How Do I Know If I Have Fungal Sinusitis?
Sinusitis has three possible causes: a virus, bacteria, or fungi. Viral and bacterial sinusitis account for the majority of sinusitis cases. However, fungal sinusitis—while rare—can be one of the more serious forms of sinusitis. Due to this, patients often ask, “How do I know if I have fungal sinusitis?”
Unfortunately, without medical evaluation and/or imaging, it is usually not possible to know for sure if you have fungal sinusitis versus another cause. Though, there may be a few indicators that your sinusitis could be caused by a fungus. First, the worst forms tend to show severe symptoms much sooner than other sinusitis infections. Secondly, it will not go away with either time or antibiotics. Finally, if you know you have come in contact with environments where fungi are present.
However, there are less severe forms of fungal sinusitis such as allergic fungal sinusitis where the sinuses become irritated or infected, simply from everyday contact with fungi. This can be treated with basic at-home and in-office therapies and rare becomes severe or require surgical intervention. Therefore, in these cases, you may not know you specifically have fungal sinusitis, but it will respond to basic treatment.
To learn more and schedule a consultation with Seattle ENT, Dr. David Santos, call us at 206-242-3696. You can also reach out online via chat or contact form.
