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Chronic Sinusitis
Chronic sinusitis is an extended or repeated infection with soreness of the sinuses of head. It can be very troublesome and painful for your dog. It is important to diagnose the disease on time and take effective measure to meliorate.
Sinus and Sinusitis
Sinuses are openings in bones round the nose. They are air bearing spaces in face that ventilate and moisten the air that is breathed in. In the normal process, air keeps on passing in and out of sinuses. From the sinuses, Mucus and fluid drain in the nose and down to the back of the throat. Sinusitis is an infection or inflammation of sinuses, the lining of sinus cavities in facial bones around the nose.
Sinusitis can make the life of your dog miserable and can make it look deep in pain. It may ach behind its eyes and gives him difficulty to breath by the nose. The most of the cases of sinusitis are acute sinusitis, while the majority of them are chronic. Usually it lasts about less than four weeks. But in the case when the signs and symptoms of sinusitis keep on more than 12 weeks or when the dog get frequent rounds of sinusitis, the chances are that they have chronic sinusitis.
Signs and symptoms
Your dog may have chronic sinusitis when you have two or more of major signs and symptoms. Symptoms can keep on for about three months or more-
Normal sinuses glow when light is put directly on sinuses, but sinuses affected by sinusitis do not glow.
- Looking impatient specially in the areas of forehead, nose, or around and behind eyes
- Difficulty to breathe in by nose
- Thick yellow or green color discharge draining in nose
- Unable to sense
- Aching upper jaw or teeth
- Bad breath
- Ear pain
- Fatigue
- Cough
Causes of chronic sinusitis
Sinusitis happens when there is infection or inflammation because of allergies in one sinus or more. A departed nasal septum or other obstacle of nose can also trap the fluid in a sinus and cause chronic sinusitis. Chronic sinusitis is less common than the acute sinusitis. As sinusitis happens quite frequently and lasts for a long period of time, the disease is then known as chronic.
Although acute sinusitis is caused generally by infection with one type of bacteria or virus, chronic sinusitis is caused by allergies or infection with several bacteria altogether.
Treatment
- The objective of treatment is the cure of infection and relief from the symptoms.
- X-rays, CT scan or cranial MRI are the treatments that show the sinuses filled with fluid
- Breathing in of sinuses can be done when the bacteria causes infection.
- Antibiotics are given when the infection is bacterial and treatment is prolonged for about 3 to 4 weeks. Oral decongestants are used at times.
- Steroids in the shape of a nose spray are helpful in the case of chronic sinusitis associated with allergy.
- Surgery to make clean or drain the sinuses may be necessary in some cases.