Medical procedure for recurring sinus infection sufferers

Mike Snider has been suffering from chronic sinus infection for a while and, in his article, he shares his experience about the balloon sinuplasty procedure he went through.

Excerpts from his article as follows:

Time for sinus surgery

I, along with about 14% of the U.S. population, or 37 million Americans, had chronic sinusitis, inflammation of the linings of the sinuses bad enough to block the drainage of mucus into the nose.

My path to surgery involved more than a decade of on-again, off-again congestion, pressure, trouble breathing and fatigue. Over the years, any time I flew in an airplane I was likely to develop a sinus infection.

Colds and flu could also cause them. Despite preventive measures — nasal steroid sprays, allergy shots and twice-daily sinus rinses — I regularly got infections that required antibiotics to subdue.
At their worst, my symptoms affected my work and my outside activities. Sometimes I couldn't sleep and often didn't have the energy to exercise.

I sought out numerous doctors and had several CT scans. One doctor attributed my face pain to migraines, and another surgeon suggested that I wait until my case became unbearable, as corrective surgery had no guarantees.

New way to open nasal passages

Last summer, I got a sinus infection that lasted for four months despite aggressive treatment of steroids and antibiotics. During the treatment, my allergy doctor referred me to a different sinus surgeon who had been doing a new procedure called balloon sinuplasty, which uses a small, flexible balloon catheter to open nasal passages.
"It is the evolution of the minimally invasive sinus surgery. So instead of actually cutting or removing tissue or bone, you are expanding a small balloon in the opening (of the sinuses)," says ear, nose and throat surgeon Jack Williams, "much like they do to open up a partially clogged artery."

In my initial examination, Williams said that my sinuses were swollen shut with trapped fluid in the frontal sinuses. Having performed more than 100 balloon procedures, he considered me a good candidate, but he also planned to correct a crooked septum as part of the surgery.

Each year, about 500,000 patients undergo the more traditional functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS), in which a surgeon removes bone and tissue. I had been scared off those by horror stories of painful recoveries and repeat surgeries.
Williams described how balloon sinuplasty induces very little or no scar tissue and heals much better. "It's much less uncomfortable and takes a day or two recovery time."

Mike Snider is someone who is predisposed to getting recurring sinus infection. This is because he suffers from chronic nasal congestion as a result of the physical structure of his nose, a deviated septum and also very narrow nasal passages.

If you do not wish to go through sinus surgery, then one of the best home remedy for sinus infection is to perform nasal irrigation daily using a neti pot. For more information, please visit Sinus Infection Help.