Sinus Infection in Children

Learn about the major causes of sinus infection in children and what you can do about it.

Sinus infection in children is just a common as sinus infection in adults. Unfortunately, very young children may not be able to express the discomfort that they are feeling clearly enough for their parents to understand. This means that parents need to be alert for sinus infection symptoms.

Causes of Sinus Infection

From the main causes of sinus infection, we understand that sinus infection usually comes on after an episode of the common cold or viral influenza. The common cold causes symptoms like runny nose, nasal congestion and cough (as a result of increased post nasal drip).

You would expect your child to have more symptoms when she is struck down by viral influenza. These include headaches, pain in the areas surrounding the eyes, joint pains and high fever besides just runny nose, cough and nasal congestion.

Sinus infection in children occurs when the child’s immune system is weakened as a result the illnesses mentioned above. Normally, the body has the ability to heal itself naturally. So when the influenza or cold viruses are destroyed by the antibodies produced in our body, the healing process begins automatically.

If a child has a weak constitution, the healing process works rather slowly. When this happens, the inflamed mucosal lining of the nasal passages and sinuses are still swollen even though the viruses within the body are all destroyed.

Nasal Congestion is the Main Culprit

Nasal congestion remains and this is where the problem lies. The lack of natural ventilation within the sinuses causes healing of the inflamed sinuses to slow down.

When the sinuses are inflamed, they produce abnormal amounts of mucus. This mucus tends to be thick, glue-like and sticky.

This aggravates the condition further by causing blockage of the ostium. The ostium is the opening of the sinuses where mucus produced within the sinuses is drained out to the nasopharynx.

The mucus causes sinus pressure within the sinuses. This translates into sinus headaches if the frontal sinuses are affected. Tenderness and pain in the areas around the cheekbones indicate a maxillary sinus infection.

If nasal congestion is not relieved quickly enough, the sinus infection can soon develop into a nasty bacterial sinus infection. You can tell that your child has a bacterial sinus infection when the mucus color turns from clear, opaque color to bright yellow or yellowish green. This is a sure sign.

When this happens, strong antibiotics would need to be prescribed by the medical doctor to get rid of this bacterial sinus infection.

Complication of Sinus Infection in Young Children

As mentioned earlier, young children are unable to express themselves effectively. Because of this, parents have to be more vigilant in identifying sinus infection symptoms. One of the major complications of sinus infection in young children is Eustachian Tube Dysfunction (ETD).

Young children (especially those under the age of 6 years) are particular at risk for eustachian tube dysfunction because they have very narrow eustachian tubes.

Also, the anatomy of the eustachian tube in infants and young children is different from those of adults. The eustachian tube runs horizontally instead of sloping downward from the middle ear. The horizontal course of the eustachian tube also permits an easy route for bacteria to migrate from the nose to the middle ear.

This is why children are so prone to infections of the middle ear. By the time children are older than 6 years of age their incidence of ear infections should drop substantially.

Though the causes of sinus infection in adults and sinus infection in children are the same, as parents, you have to take special notice of your child when they come down with a cold or viral influenza.

The common cold will usually run its course within a week and all cold symptoms should disappear. Full recovery from viral influenza takes anything between 10 to 14 days.

After this period, your child should not exhibit any further symptoms. If they do, then you should begin to suspect a possible sinus infection.

Learn more about the latest sinus infection treatment options and also some proven sinus infection home remedies.