by admin on August 17, 2011
If you have chronic sinus issues and are tired of not being able to breathe or get rid of sinus infections, then you could have drainage issues that might require surgery. Antibiotics are usually attempted first as a way of helping your body naturally clear up your sinuses and restore normal function, but for serious cases, this does not always help. Instead, you might be considering surgery. But fortunately, there is a new option called balloon sinuplasty.
With balloon sinuplasty, a catheter-type system is used to insert a balloon into your sinuses. After this occurs, the balloon is slowly and gently inflated. When this is done, your passageways are opened up and normal drainage function can resume. Also, your passageways are reformed and widened, allowing for better drainage.
The advantage of balloon sinuplasty is that it is much less invasive than other, more traditional sinus surgeries. In fact, balloon sinuplasty is able to give great results without damaging or affecting the integrity of the sinus lining, which goes a long way in aiding recovery time.
If you are considering this type of procedure, speak with your specialist as soon as possible. As with any surgery, you need to be a good candidate for it. But if you are, you may find that it is one of the best treatments available for chronic sinus problems.
by admin on August 16, 2011
You may have nose or sinus obstruction that may be easily corrected with sinus surgery. The symptoms of a deviated septum or sinus obstruction include sinus headaches, recurrent sinus infections, nasal congestion, and when severe significant snoring and possibly sleep apnea. A deviated septum may be a condition that you have had all of your life or it may result from a traumatic injury. Regardless of the cause, it makes it very difficult to breath.
You may have fungal or bacterial sinus disease, allergic sinus disease, nose and sinus polyps, or just anatomical obstruction from a deviated septum or large turbinates, which would all create sinus headaches, changes in your ability to smell/taste and difficulty breathing. Polyps are non-cancerous growths in the sinuses that can look like a tiny bunch of grapes. They may be caused by long term chronic inflammation in the nose and sinus cavities but at times the reason is never identified.
Sinus surgery in Encino is available at the Southern California Sinus Institute and can be performed using traditional sinus surgery techniques as well as minimally invasive image guided sinus surgery (MIGSS), which is less invasive and causes less pain for the patient. MIGSS is an outpatient procedure pioneered by Dr. Cohen that makes no cuts on the face and is guided by endoscopes and specifically designed instruments to target only diseased areas, while minimizing injury to healthy tissues within the nose and sinuses. Some patients may even be candidates for a less invasive procedure that has been FDA approved for chronic sinusitis called Balloon Sinuplasty.
If you are having difficulty breathing or have recurring sinus headaches, sinus infections or have lost all or some of your ability to smell and taste you may have a nose or sinus obstruction and would benefit from nose and sinus surgery.
Contact Dr. Alen Cohen for sinus surgery in Encino at the Southern California Sinus Institute at (818) 888-7878 or contact him through an online consultation inquiry at http://www.socalsinus.com/
