Antibiotics: To take or not to take -- that's the question researchers wanted to answer. Lots of people ask for them, and many doctors feel pressured to prescribe them. But it turns out if you've got a sinus infection, they may not do any good at all.
Whenever patients come to Dr. Stephen Battaglia's Pasadena office complaining about a sinus infection, he usually spends a lot of time explaining why they don't need antibiotics.
"In fact, 60 percent of patients in most studies will get better without treatment," said Dr. Battaglia, an ear, nose and throat specialist.
A new British study finds people who take the most commonly prescribed antibiotic -- amoxicillin -- don't recover any faster than those who don't take the medication. Some of the 240 participants even tried steroid nasal sprays along with the antibiotics, and that didn't help either.
"I think what you need to do is focus on your symptoms and treat the symptoms and wait for your body to heal itself," said Dr. Battaglia.
So how can you tell if you've got a virus or bacteria? Doctors say the long-held notion that a yellowish or greenish mucus points to a bacterial infection is not necessarily true.
"The only way to truly know whether there's an infection in the sinus would be to do an invasive procedure in order to obtain culture," said Dr. Battaglia.
The test is invasive, potentially painful, and inconvenient, so doctors often have to give it their best educated guess. But Dr. Battaglia says most sinus infections are viral, unless they persist for more than 10 days.
His usual prescription is mucus thinners, and regularly washing out the nasal passages with saline water.
"Most patients will get better on their own, and an even higher percentage will get better with simple measures such as saline lavage for the nasal cavity, over-the-counter decongestants, mucus thinners, with or without antibiotics," said Dr. Battaglia.
Dr. Battaglia says if people washed out their nasal passages regularly, it could significantly reduce the number of sinus infections they get.
In 2001, the American College of Physicians issued guidelines advising against the use of antibiotics for sinus infections.
The group blamed overuse for contributing to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance.
