Sinusitis in children: symptoms and treatment features

Sinusitis is the most common disease for which people consult an ENT doctor. Sinusitis is manifested by inflammation of the maxillary sinuses. This disease is difficult for patients to tolerate, due to unpleasant symptoms that interfere with their usual way of life. Can a child have sinusitis? Yes maybe! And the treatment of a child must be treated with maximum responsibility. How does sinusitis manifest in children? At what age is sinusitis diagnosed in children? How to recognize the first symptoms of inflammation and how to treat it correctly? Read about all this in our new article.

Modern medical statistics provide the following figures: more than ten million people suffer from sinusitis every year. The scale of this type of sinusitis is immediately visible. Sinusitis is a collective name for inflammation of all types of human paranasal sinuses. Sinusitis is manifested by inflammation of the maxillary sinuses. The second name for these sinuses is also used - maxillary sinuses - hence the name of the disease.

Anyone who has been ill at least once will forever remember the unpleasant symptoms of sinusitis and those painful sensations in the bridge of the nose that interfere with leading a normal lifestyle. The disease is severe, regardless of the patient’s age: it will not be possible to sit at home or endure the disease on your feet - the patient requires competent, timely treatment.

Due to the prevalence of the disease, many parents have a question: “Can a child have sinusitis?” We answer: “Maybe!” Young children are also susceptible to inflammation of the maxillary sinuses, and the symptoms of childhood sinusitis are no easier than in older patients.

Diagnosis is complicated by the fact that the child cannot always explain where and how it hurts. Therefore, parents should be able to recognize the first signs of sinusitis in a child in order to promptly contact an ENT doctor for treatment.

How does sinusitis manifest in children? At what age can sinusitis in children be diagnosed? What signs of illness should you look out for? The causes, symptoms and treatment of sinusitis in children is the topic of our new article.

Why does the disease occur?

There are several options for where the disease comes from:

• I caught a cold myself (I was running outside without a hat, my feet got wet, etc.);
• had contact with a sick child or adult;
• incorrect position of the nasal septum;
• allergy.

It is imperative to understand the nature of sinusitis in order to take the right measures. If these are features of the internal structure, this can only be corrected through surgery. But if it is an infection, it is impossible to cure without special medications.

Prevention of sinusitis

To reduce the risk of developing sinusitis in a child, you need to follow a number of recommendations:

• Dress your child according to the weather: do not bundle him up, but also avoid hypothermia. Don't forget the hat.
• Teach your child good hygiene: washing hands after visiting public places, brushing teeth regularly, etc.
• Strengthen the child’s immunity: hardening, physical activity, sports, walks in the fresh air, taking vitamin complexes are important for maintaining the child’s health.
• Maintain an optimal level of humidity and temperature in your child’s room. Regularly ventilate the room and carry out wet cleaning.
• Monitor your child’s diet: food should be balanced and rich in vitamins.
• Treat infectious diseases of the nasopharynx and oral cavity in a timely manner.
• Do not self-medicate and consult an ENT doctor in a timely manner.

What symptoms occur with the disease?

The very first thing we observe in a baby is a runny nose, nasal congestion, and nasal sound. This tells us that mucus is accumulating in the sinuses. If you ignored the first signs, then the following symptoms of sinusitis in a child:

• lethargy, drowsiness, moodiness;
• high temperature (from 38);
• thick discharge from the nasal cavity;
• hard breath;
• possible cough.

When your usually cheerful and cheerful baby does not want to get out of bed, is capricious for no reason, complains of headaches, sweats a lot, and has a bright blush on his cheeks, call the doctor as soon as possible. You cannot joke with the disease, otherwise it will turn into chronic sinusitis.

Symptoms of sinusitis in children

Signs of acute sinusitis in a child:

• constant nasal congestion - the use of drops only temporarily helps to cope with difficulty breathing;
• headaches, feeling of “stuffiness”, soreness in the nose;
• redness of the nostrils and periodic mucous, runny nasal discharge;
• body temperature is above 37, with suppuration 39 and above.

Symptoms of the chronic form: nasal congestion does not go away, breathing is through the mouth, purulent discharge from the nose of a yellow or greenish color is possible, periods of improvement and deterioration of the condition alternate. Chills and general malaise are felt, depending on the position of the head, painful sensations can migrate - radiate to the ears or teeth, swelling appears near the bridge of the nose.

What measures to “help” the body are contraindicated?

Sometimes trying to do better can seriously harm a child. The old method of warming up for sinusitis with water heating pads, bags of hot salt and other similar actions are unacceptable in this case. Do not forget that viruses and bacteria cannot be destroyed this way, but the source of inflammation will grow. In this situation, consultation with an ENT specialist is mandatory! Only he, with the help of professional tools, will be able to identify the source of what is happening. Have you noticed symptoms of sinusitis in children? Go to the clinic, home methods will not give results, and time will be lost.

Symptoms

Sinusitis has no specific symptoms and is camouflaged as a common cold, flu, or acute respiratory viral infection, which causes diagnostic difficulties.

Typical symptoms of sinusitis in children:

• weakness, lethargy, deterioration of health, apathy;
• headache;
• temperature increase;
• toothache;
• nasal congestion;
• purulent nasal discharge;
• cough;
• disturbances of smell;
• swelling of the cheek on the affected side, swelling of the eyelids;
• pain in the frontal region, above the nose;
• feeling of fullness, pressure in the frontal region, above the nose.

Symptoms are nonspecific. Even attentive parents cannot always adequately evaluate their observations and continue to treat a runny nose or ARVI, although the process has already begun to develop further and is becoming dangerous. Only the doctors of our clinic will be able to analyze the received clinical observations, laboratory and instrumental research data and make a correct diagnosis in a timely manner and prescribe treatment.

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How is inflammation of the maxillary sinuses treated?

In general, the scheme for helping sick children and adults is no different. But not all drugs can be used in childhood. Only a doctor can prescribe treatment for sinusitis in a child. It is he who will determine the regimen, schedule the dosage and duration of the course.

To treat sinusitis in children, doctors prescribe the following drugs:

• antibiotic (for bacterial inflammation);
• antiviral drug (for viral infection);
• vasoconstrictors or glucocorticosteroid drugs.

Try to keep your baby on bed rest, sleep a lot and eat well, getting enough vitamins to maintain immunity. It is recommended to drink plenty of fluids to cleanse the body. Sinusitis in a child can be easily treated if left untreated. Some parents, self-medicating, bring the disease to such a stage when pills no longer help. In this case, a minor operation is indicated. A special needle is used to puncture the sinus and pump out the contents. The process occurs using local anesthesia or general anesthesia.

Why does a child develop sinusitis?

The cause of sinusitis is most often a bacterial pathogen of streptococcal or staphylococcal nature1. In most cases, the disease occurs as a complication of ARVI, rhinitis, otitis and other problems in the nearby ENT organs.

Risk factors for developing infection in childhood:

• decreased immunity, frequent colds;
• chronic diseases that weaken the body;
• proliferation of adenoid vegetations and their inflammation;
• tendency to allergic processes in the nasopharynx;
• polyps in the nasal cavity and surrounding sinuses;
• congenital and acquired curvature of the nasal septum;
• lack of timely and correct treatment of diseases of the respiratory system, caries, infections of the ear and tonsils2.

Treatment of sinusitis should begin immediately, otherwise there is a high risk of complications.

Nasal rinsing

As soon as you notice signs of sinusitis in children, start using a rinse. Thus, you wash away pathogenic organisms from the mucous membrane, reducing their number and concentration, preventing them from multiplying further. By emptying the nasal cavity, you help the accumulated discharge from the sinuses to come out. For sinusitis, rinsing the nose can be done with a saline solution from a pharmacy or a saline solution made from ordinary table salt and boiled water, but it is better to use a ready-made pharmaceutical product with sea water.

The drug Aqualor has proven itself to be excellent on the Russian market. It helps with colds and ARVI, acts as a preventive and therapeutic agent. When you don’t know what to do if your child has sinusitis, rinse his nose and the condition will improve. Natural components do not irritate the mucous membrane, helping to wash out bacteria, viruses, and allergens.

Symptoms of inflammation

The first signs of sinusitis in children can easily be confused with the symptoms of a cold. As a rule, because of this, proper treatment of the disease is not carried out. If a child has a fever after several days of such a cold, this is a sure sign that inflammation has begun, and the child must be shown to an ENT doctor to establish a diagnosis and prescribe effective treatment.

The course of the disease in young children is further complicated by the fact that it is difficult for the child to explain to his parents what exactly and how it hurts. Therefore, every parent should know and be able to recognize the characteristic symptoms of maxillary sinusitis:

• headaches in the frontal part of the head, which become more intense when it is turned or tilted, as well as when sneezing; pain can “radiate” to the teeth, temples, or eye socket;
• nasal congestion - the baby complains that the nose is not breathing (usually a symptom such as congestion manifests itself from an inflamed sinus);
• high body temperature (up to 38?);
• nasal discharge (may be purulent);
• swelling of the cheek from the inflamed sinus;
• The baby’s general well-being worsens: he becomes capricious, refuses to eat, toys cease to interest him, and sleep is disturbed.

If you find several of these signs, be sure to show your baby to an otolaryngologist.

Even if it doesn’t come to sinusitis, it’s better to be safe than to miss sinus inflammation and not treat the disease in a timely manner.

Keep your nose clean

From childhood, everyone is taught that cleanliness is the key to health. Personal hygiene is very important for disease prevention. When we come home from the street, we make sure to wash our hands, as many germs accumulate on them. It is good to develop the habit of also rinsing your nasal cavity, ridding yourself of potential infection by viruses and bacteria brought from the street.

Follow simple preventive measures, it’s easier than treating sinusitis in a child:

• dress according to weather conditions;
• teach to do exercises, strengthen the immune system;
• feed your child food rich in minerals and vitamins;
• take a walk in the fresh air.

IRS®19 in the prevention of sinusitis

Prevention of sinusitis in children at home involves proper and timely treatment of acute respiratory viral infections and other respiratory tract infections. In this case, it is the local immune defense in the nose that is important, which will immediately neutralize them when viruses and bacteria enter the mucous membrane. The drug IRS®19 helps activate it. This nasal spray contains 18 bacterial lysates (fragments of destroyed bacteria), which begin to act immediately, triggering a cascade of protective factors, thereby building local immunity5. The sprayer allows you to evenly apply the medicine to the mucous membrane, which contributes to equally strong protection over the entire surface. IRS®19 is approved for children from three months6.

Causes of sinusitis

Sinusitis develops due to the entry of pathogenic microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi, or a combination thereof) into the sinuses.
The most common pathogens of the disease are: streptococcus, staphylococcus, pneumococcus, Haemophilus influenzae, rhinovirus, coronavirus, parainfluenza virus, etc. Normally, a healthy child’s body is able to independently overcome the infection that develops in the sinuses. However, under certain factors, the strength of the child’s immune defense decreases, and the body becomes unable to resist pathogens.

Factors that provoke a decrease in immunity and the penetration of microorganisms into the maxillary sinuses:

• The presence of diseases of the upper respiratory tract - ARVI, tonsillitis, pharyngitis, chronic or acute rhinitis.
• Inflammatory diseases of the oral cavity – caries, stomatitis.
• Hypertrophy (enlargement) of the adenoids.
• Anatomically narrow nasal passages.
• The presence of polyps and other formations in the nasal cavity.
• Deviation of the nasal septum.

Description of the disease

Sinusitis is a common childhood disease in which inflammation (often purulent) of the mucous membrane of the maxillary sinuses occurs.
The main reason for the development of pathology is the blockage of the passages connecting the sinuses with the nose, as a result of which the ventilation of the channels deteriorates and a favorable environment is created for the proliferation of pathogenic microflora. A similar situation can arise after suffering from infectious and inflammatory diseases of the ENT organs, a deviated nasal septum, hypertrophy of the adenoids, etc. Sinusitis brings significant discomfort to the child and greatly disrupts the usual way of life. Symptoms such as nasal congestion, pain in the bridge of the nose, and purulent discharge from the nasal passages occur. Untimely treatment of the pathology can lead to serious complications - meningitis, brain abscess, inflammation of the trigeminal nerve, etc. That is why parents should consult their child with a qualified ENT doctor at the first manifestations of sinusitis.

Complications of sinusitis in a child

Complications of sinusitis in children are usually associated with the transition of the process to the chronic stage. Therefore, it is so important to start timely treatment to avoid serious consequences, which may include:

• otitis media, hearing loss
• pneumonia
• meningitis and other intracranial complications
• swelling of the tissue of the eyelids and eye sockets
• rheumatism.

If you notice that your child often breathes through his mouth at night, and also snores, be sure to consult an ENT doctor. This may be a consequence of chronic sinusitis or other pathologies.

Treatment of sinusitis

When treating sinusitis, specialists set themselves several tasks at once: eliminate the cause of the inflammatory process, stop the manifestations of the disease, improve the outflow of pus from the sinuses, and also restore the normal functioning of the child’s body. For this, the child may be prescribed the following groups of drugs:

• antibiotics;
• anti-inflammatory drugs;
• antifungal drugs;
• vasoconstrictor drops;
• saline solutions for rinsing the nose;
• antihistamines;
• antipyretics;
• immunomodulatory agents;
• vitamin complexes.

In addition to drug therapy, physiotherapeutic procedures have proven themselves to be effective in the treatment of sinusitis:

• inhalation;
• UHF;
• electrophoresis;
• laser therapy, etc.

To drain the maxillary sinuses, the “cuckoo” method of washing is used (so-called because the child must say “Peek-a-boo” during the procedure).
Disinfecting solutions are used and injected into the nasal cavity. Under the influence of negative pressure, conditions are created for the release of purulent discharge from the maxillary sinuses. In complex cases that are not amenable to conservative treatment, surgical intervention - maxillary sinusotomy - may be necessary. During the operation, the surgeon carefully pierces the maxillary sinuses, followed by removal of pus and administration of antiseptics.