The similarity in symptoms of nasal allergies and sinusitis makes a number of patients confused, leading to inappropriate medications.
Nasal allergies and sinusitis have similar symptoms, so they often make patients confused. Consequently, patients with sinusitis may be misdiagnosing themselves and potentially suffering from a more severe form of the condition known as chronic sinusitis. Many people take care of themselves at home and skip a visit to a doctor because they think they are getting allergies, even when their symptoms are severe. Differentiating the two diseases can help patients employ proper treatments.
Nasal allergies and sinusitis have some common symptoms such as nasal congestion or runny nose, headaches, decreased smell, cough, and sore throat. Sometimes allergies can lead to sinusitis.
However, a key point to distinguish the two diseases lies in the length of time of symptoms. If you have above symptoms that last longer than 12 weeks or symptoms that occur more than three times per year, with symptoms usually lasting more than 20 days despite treatment attempts, you may have chronic sinusitis. In this case, you should consult your doctor for a correct diagnosis and the right medical solution.
In addition, other symptoms of sinusitis include headache, yellow or greenish discharge from the nose or down the back of the throat, fever and tooth pain.
While nasal allergies symptoms occur in response to an environmental trigger, for example being around a cat, or symptoms can occur during a particular time period, such as ragweed season in late summer.
People with nasal allergies often have itchiness in nose but people but sinusitis causes a feeling of deep, boring pain over the sinuses, pain in the forehead above the inner half of the eyebrows, or in the cheeks near the bridge of the nose.
In general, differentiating nasal allergies and sinusitis is difficult and many patients do not respond adequately to medications, it is recommended that they consult with an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) physician to get the most appropriate treatment to alleviate long-term suffering.