Sunshine Sentinel

• The overuse of antibiotics prescribed for sinusitis can lead to health risks or the development of antibiotic resistance.
• Antibiotic resistance can increase risks for patients who develop infections after other medical procedures.
• Patients with chronic sinusitis have alternative treatment options, such as balloon sinuplasty.

People who are dealing with chronic sinusitis and hoping that treatment with antibiotics will be the answer may find over time that the medications become less effective, according to Dr. Cody Aull. He recommends a more permanent solution to improve a patient’s quality of life.

"Antibiotics are absolutely wonderful, but we also know that they are unfortunately grossly overused and used incorrectly and inadequately,” Aull of West Palm Beach Breathe Free Sinus & Allergy Centers told Sunshine Sentinel. “And it leads to resistance, so that when you really need an antibiotic, it might not be available to do the job that it needs to. That's a big problem.”

According to WebMD, among adults in the U.S. who are diagnosed with acute sinusitis, about 90% end up receiving a prescription for antibiotics. While acute sinusitis is a sinus infection lasting less than four weeks, a sinus infection that persists for 12 weeks or more is termed "chronic," with symptoms that include coughing, facial pain or discomfort, nasal congestion, headaches and nasal drainage.

Overusing antibiotics has been linked to changes in the patient's gut microbiota, which can increase the risk of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and cancer, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). The AHA says that overusing antibiotics could also be a risk factor in premature death. And Aull points out that while an antibiotic may treat a sinus infection, it may not be the best answer.

“Studies show that using antibiotics over and over is not the best fix," he said. “There's an infinitely better approach, and that's the approach that we want to give to our patients. You're not taking these antibiotics all the time, so when you really do need an antibiotic, if you have a bad infection for something else, that antibiotic is available to you. It does a great job.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) supports Aull’s position, noting that people who build up a tolerance to antibiotics could be at an increased risk if they have other health issues that result in an infection, ranging from joint replacement and organ transplants to diabetes treatment.

“That's what we want to do: give patients a way out of dependence on antibiotics to try to manage their sinus problems,” Aull said. “Again, a lot of patients don't ever fix their sinus problems. They just ‘manage’ them with recurrent antibiotics over and over.”

For patients diagnosed with chronic sinusitis, balloon sinuplasty could prove to be an alternative to treatment with antibiotics. It is a simple procedure with few reported complications, according to Healthline. The procedure does not include any cutting or removal of bones or tissue.

If you're interested in learning more about the symptoms of sinusitis and allergies, take this Sinus Self-Assessment Quiz.