Blame dizziness on seasonal weakness, blame migraine on stressful work, and on less bothersome ailments in the form of lack of taste and not as intensely - as always - waving your hand at all? Wrong, because all of these symptoms can result from seriously ill sinuses.
Blame dizziness on seasonal weakness, blame the migraine on stressful work, and on less bothersome ailments in the form of lack of taste and not as intensely - as always - waving your hand at all? Wrong, because all of these symptoms can result from seriously ill sinuses.
It is a strange situation in which over 4.5 million adult Poles struggle with sinusitis, and half of them have no idea that this is where the cause of their ailments lies.
The problem will worsen as it turns out that one in four allergy sufferers who fight rhinitis develop persistent sinusitis.
The risk group includes people whose body cannot defend itself against an attack of staphylococcus, which is quite a group considering the fact that one in three people is the carrier of persistent bacteria. It doesn't stop there. Sinus disease develops more easily in people suffering from cystic fibrosis, bronchial asthma, and also allergic to aspirin.
For trouble… a balloon
The fastest way to help is an ENT specialist, not everyone, however, but one who can diagnose the source of the trouble and - what is equally important - remedy the evil.
The task is not trivial, because the sinuses are difficult to heal, especially those called ethmoid sinuses. The main problem is their location (only a delicate lamina separates them from the brain). It doesn't stop there. It is true that from a few to a dozen roads will enter them, the so-called escape, but you must have a great skill to precisely locate them in a real labyrinth of delicate tissue.
Treatment of the ethmoid sinus is difficult. A new quality in overcoming evil was introduced by specialists from the Department of Otolaryngology of the Military Medical Institute in Warsaw (WIM), headed by prof. Dariusz Jurkiewicz. The introduced is a good word because it is really about introducing a steroid drug into the ethmoid sinus, which will only start working after reaching the point of inflammation.
Warsaw Medical Center in the forefront
The precursor of this method is an employee of the Military Institute of Medicine and Dr. Kornel Szczygielski cooperating with Warsaw Medical Center (WMC). It was he - like the first - in Poland (at the Military Institute of Medicine and the Military Medical Academy) who carried out procedures consisting in placing a miniature balloon with a steroid drug in the ethmoid sinus. Thanks to this solution, the specificity gradually penetrates the semi-permeable coating for several weeks, combating inflammation exactly in the place where the threat occurred. The method also works well when traditional drug administration does not bring the desired result. Warsaw Medical Center has been specializing in this type of treatment for several years.
Unblocking the mouths of the ethmoid sinus
The ballooning technique is also used for an equally important function, namely to unblock blocked mouths of the ethmoid sinus. This is important because diseased sinuses most often bother when their mouths become blocked. They should therefore be extended. It is done by a specially designed balloon, inside which the pressure is four times higher than that in a passenger car tire. With its help, too narrow canals of the sinuses are pulled apart within a few seconds. No pain, no blood or long-healing postoperative wounds.
Secrets of the ethmoid sinus
The treatment technique used in WMC is one of the least invasive methods used in this type of diseases of the ethmoid sinus. So far, what was troubling has been removed. Whole fragments of secretory canals were resected, the role of which in the human body - in fact, little is known to this day.
It is believed that the delicate structures of the front of the skull are a kind of controlled crumple zones that protect the brain during an accident. There is also talk of a resonance box enhancing the timbre of the voice. But the crux of the matter is still a mystery.
It is known that the hairs covering the sinus membranes are important for the proper functioning of the body. It is them, constantly moving, forcing the secretion in the sinuses to move towards the nose and throat. Thanks to these hairs, the body gets rid of germs, bacteria and fungi that settle in the sinus space. There is a reason why there is a liquid in the secretory channels that can hardly fit in two glasses. The sinuses also protect the body against microorganisms with the help of trace amounts of aseptic nitric oxide.
The balloon is not for everything
The desirability of subtly influencing the ethmoid sinuses is obvious, but after their removal, the ballooning technique cannot be used. The same is true when the sinuses are attacked by polyps.
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