Sinus: Antibiotics or Alternative Treatment?
For those who suffer from sinusitis, antibiotics have always been the first solution. According to studies by experts, sinus infections are caused by virus rather than bacteria. And so, the overuse of antibiotics will result in more drug resistant and virulent bacteria. It not only gives rise to resistant microbes, but also causes side-effects.
Chronic rhinosinusitis causes inflammation in the sinus passages and lasts for more than two weeks. Acute rhinosinusitis lasts for a longer time.
According to Dr. Don Leopold, chair of the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Department of Otolaryngology, there are no approved medicines that can cure sinus infections and no recommended treatment.
According to the national guidelines for the treatment of ear infections released by the American Academy of Pediatrics, only pain medication must be prescribed for children suffering from ear infection and antibiotics should be used only if the conditions persist.
Leopold also suggests an alternative treatment of saline flushing which is much cheaper than prescription medicine and which can be brought over the counter. He says, “It’s a very old remedy, but something I think we physicians have forgotten”. Even though the saline treatment is very effective in curing the symptoms of the infection, patients are not always willing to try them.