Sphenoid Sinus Infection

Sphenoid sinus infections occur in deeper sinuses located behind the eyes. This type of sinus infection can be especially painful and difficult to treat.

Sphenoid Sinus Infection

A sphenoid sinus infection is an infection of the sinuses at the center of the skull  located behind the nose and eyes. Inflammation of the sphenoid sinus tends to feel like a nagging headache on the vertex of the head or up behind the eyes.

The blood vessels in sinus tissues tend to be extremely small, allowing only small amounts of blood to pass through to them. Because sinus cavities tend to be somewhat isolated from the circulatory system, some sinus infections can be difficult to treat with narrow-spectrum oral antibiotics.

Sphenoid sinus infections can be especially difficult to treat because antibiotics are often cleaned up by the liver before they can travel through the narrow passages to the deeper recesses of the sphenoid sinuses.

To counter the difficulties of administering antibiotics through tiny blood vessels, antibiotics for sinus infections may be given over a greater period of time than with many other types of infection or inflammation.

Taking antibiotics for a longer period of time allows the medicine sufficient time to reach the tiny recesses of the innermost sphenoid sinus cavities. For this reason, sphenoid sinus infections tend to require longer periods of treatment when using antibiotics.

Causes of Sphenoid Sinus Infection

Sphenoid sinus infections are caused by or exacerbated by the same contributing factors as most other common types of sinus infection. The term sphenoid refers to the sinuses located behind the eyes, so ‘sphenoid sinus infection’ is simply a way of describing which portion of the sinuses have been infected.

The sphenoid sinuses are not more susceptible to sinus infection than the other sinus cavities, yet they are deeper in many places and as such are somewhat likelier to harbor lingering infection. Because the sphenoid sinuses tend to be deep and somewhat isolated, sinus infection may show up in this area first because it is slower to drain than outlying sinus cavities.

For these same reasons sinus infection left only partially treated may eventually manifest as localized infection in the deeper tissues of the sinuses. If you’ve suffered from any kind of sinus infection in the last several months and then at some point experience sphenoid sinus infection, chances are that this newer condition occurred when a few lingering bacteria were allowed to hide out and proliferate in the sphenoid sinuses.

Sphenoid sinus infections are rarer than many other kinds of sinus infection and tend to be accompanied by severe progressive headaches. Pain at the crown of the head is a good indication. Because the sphenoid sinuses are located close to the optic nerves, an acute sphenoid sinus infection requires specialist care.

When to see an ENT specialist

When sinus infections do not respond to treatment this is usually because of one of two things. Either the sinus infection is deep and therefore hard to reach with regular durations of antibiotics or the infections if caused by fungus or an allergy rather than the typical bacterial culprits.

In addition to longer bouts of antibiotic treatment, newer classes of broad-spectrum antibiotics can succeed where other antibiotics fail. These more powerful antibiotics are often called for when chronic sinus infection proves particularly resistant to commonly prescribed sinus infection antibiotics.

For particularly difficult cases, like many sphenoid sinus infections, seeking the advice and care of an ear, nose and throat doctor. ENT specialists are experts in diagnosing and treating all disorder having to do with the neck and head. If you are not experiencing results from the course of treatment recommended for your sinus infection, this is a good indication that specialized care is called for.