How Sinusitis and Migraine Headache Differ?

Millions of Americans are suffering from sinus discomfort, also referred to as facial pain and pressure on their nose, eyes, and cheeks. This leads to millions of visits, where they are frequently diagnosed with sinusitis and given antibiotics, to their primary care provider or urgent care.

But what if they didn't really have a sinus infection? What if the pain came from another thing? At that point acute sinusitis treatment may leave adverse health effects.

More than 80% of people with "sinus pain" do not have a sinus infection. In fact, the same percentage of individuals responded absolutely to migraine therapy, effectively proving that sinus pain stemmed from migraine. 80% of the patients come free from sinus pain four hours after they were treated for a migraine.

The average time between seeing their first medical practitioner and getting diagnosed correctly was over 7 years, according to one report. One person suffered for 38 years in their study, being treated for a suspected sinus infection with medications and surgery before eventually being diagnosed with headache (migraine and sinus). We see this in our work as well. Currently, before coming to see us and being properly diagnosed and treated, we had one patient who was treated with over 40 antibiotics.

How will a person say whether they have a migraine or a sinus condition?

• Migraines are more severe, with pain/discomfort between 8-10 (on a 1-10 scale).

• It also has some nausea associated with them often due to "post nasal drainage" by people.

• When they have sinus pressure, migraine sufferers prefer a dark setting.

• The onset of migraine pain is sudden. Usually, one might wake up feeling "O.K." and then have terrible sinus pain later that morning.

• Migraine sufferers also have a personal or family history of migraine headaches, but there was typically no sinus-like pain in the previous migraine.

Symptoms of migraines may include:

1. Aura

2. Disabling pain

3. 4-72 hours duration

4. Pain in the face

5. Sickness with or without vomiting

6. Light and / or noise sensitivity

Symptoms of a sinus headache usually include:

1. Poor breathing

2. Decreased or absent feeling of odor

3. Pain in the face

4. Fever

5. Nasal congestion

6. Stuffy nose

7. Nasal discharge (runny nose)

8. Swelling of the nasal membrane

9. Yellow phlegm or green phlegm

What's the difference between a headache with sinus and a headache with migraine?

Although a viral or bacterial infection induces sinus headaches, the cause of migraine headaches is largely unknown. A dynamic interplay between brain tissue, nerves, blood vessels, and chemicals in the brain is involved. What makes it so complicated is that they can be caused by almost anything, from red wine to bright lights, to not having enough sleep one night, in addition to the cause being unknown.

Although migraine pain can be observed in the cheek region and includes swelling of the nasal membrane, such as sinus headaches, very different symptoms are also associated with them.

For starters, migraines, with or without vomiting, may be associated with light and/or sound exposure and nausea. These are only seen on extremely rare occasions with sinus headaches. Migraine headaches are usually not related to thick nasal discharge or fever on the flip side. See us at OKOA for acute sinusitis treatment and more. In OKC we do allergy treatment, ENT treatment including pediatric ENT issues.

**Disclaimer: The information on this page is not intended to be a doctor's advice, nor does it create any form of patient-doctor relationship.