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CEENTA ENT physician Christopher Tebbit, MD, appeared on WCNC's Charlotte Today on November 22nd, 2023, to discuss sinus infection symptoms and surgical and non-surgical treatment options. Learn more about this condition and schedule your next appointment with Dr. Tebbit at our Belmont office today through our online scheduling platform.
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Eugene Robinson: Well, this time of year it can be hard to tell whether it's allergies or sinus infections that we're battling. Here with more to help us know what to look for is Dr. Christopher Tebbit, an ear, nose, and throat specialist who practices out of CEENTA's Belmont office. And before we get to all the sinus stuff, during this time of year why is it so prevalent? What is going on that people got allergies and sinus infections?
Dr. Christopher Tebbit: Yeah, this is a really tough time of year for people's noses. You know, I think it's a constellation of things that are happening this time of year. It's a combination of the ragweed, which is still out there so there's still a lot of pollen out there to drive allergies. The kids are back in school and the weather's got a little bit colder so that cold weather does cause a little more virus and bacteria activity which causes more infections. And a lot of people's noses are just sensitive to the cold a little bit and that causes symptoms as well.
Eugene: So what are some common symptoms for sinus infections?
Dr. Tebbit: Sure, so all of us have eight sinuses. We have four sinuses on each side of our face. We have a frontal sinus, a maxillary sinus, an ethmoid sinus in the middle of the head.
Eugene: I thought there was just one sinus, dude! I had no idea it was all that stuff going on in your face.
Dr. Tebbit: There a lot of aeriated spaces in our faces. Yeah, and whenever one of those gets infected, we'll have symptoms of a sinus infection. Oftentimes, that's pain or pressure over the sinus that's actually affected. Patients will also have drainage going down the back of their nose, maybe coming out of the front. They may have trouble breathing out of their nose, feel very congested or obstructed. And sometimes patients even say things like their ears feel stopped up, they have pressure behind their eyes, or maybe even feel a little dizzy.
Eugene: So how can sinus infections be treated? You got all that stuff that's going on.
Dr. Tebbit: Sure, so things we do at home to treat sinus infections. First of all is to treat the pain, we do that with Tylenol or ibuprofen. A lot of times you'll find a lot of cold and sinus preparations that'll have both Tylenol and ibuprofen and maybe a decongestant and an antihistamine, which will help open up your nose and dry up some of the secretions. Mucinex can also be helpful to help break up some of the secretions so they're easier to come out.
Eugene: And so what that does is it just allows you to breathe when you're sleeping at night, cause I guess that's when sinus inspections can really be problematic.
Dr. Tebbit: That's very true, and there's a medicine called Afrin, which if you use judiciously can be very helpful in the middle of the night. But if these persist for more than three to five days you really ought to seek care from a physician because then you might need an antibiotic to get over the sinus infection.
Eugene: Okay, so what are some of the surgical options or non-surgical options that we may have to see you?
Dr. Tebbit: Sure, so the average American gets one to two sinus infections a year. So it's normal to get infected maybe one or once or twice a year, but it's not normal to be getting on antibiotics three, four or more times a year.
Eugene: That's not normal.
Dr. Tebbit: Well that's not normal, that's when you come see your local ENT doctor and we would probably get a CT scan in that scenario and look to see if there are any blockages in your sinuses. And then if there are that would be that would be a time we consider doing surgery. There's two main types of surgeries we do for that. One is called FESS: functional endoscopic sinus surgery, and that's when we would take you to an operating room and it's all minimally invasive done through your nose. We use special cameras and can go in and open up the sinuses that are blocked off so you have less infections. Sometimes we can even do what's called balloon sinuplasty in specialized patients where we actually can do it in the office. We put a balloon in the sinus just to open it up, and again that can be done in the office at times.
Eugene: And all this is just to so that you have some relief because those things can be really problematic.
Dr. Tebbit: That's exactly right, we're trying to reduce the number of sinus infections that you have and help you breathe better through your nose and help your nose work better.
Eugene: Okay, now you're at the Belmont office, tell people where you're located. Where can they find you?
Dr. Tebbit: Sure, we're at 400 Park Street in Belmont, North Carolina just west here of Charlotte. And we have great office, we'd love to see you.
Eugene: And what is the website?
Dr. Tebbit: It's www.ceenta.com, C-E-E-N-T-A.
Eugene: And if you have a little sinus infection or allergies that mask themselves as sinus infections, make sure you go see Doc. Thank you very much, sir.
Dr. Tebbit: Thank you.
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