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A cold or hayfever can cause a post-nasal drip and a blocked nose. But a sniffy nose is different to a full-blown sinus infection that can make your child feel quite ill.
Sinusitis is infection in the sinuses, small empty spaces in the skull that connect with the nasal passages. Some sinuses are present at birth and sinuses continue to grow and develop for the first 20 years of life.
If there is a lot of mucous in the sinuses, such as after a cold, a bacterial infection can follow.
Sinusitis is infection in the sinuses, small empty spaces in the skull that connect with the nasal passages. Some sinuses are present at birth and sinuses continue to grow and develop for the first 20 years of life.
If there is a lot of mucous in the sinuses, such as after a cold, a bacterial infection can follow.
- Symptoms are usually similar to a cold that does not want to go away. Your child may complain of a headache and could have a cough.
- A normal cold usually lasts about seven days.
- If a child has both a cough and runny nose that do not improve within 10 to 14 days, this may be acute bacterial sinusitis.
- There may be a fever, sore throat from post-nasal drip, or bad breath.
- If there is a bacterial infection, antibiotics may be needed to clear it. The doctor may want to treat repeated sinus infection by flushing the sinuses.
