Sinuses are moist air spaces within the bones of the face around the nose. When these sinuses swell or become irritated, the infection is called sinusitis. These infections usually follow colds or bouts with allergies.

Cases of sinusitis are common and can be easily treated. Call your child's doctor if your child has a cold and the symptoms don't go away after about 10 days or if your child develops a fever after about 7 days of having cold symptoms. Those could be signs of sinusitis or another type of infection.

Causes

The sinuses are four sets of hollow spaces that are located in the cheekbones, the forehead, behind the nasal passages, and deep in the brain. Sinuses are lined with the same mucous membranes that line the nose and mouth.

When a child has a cold or allergies and the nasal passages become swollen and make more mucus, so do the sinus tissues. The drainage system for the sinuses can get blocked, and mucus can become trapped in the sinuses. Bacteria, viruses, and fungi can grow there and lead to sinusitis.

Symptoms

Sinusitis can cause different symptoms for kids of varying ages.

Younger kids typically have cold-like symptoms, including a stuffy or runny nose and slight fever. If your child develops a fever around the third or fourth day after cold symptoms begin, it could signal sinusitis or some other type of infection, like bronchitis, pneumonia, or an ear infection. So it's a good idea to call your child's doctor.

Many parents mistake cold-related headaches in young kids for sinus infections. But because the sinuses in the forehead don't start developing until a child is 6 or 7 years old and aren't formed enough to get infected until the early teen years, headaches in kids who have colds usually aren't due to sinus infections.

In older kids and teens, the most frequent symptoms of sinusitis are a daytime dry cough that doesn't improve after the first 7 days of cold symptoms, fever, worsening congestion, dental pain, ear pain, or tenderness in the face. Sometimes teens who have sinusitis also develop upset stomachs, nausea, headaches, and pain behind the eyes.

Prevention

Simple changes in your lifestyle or home environment can help lower your child's risk for getting sinusitis. For example, during the winter, when the cold air outside and your heating system make the air inside your home abnormally dry, consider using a humidifier to keep home humidity at 45% to 50%. This will stop dry air from irritating the sinuses and make them less of a target for infection. It's important to clean your humidifier regularly because mold can easily build up there.

Although sinusitis itself is not contagious, it is often preceded by a cold, which can spread easily, particularly among family or friends. The most effective way to prevent germs from spreading is to teach your child the importance of frequent hand washing, particularly when he or she has a cold.

Treatment

Doctors may prescribe oral antibiotics to treat cases of sinusitis that are believed to be caused by bacteria. Some doctors may recommend decongestants and antihistamines to help reduce the symptoms.

Cases of sinusitis that are caused by viruses usually go away on their own without medical treatment. Acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and/or warm compresses may help reduce any pain your child may be experiencing. But over-the-counter cold preparations have not been found to be effective in reducing symptoms in children and may cause unwanted side effects.

Call your child's doctor whenever your child has:

• a cold that lasts for more than 10 days without improvement
• a cold that seems to be getting worse after 7 days of symptoms
• symptoms of allergies that don't clear with the usual allergy medication

It's also a good idea to call the doctor if your child shows any other signs of sinusitis, like pain or stiffness in the cheeks, a fever, or a cold that seems to be making your child more ill than usual.

Reviewed by: Michael J. Harkness, MD
Date reviewed: July 2005
Originally reviewed by: Joel Klein, MD