Why don't you need antibiotics when you have sinusitis?

Sinusitis is a disease caused by inflammation of the paranasal sinuses. Most cases of sinusitis are not caused by bacteria but are caused by viruses. Therefore, "divine" antibiotics do not help much.

If you notice, you will notice that when you have symptoms of sinusitis (such as congestion, facial pains, headaches, fatigue, frequent sleepiness, continuous sneezing, flu, sore throat pain, fever for unknown reasons, etc., doctors will advise you to eat well and stay healthy, take a break for about a week or longer to monitor and then decide whether to use Antibiotics or not.

According to Consumer Report, this is the result of health professionals, including medical doctor Zara Patel - a health specialist and assistant professor of ENT at Stanford University (USA) - is calling and asking physicians around the world to think carefully before prescribing antibiotics for patients with sinusitis or other respiratory infections.

"For acute sinusitis, there are a lot of studies that show that most people don't need to take antibiotics, and most of us are able to recover from the disease," Patel said. Sinusitis or that respiratory infection ".

Sinus infections, or sinusitis, are usually caused by viruses, not by bacteria, and antibiotics do not have the function to fight viruses. Even if bacteria are the cause of your sinusitis, they will disappear on their own without medication - according to Choosing Wisely therapeutic guidelines. Choosing Wisely is a program developed by the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) to avoid wasteful, useless use or excessive use of drugs, tests and Current medical procedures.

Using antibiotics for sinusitis does not make you feel better.

In a study of 166 adults infected with acute sinusitis published in the February 2012 Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), amoxicillin does not seem to have any effect on reducing the millions. Sinus syndrome within 3 days. It even has the analogy of "works just like Placebo" (a fake drug that researchers have prepared, so that it has absolutely no physiological effect on the disease, but at the same time does not harm the health of patients).

According to AAAAI, the use of antibiotics for sinusitis not only does not help you feel better, but may also have side effects that make you feel extremely uncomfortable. AAAAI's treatment guidelines say that nearly 25% of people who use antibiotics must undergo side effects, most commonly diarrhea, stomach problems and rashes, rashes . More worrisome is that improper use of antibiotics will help "drug-resistant viruses" appear - he is the culprit who reinforces illness for at least 2 million people in the US each year.

You will feel better without antibiotics

Instead of taking antibiotics to treat sinusitis, medical advisor, medical doctor Marvin M. Lipman advises that you should take a lot of rest, wash your nose with salt water, drink warm water and take a bath and clean. Personal with warm water. If you have pain, you should take over-the-counter pain relievers such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen.

If necessary, doctors may also prescribe a number of corticosteroid drugs such as fluticasone (sprays to relieve symptoms of allergies or non-allergic reactions, such as nasal congestion, runny nose, itching and sneeze) or triamcinolone (a drug that helps prevent the release of substances in the body that cause inflammation). A summary published in JAMA magazine in September 2015 showed that after salt water, the most useful method to treat chronic sinusitis is to use a topical corticosteroid spray for several days. .

When should I consider using antibiotics to treat sinusitis?

Antibiotics should only be used to treat sinusitis if you have a fever of about 38.8 degrees C or higher.

AAAI recommends that antibiotics should only be used to treat sinusitis if you have a fever of about 38.8 degrees C or higher , if you have severe and persistent facial pain symptoms, if your symptoms last longer than 1 week or longer, or if your symptoms have subsided but then go worse.

Patel said: "Some patients with acute sinusitis will need antibiotics, and if they continue to get worse without timely treatment, they will likely lead to severe complications such as vision loss and inflammation. meninges or brain abscesses ".

If your doctor says you need antibiotic treatment, ask your doctor about generic amoxicillin. This is often the best and inexpensive choice. You will only spend about $ 4 for a prescription, while the use of this drug is about the same as some more expensive brand drugs.

And remember to avoid fluoroquinolones - a group of antibiotics including ciprofloxacin (Cipro) and levofloxacin (Levaquin). Although widely used, antibiotics are not suitable for the treatment of sinusitis and it can pose many potential and dangerous risks. Last year, after a review of safety, the Food and Drug Administration linked fluoroquinolones with a number of diseases related to loss of function in some parts of the body and they also had effects. Side effects are not good. The agency advises against using this drug to treat common conditions such as bronchitis, sinusitis, and urinary tract infections.