Patients with chronic sinusitis have a continuous presentation of symptoms (nasal stuffiness, tenderness, pain, and nasal discharge, among others); patients with recurrent acute sinusitis experience episodic flare-ups of their symptoms. Over time, sinusitis symptoms can become severe enough to interfere with normal daily activities.
Symptoms of infection often include:
- nasal stuffiness, the most common symptom
- thick, often discolored, mucus draining down the throat or from the front of the nose, sometimes causing an unpleasant or foul odor
- facial pain, toothache and headache that may result from trapped infection and uneven air pressure in the sinus cavities
- decreased sense of smell and taste
- severe cough or asthma
- sense of generalized illness
