What are sinuses?
Sinuses are spaces behind your face. There are some behind your cheeks, some in your forehead, and small ones either side of your nose.
When they’re healthy, your sinuses are empty. They have a coating of mucus that helps keep the tissues lining the sinuses moist. The mucus also filters the air you breathe and traps bacteria.
It’s vital that your sinuses can drain freely so mucus doesn’t build up. If you have a blockage in the sinuses, it causes pain and inflammation. The pain of blocked sinuses can be severe and constant.
Why would I need sinus surgery?
You might need sinus surgery if you have a chronic sinus problem and your sinuses need to be opened up.
When you get a sinus infection, the ENT of New Orleans team can prescribe medications to treat the cause and effects of your blocked sinuses. These include:
- Antibiotics
- Decongestants
- Nasal steroid sprays
- Antihistamines
Many sinus conditions also benefit from flushing with a saline solution that washes out mucus and infection.
In the most acute cases of sinusitis, these treatments work well. The blockage clears. Some patients, though, find their sinusitis keeps coming back. Others don’t feel the benefit of noninvasive treatments.
Chronic sinusitis causes abnormal swelling and tissue growth in the sinuses. If other treatments aren’t helping, the ENT of New Orleans team can suggest sinus surgery.
What does sinus surgery involve?
The most common form of sinus surgery is functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). This procedure doesn’t require incisions. Instead, an endoscope is inserted up through your nose.
The endoscope is a thin fiber-optic tube. Using state-of-the-art instruments, the board-certified surgeons at ENT of New Orleans use FESS to remove any abnormal tissues and unblock your sinuses.
They also offer on-site balloon sinuplasty to relieve pressure in your sinuses. Sinuplasty involves placing a special balloon into the sinus cavity and inflating it. The inflated balloon pushes against the lining of the sinus and squeezes it, making more room.
As your sinuses are near to the vital areas of your eyes, brain, and major arteries, using image guidance ensures the safety of the procedure. The image guidance systems the ENT of New Orleans team uses combines computed tomography (CT) scans and infrared positional signaling.
Image guidance enables your surgeon to see exactly where the instruments are in your sinuses. This ensures greater safety and improved accuracy. The quality of the sinus care at ENT of New Orleans reaches such a high level that Entellus Medical has named it a Center of Excellence for sinus procedures.
If chronic sinusitis is making your life hard to cope with, call ENT of New Orleans today to schedule a consultation or book an appointment online.
We see patients all throughout the Greater New Orleans area. Call us to book your appointment today.
