East Central Texas News

Many people will experience a sinus infection or two, but those with chronic sinus issues may be ideal candidates for sinus surgeries that can lead to experiencing long-term relief from disruptive symptoms.

While most sinus infections will clear up naturally, or with help from antibiotics and other over-the-counter medications, conditions like chronic sinusitis may require more extensive procedures like sinus surgery for patients to find relief, according to WebMD. 

"When people get sick, rinsing the nose can temporarily be helpful, using topical intranasal steroids. But when you think about what's going on in the sinuses, whether it's a chronic inflammatory issue or even recurrent infectious type issues, ultimately it seems like it's the opening of the sinus that is really the issue," Dr. Monty Trimble of Dallas Breathe Free Sinus & Allergy Centers told East Central Texas News. "Because one thing we know is that the longer a significant sinus disease persists, the more untreatable it becomes and the more aggressive the treatment needs to be."

Dr. Monty Trimble | Dallas Breathe Free

The goal of sinus surgery is to relieve a patient's symptoms and reduce the number of sinus infections a patient gets. Along with improving the symptoms and reducing the number of sinus infections, sinus surgery can also benefit patients by allowing better breathing, lessening chronic congestion and restoring the patient's sense of smell or taste.

"I'm very excited about balloon sinuplasty, balloon dilation," Trimble said. "Now we are able to go in and simply enlarge the openings of your sinuses, improve sinus function and drainage. We can also improve breathing with very minimally invasive techniques. Trying to limit the amount of surgery we do. The goal is to get maximum benefit with minimal downside, in terms of invasiveness."

Balloon sinuplasty is a relatively new procedure, where a doctor inserts a balloon into the sinuses and inflates it to clear the passageway, allowing the sinuses to drain more effectively. 

Another popular type of sinus surgery is endoscopy. Endoscopy is where a doctor inserts a very thin and flexible instrument called an endoscope into your nose. One instrument has a camera to send images back to a screen and another has instruments to remove polyps, scar tissue or other obstructions causing nasal blockages. Endoscopy is generally done with a local anesthetic, so the patient remains awake, and recovery time is quick, according to WebMD. 

If you are experiencing chronic sinus issues, take the Dallas Breathe Free's Sinus Self-Assessment Quiz to see if talking to a doctor may help.