You generally hear about your sinuses when you're sick with a cold or other upper respiratory infection, but these hollow spaces in your head serve some important functions in your breathing, immune system defense, and vocal resonance. There are four sinus cavities (maxillary, sphenoid, ethmoid, and frontal) located in places behind your face and deeper into the skull, and when air moves through them, the mucus in your sinuses helps to filter out dust and bacteria and lubricates the cavities for proper function.
The infections and other problems that affect sinuses are often acute cases, but they can linger, becoming chronic issues like sinusitis. When conservative methods of managing these problems aren’t enough, balloon sinuplasty is a modern solution (many providers have been using it since 2005) that can offer relief from sinus issues.
Let’s explore this treatment by learning more about how chronic sinusitis affects your health, what this procedure does, and how you benefit from it. If you live in the Orlando or Kissimmee, Florida area and you’re struggling with sinus problems you can’t manage on your own, Drs. Wade Han, Elvira Livigni De Armas, and the dedicated medical team at Florida Ear Nose Throat & Facial Plastic Surgery Center can help.
When the infection or inflammation in your sinuses lasts longer than three months, it is considered chronic and is often due to bacterial infection. It can also happen alongside existing structural or allergic issues related to these cavities, and factors like a weakened immune system, cystic fibrosis, dental infection, and smoking can affect your risks. Common signs include weakening your sense of smell, fever, runny or stuffy nose, sinus pressure, headache, fever, fatigue, and cough.
As the name implies, this is a procedure that uses a special balloon targeting the problem part of your sinuses to open and drain sinuses by inflation. It’s inserted using an endoscope (a thin adjustable tube equipped with a camera) placed through the nostril to reach the inflamed or infected part of your sinuses. Once the endoscope arrives where it needs to go, the area is inflated, and once it’s done its task, the balloon and device are removed.
A range of tests are done in advance to determine if this type of rhinoplasty is the right option for your needs, including fiberoptic nasal endoscopy, computerized tomography (CT) scans, sample testing (to confirm the type of infection), and allergy testing.
Here are the benefits of getting this treatment done over other endoscopic surgeries:
The process only requires expanding a section of your sinuses, which may cause a feeling of pressure but is not as painful as other surgeries.
The long-term impact is minimal because there is no cutting away of any part of your sinuses. Expanding the balloon allows the fluids to drain and relieve pressure and other symptoms without removing anything.
No cutting away also means a much shorter healing time from the treatment itself.
With only the endoscope and balloon entering the body, the risk of infection is low compared to other surgical treatments.
This also means there is less to do after the process is finished, aside from testing your sinuses to see the improvement.
Not all sinus problems need this treatment, but if your sinuses are in bad shape and you don’t know how to take care of them, make an appointment with Drs. Han, Livigni De Armas, and the team at Florida Ear Nose Throat & Facial Plastic Surgery Center
