the nerves in my face causing neuralgia (reason I had MRIs) and I get migraines as well, I wonder if they would be improved if my sinuses were clear?

Do you think I'll be able to prevent them from blocking up again if I do have the procedure done?

I've found a specialist ENT centre in a nearby city so I think I'll make an appointment with them and see if they can do something about it. They're also specialists in snoring so maybe they can sit that out too?!