Nature Coast Times

• Some common symptoms of sinusitis include nasal inflammation, reduced sense of taste or smell, nasal discharge, difficulty breathing through your nose, and pain, tenderness or swelling around the cheeks, eyes, nose or forehead.
• Symptoms that some sufferers might find surprising could include ear pain, bad breath, fatigue, or aching in your upper jaw and teeth.
• There are nonsurgical treatments available to help with sinusitis symptoms, including balloon sinuplasty.

Dr. Mariah Pate of Tampa Bay Breathe Free said there are many different symptoms that sinusitis sufferers endure that they may not be aware are due to sinusitis, including pain in the teeth and feeling lightheaded.

"Facial pain and pressure [are] huge symptoms of sinusitis," Pate said. "It can happen with an acute sinus infection like we usually think of, where our teeth are, and we have a fever and yellow drainage.

"Also, anything can happen with chronic issues that have been going on for many months. What happens is that the sinuses, naturally, when you breathe in the air, [it is] supposed to go into your sinuses, circulate and then go back to your lungs. So, if those openings are blocked, it causes you to feel congested and have a lot of facial pressure."

According to the Mayo Clinic, acute sinusitis can not only make it difficult to breathe through your nose, but the area around your eyes and face could get swollen, resulting in throbbing facial pain and headaches.

Physical symptoms of chronic sinusitis can include the usual symptoms that everyone expects, but other symptoms that might not be known either. These can all include nasal inflammation, a runny nose, postnasal drainage, congestion, pain or swelling in the face, headaches, loss of smell and taste, a sore throat, bad breath or fatigue, according to the Mayo Clinic.

People experiencing symptoms that aren't improving for more than a week should see a physician. An ENT specialist might recommend a saline solution or over-the-counter medication, and if those don't help symptoms improve they might prescribe antibiotics or a corticosteroid spray. If those treatments do not resolve the sinusitis symptoms, the ENT specialist might recommend sinus surgery.

Nonsurgical treatments are also available, including balloon sinuplasty. A balloon sinuplasty is an in-office procedure that's simple and only takes about an hour, according to Entellus Medical. The preparation takes about 30 minutes and involves anesthetics being applied to the nose for more comfort. A thin instrument with a balloon is then guided through your sinus, the balloon is gently inflated for five seconds with saline, and when your sinuses open, the balloon is removed.

Take this sinus self-assessment quiz to find out if you have symptoms of sinusitis.