What does it mean when someone has chronic sinusitis?

Chronic sinusitis is a condition where a patient has a persistent sinus infection for greater than 3 months that fails to resolve with medical therapy.

It's truly a miserable condition where the patient feels constantly congested and sick for months.

They may get some relief with antibiotics and allergy therapy but the symptoms rapidly return after the therapy is complete.

There has typically been no alternative for these patients in the past except continuing courses of medical therapy or surgical therapy requiring a general anesthetic.

Now there is a new state of the art technique called balloon sinuplasty that works to gently dilate the natural sinus outflow tracts to relieve the chronic infection.

This procedure can be performed with sedation in the office setting with no discomfort.

There is also no downtime as patients can return to work right away.

Chronic sinusitis sufferers now have a simple alternative to regain their normal life.

Daniel Slaughter, MD

I'm so Congested! What can I do?

This is the most common complaint of any patient with allergies.

Being able to breathe comfortably through your nose is never appreciated as much as when it is gone.

A day with a cold or bad allergies is miserable. A sleepless night and a sore throat from mouth breathing in the morning. That’s followed by a groggy day with half the energy you normally have.

The world doesn’t slow down for you to mouth breathe and blow your nose trying to get enough air to be comfortable.

Even your daily workout seems impossible without the oxygen you need to meet the challenge.

Imagine having that cold year round. That’s the feeling that people have with chronic swelling of their turbinates. Those little structures in your nose that are supposed to filter and warm the air you breathe can swell in many people to fill the entire passage.

Rather than helping you, they block all the airflow you need.

When allergy therapy doesn’t work, there is a simple office based procedure that can help.

Like liposuction can take away unwanted fat, turbinate reduction can shrink your turbinates back to normal size. You can breathe clearly and naturally right after the procedure. No down time or pain medicine required.

If congestion is holding you back, consider office-based turbinate reduction as a safe and simple solution.

Daniel Slaughter, MD

How is Balloon Sinuplasty different from traditional sinus surgery?

The goal of any sinus procedure is to improve the drainage of the sinus cavities into the nose so that they remain free of pressure, pollen, bacteria, mold, etc. Sinus pressure and infections develop when these sinus drainage pathways become swollen and obstructed. For most patients, we can use medicines to reduce the swelling and improve the drainage, but for the others, medical therapy doesn't provide complete relief. Traditional sinus surgery required general anesthesia and involved the surgical removal of the tissue blocking the sinus drainage pathways. Balloon sinuplasty, which we helped develop approximately 7 years ago, was created as a tool to help us reach difficult sinuses, using a balloon to dilate the sinus opening. We quickly discovered that this tool was useful for most of the sinus drainage pathways, and was so minimally invasive and comfortable, that we could eliminate general anesthesia, and get patients back to work the same or next day. This procedure can be combined with repair of minor septal deviation as well as turbinate reduction to vastly improve nasal breathing as well as permanently relieve the sinus headaches and infections. Sinus surgery has come a long way from the days of facial bruising and yards of gauze packing. Now, with a 45 minute office procedure, we can you put your sinus headaches, infections, and nasal obstruction in your past and have you back to work the next day.

Christopher Thompson, MD

Does balloon sinuplasty really work?

Balloon sinuplasty is an innovative sinus procedure developed seven years ago. Using special balloons, sinus drainage pathways can be gently dilated in the clinic setting to relieve sinus pressure, sinus headaches, recurrent sinus infections and even chronic sinus infections.

But is there any proof that this technology really works and is it as simple as they say?

The first question most patients ask is “if you dilate my sinuses with a balloon, will the sinuses stay open long-term?” A study to address this question showed that 92% of sinuses that were dilated using balloon sinuplasty stayed dilated long-term.

The next question is “if you dilate my sinuses, will that relief my symptoms?” A separate study showed that 95% of patients who had balloon sinuplasty noted significant improvement if not resolution of their sinus complaints after the procedure.

Finally, patients always wonder if the clinic procedure is as easy as the physicians describe. The study that best answers this question showed that 95% of patients who underwent clinic balloon sinuplasty would have the procedure again.

With more than 160,000 procedures performed to date, balloon sinuplasty has consistently been shown to be safe, effective and well-tolerated by the chronic sinus sufferers who have benefited from the procedure.

Zachary Wassmuth, MD

 

How can you tell if you are having a sinus headache?

Sometimes it can be difficult for patients to tell the difference between tension headaches, migraine headaches, and sinus headaches. Sinus headaches typically are present above the eyes, between the eyes, and under the eyes. Frequently, they are associated with some congestion and allergy symptoms. Typically, they are worsened if the patient bends down and can be at least partially improved with decongestants, exercise, and hot showers. Sinus headaches occur when the sinus cavities, which surround the nose, are having difficulty ventilating and equilibrating with the surrounding atmospheric pressure. Many patients are prone to this condition because the natural sinus outflow tracts are quite narrow and/or become partially blocked because of allergies. Treatment can include allergy management, decongestants, facial massage, and hot showers. Acupuncture has also been shown to provide temporary relief. Emerging technologies, such as balloon sinuplasty, now offer a more permanent solution. In this simple office procedure the natural outflow tracts of the sinus cavities are gently dilated to allow for better ventilation and equilibration.

Daniel Slaughter, MD