Sinus problem?

For the past several months, I’ve expreienced chronic pressure behind the eyes and some minor nasal congestion.
Lately, the eye pressure is so severe it is causing me to squint, blink, blurry vision, and ithchiness. At times, my eyes feel like they’re trying to pop out of my head.

I have done some research on Sinusitis. Symptoms for Sinusitis include facial pressure, congestion, and headaches. My congestion is very minor, yet chronic, and the headaches are very rare.

Has anyone else had similar experiences?
Any advice will be appreciated. Thank you.

**I would like to do my own research for now, and then if I can’t find a solution online I will see a physician.

Has anyone else had similar experiences?

I have Rod. A serious case about ten years ago - one that disguised itself as (believe it or not) tooth pain.
My top front teeth felt as if they were being ripped out of my head, I couldn’t sleep, or work, or basically exist. Besides appendicitis it was the worst pain I have suffered (so far) - the kind that brings suicidal thoughts to mind.

I went to every imaginable dentist, orthodontist, what have you - but it was an ear nose throat guy who figured it out. The sneaky thing was, like you, I wasn’t particularly congested - so a sinus condition was the last thing I thought it could be.

He ended up treating me for an infection with antibiotics and recommended regular hot compresses. A towel soaked in very hot water pressed to the face seems to work wonders for chilling out whatever pressure/inflammation is happening.

I still occasionally get hit with a spell of it. Sucks pretty bad. I’ve felt your pain.

Something in your environment is causing it - mold, dust, a dirty forced air furnace maybe.

Those pesky ENTs like to stick their fingers in my nose. :(

I have noticed that teeth pain is on the list of symptoms.

The mold and dust thingy could be the culprit. But nothing in my home is exceptionally dusty, nor moldy.

Cap, do you need to use antibiotics when the occasional spell reoccurs?

More embarrassing questions.
Do antibiotics come in different forms? Is there just one type of antibiotic?
Are antibiotics available OTC?

P.S. I just ran out to Walgreen’s and got some Claritin-D. If the Claritin relieves the symptoms, it will help to narrow down the cause - I think. How do you like that for DIY self-diagnosis? ;)

P.P.S. Do you know Tom & Jerry is on right now? :D

Is your house old? If so get the ducts cleaned. It isn’t that outrageous price wise.

I believe all anti-biotics are script only. They have different strengths and brands. Some are more aggresive then others. I believe Cipro, the anthrax killer is up there. I hate anti-biotics myself, everyone seems to set my ass off. There has to be IV anti-biotics as well as pill form. They must have a paste/salve form for something too. Someone has to make a drinkable liquid form too, somewhere in the world. But pills have to be the virtaul majority.

You could dial in through google, what homeopathic or herbal remedies work for this too.

No, not very old, 40 years old. We don’t have forced air heat, so no ducts.

No mold on the bathroom ceiling, the dust does not seem abnormally high.

If this is an infection, why doesn’t my body kill the virus on its own?

Holiday stresses could have took a hit on your immune system. Any type of holiday or seasonal depression also possible could contribute. Have you tweased your nose hairs lately? If so you could have pulled something out and let something in. Immune systems are never perfect.

If it is a sinus infection, you will need antibiotics to clear it up and I think an Ear Nose Throat specialist would know the most effective to prescribe.

Do you use nose drops or nose spray? If used too long, these products cause rebound effects and cause worse stuffiness then the original cause.

If it is mold, that can be tricky and may be hard to find. Have you had any water leaks or flood damage that got walls wet or floors and carpets wet? Mold can be in walls or under carpet. Look around baseboards or around sink and tub areas, or any outside water leak areas. It would probably look like black spots or stains.

You don’t have a new pet dog or cat by any chance? Or a new G/F with same?

Ramrod,

I too suffer with sinus problems, some are caused by allergies, others are caused by I don’t know. If I could ship my sinuses somewhere else I would.

You can tell whether or not it is an infection two ways, one it hurts like hell somewhere in your head and two your mucus isn’t clear, most likely a lovely yellowish green. Only a MD can prescribe antibodics for an infection, and you have to show the signs of an infection first. When I get an infection, it hurts to move my head, it feels like a tidal wave hitting the front of my head everytime I move.

I live on allergy medication to keep mine at bay. I still have congestion but no infection. I can live with congestion.

I also have some rather intense sinus problems. I’ve had polyp removal surgery three times, and due to this the internal structures are rather out of place leading to a nearly constant infection. What my doctor recommended for me was a spray out bottle. Similar to a nasal spray except you use the bottle to flood the sinuses until it runs out the other nostril. Using a salt-water solution with a bit of baking soda will keep the areas clean. When it becomes excessively infected I’ll mix in some gentamyacin (an antibiotic) which usually takes care of the problem. Hopefully some regular oral antibiotics like Cipro or Zithromyacin would do the job for you, as the spray out bottle is a real drag.

Carpet can be a culprit, as well as old furniture or drapes. Vacuuming doesn’t always get down deep into carpets and fabrics, especially if it just “gets the surface” or you vacuum in a hurry and just buzz over things real fast. I had a Ridgid shop vac that I got from home depot, and I just loved it. It had a big 3 inch hose on it and it would literally pick the carpet up, thats how hard it would suck things up, very nice. If I got too close to the walls, it would literally pull the carpet off the tack-strip holding it down, unless I “tilted the nozzle” so it wasn’t vacuuming full force. I had to leave it behind when I moved but man it did a number on things. I should get another one and use it once every month or two for a real good vacuuming… one that the other vacuum just cannot do. Carpets and furniture that are 15, 20 or 30 years old can have anything in them: dust pollen, pet dander, mold spores (even in dry climates, they are everywhere)… and you’re sitting there breathing it in, all day long.

Air ducts can get full of junk too. It’s pretty amazing sometimes. Nobody pays attention to this but many people would be living much more comfortably if they did. cleaning out the furnace and the ducts in an old house can be amazing. Work places too. I knew an office where a friend worked, and everybody was always getting sick. I am convinced it was the air, but try and tell the boss that, haha he doesn’t want to hear it, even though it would be a cheap way to increase efficiancy and sick days. If you live in a climate where everyone uses HVAC units (the air conditioner on the roof) those need cleaning too. The condenser (it’s like a radiator on a car, with very fine little aluminum fins in it) gets coated with junk. Dust, pollen, hair, dirt and even smog gets sucked in and over time will plug it up or greatly reduce efficiency. Call a few air conditioning places up and get a cleaning, where they clean the condenser. too. They charge about $200 and it can make life much nicer… clean air again and it will reduce your power bill and pay for itself in 4 to 6 months just in power savings. Many old HVAC units can be brought back to life doing this, the old ones that “just don’t work as good anymore” or don’t blow much air… well they can’t, it’s all plugged up!

I’ve done nasal flushes a few times, too. It’s a weird feeling, but can be well worth it. I use just a couple drops of hydrogen peroxide in a pint of water. It gets up there and really kicks ass on any little bugs or germs coating the sinuses. You can get the front sinuses in a bathtub, get down on your knees and then tilt your head down, so it is almost upside dowm but not quite, right onto the floor of the bathtub. I put a cup of the water solution next ot me and use a little bulb thingy to transfer it from the cup into my nose. “Fill ‘er up!” on both sides and let it sit there as long as you can (this ends up being a minute or two maybe for me), you might be amazed at all the different stuff that breaks loose and comes out (I was!). For the next week, I can breathe like… well it’s just incredible how something simple can work so well. I never did this until I was totally desperate one day, but man it works good. Costs nothing, can be done on when you are travelling, in the motel or whatever. To get the rear sinuses, hang your head over the edge of a bed, and put a little garbage can on the floor under your head to catch the water. Salt water works too, I never knew how much to use in mixing it. The hydrogen peroxide really blasts things out… just like it attacks the germs on a cut or scrape, it gets in there and kills any nasties, just use very little like a few drops, maybe 5 or 10 in a pint of water, you can adjust it to your liking from there. It will make your eyes water a little. I hate doing this, but every time I do… I am glad I did when it’s over. Sinuses are nice “warm and moist” places, and can harbor lots of junk that makes you miserable for years or all your life. If you can bring yourself to do this, it will probably get the stuff out and you won’t be “killing the good bugs with the bad ones” by using antibiotics if you don’t need to.

Hydrogen perixide is good for cleaning your ears too, or just for earwax, I had a doctor tell me that. I go in the shower and tilt my head sideways, use it full strength and pour it in and let it fizzle a while, then rinse it out with the shower water. Any “bugs” in there are dead now. too.

Roddy-
I don’t use antibiotics, no. But Mrs. Hook eats them like Flintstones vitamins - she has a chronic sinus condition. Zythromax is the name of the antiB she takes.

These things are not available OTC, but here’s my advice for treating it if you’re convinced it’s a sinus infection and you don’t want to ante up to the Man:

Take Sudafed (or even better, a generic version) regularly for a week straight and apply hot compresses three times a day. That will likely clear it up. And search out wtf is causing it, if you can.

And on the subject of causes, something might have changed physically? Have you been sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong? I believe mine really began when I broke my nose boxing - being the dumbass I am I just dealt with it and didn’t see a doctor and I ended up with a deviated septum, which I believe caused poor drainage. When mixed with a dirty forced hot air heat situation in our apartment at the time it was a toxic combo.
My sinuses just haven’t been friendly since that break but I now know when they are about to cause problems and simply go the Sudafed/heat route to prevent it getting too bad.
I have also heard that people are susceptible to developing new and exciting allergies in seven year cycles - all of the sudden they’ll be allergic to previously inoffensive stuff - or an allergy will inexplicably clear up.

One other thing: an ENT dealing with a sinus condition might also stick things in your ear - which is actually quite pleasurable. My guy pulled out enough nasty wax to light Tokyo, and he flushed my ear canals. Can you say “dayum!” ??? It was like I went from profoundly deaf to hearing in an instant.

All this stuff is connected and you are probably in very jacked up shape but don’t know it. You hear?

Thank you for all the suggestions and tips.

I can rule out the following:
Nose spray addiction.
Pets.
Yellowish-green mucous.

Possibilities:
The carpet, I get flooded occasionally downstairs, but I always steam clean the carpets after the flood. The carpet may still have mold in it, but it looks and smells clean. Electron, as a matter of fact, I have a Rigid shop-vac too. I bought it because it’s a wet/dry-vac.

The Claritin Experiment:
The Claritin I took yesterday did not relieve any symptoms. Surprisingly, it didn’t even clear my congestion. I’m still at my usual 75% clear. Like you, Cap, I have a deviated septum and always been at 75-80% clear. My eyes felt the same, a lot of pressure. So, maybe I can rule out inflammation of the sinuses altogether.
(The nasal and ear flushes sound like fun, maybe I’ll try that next.)

It’s the eye pressure that is big problem. It hardly ever causes headaches. It just feels like I’ve been concentrating on very small objects for an extended amount of time. Like I’m trying to fix a watch, for example.

Things that make me feel worse:
Sitting in front of the computer.

Things that make feel better:
A long hot shower.
A dark room, with my eyes closed.

Perhaps this is an eye problem. I had my eyes checked 10 months ago when I first felt the symptoms. The optometrist said my eyes were fine, I was worried about glaucoma.

This is my last question (I promise).
Do you think having the computer screen 12” or less away from my face for a few hours per day would cause this eye irritation?
When I hang BTC, I have my laptop only a few inches away from eyes, and this problem started about one month into my BTC routine and that was 11 months ago.
Coincidence?