However, not all cases of sinusitis are created equal. One of the major distinctions that physicians use when diagnosing sinusitis is whether it's an acute or a chronic problem.

Acute Sinusitis

An acute infection is one that crops up seemingly out of nowhere. You could be breathing free and easy one day and then struck with an unbearable sinus headache the next.

In most cases, acute sinusitis occurs after a particularly nasty cold. The cold virus causes the mucous membranes in your sinuses to swell and become less effective at draining mucus. The mucus and other material sitting around in your sinuses becomes perfect food for bacteria, leading to a bacterial infection in the sinuses.

Although a bacterial infection following the cold is the most common cause of acute sinusitis, it can also be caused by allergies or viral and fungal infections.

If you have symptoms of sinusitis, your doctor will probably examine you and use a long swab to take samples from your nasal passages and sinuses. These samples can then be analyzed for signs of bacterial or fungal infection. Nasal swabbing doesn't usually hurt, but it can be uncomfortable, especially if you have structural abnormalities like a deviated septum.

Acute sinusitis is usually easy to treat. In some cases, it clears up on its own, but anti-inflammatory painkillers such as ibuprofen and aspirin can help alleviate most symptoms. Your physician might also prescribe antibiotics or allergy medication, depending on the cause of your sinusitis. Washing the sinuses out with saline solution (using a saline nasal spray, a sinus cleansing kit or neti-pot) can also help to alleviate the symptoms of acute sinusitis.