Description
Meet Dr. Gresham Richter, chair of the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at UAMS Health.
In this video, Dr. Richter explains chronic sinusitis — what it is, how to recognize it, and when recurring sinus problems may require more than medication alone.
Chronic sinusitis is generally defined as sinus disease lasting longer than three months, or sinus infections that keep coming back. Common symptoms include facial pressure and pain, nasal congestion, recurrent fevers and infections, and difficulty breathing through the nose. For patients who find themselves repeatedly treated with antibiotics or who feel like they are always mouth breathing, there may be an underlying structural issue that medication cannot fully address.
Dr. Richter discusses how ENT specialists evaluate chronic sinus conditions and what minimally invasive surgical options can do to help — including procedures designed to open the sinuses, improve airflow and nasal aerodynamics, and reduce the chronic mucus retention or recurrent infections that are driving symptoms.
At UAMS Health, our team of ENT specialists provides advanced evaluation and treatment for patients whose sinus symptoms have persisted despite prolonged medical management. If recurring sinus problems are affecting your quality of life, specialized care may be the next step toward lasting relief.
Learn when it may be time to see an ENT specialist and how treatment can help you breathe easier and feel better.
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Transcript
Chronic sinusitis is a condition we define as sinus disease lasting for a prolonged period of time — typically greater than three months — or recurrent sinus infections. If infections are recurring over and over again, it is likely that there is something that needs surgical management. That is why patients get referred to ear, nose, and throat: so we can help open up the sinuses, improve the airway, and improve the aerodynamics inside the nose and sinuses in order to eliminate the chronic mucus retention or infections that keep developing.
Some of the symptoms of chronic sinusitis include facial pain, chronic nasal obstruction, and recurrent fevers and infections. If you have been treated for sinusitis multiple times a year with antibiotics, or if you feel like you are a mouth breather and have difficulty breathing through your nose, these are conditions we are happy to help with here in ear, nose, and throat at UAMS.
When you have been treated medically for a prolonged period of time for recurrent or chronic sinus disease, or recurrent or chronic nasal obstruction, that is the time to come see us in ear, nose, and throat — simply because there is likely a surgical option, and a minimally invasive one, to help curb your condition, control your symptoms, and overcome the chronicity of what you are experiencing.
