Symptoms of sinus infection?

Question

I have a cold 2 weeks ago. Now my nose is stuffy again. How can I tell the difference between it and a cold? I also have a cough.One of my lymph nodes is swollen.

Answer 1

If you blow our nose and the snot that comes out is green or yellow then you have an infection. If it's clear, then you just have allergies or a cold. If you don't have an infection, I recommend running a vaporizer in your bedroom all night to put moisture into the air.

Answer 2

A sinus infection developes when your sinus passages become full, impacted, irritated, etc.

You still have a cough, this is probably post nasal drip (dripping from your nasal cavity down the back of your throat). Your lymph nodes are swollen because they are your body's garbage can, collecting drainage from the various places in your body. The ones along your jaw collect from your head, obviously. If the ones along your jaw are swollen then you have something going on in your head that is not good. From your head the lymphs go down the groves of your neck, along your shoulder blades, under your arm pits, etc.

A primary indicator of a sinus infection is the color of the nasal discharge. A cold should produce discharge that is primarily clear. Yellow, green, etc. indicate infection. Sometimes you will not have discharge, simply because your sinuses are "clogged".

With sinus infections you will often have pain in your face. Around your nose, in your cheekbones, along your eyebrows, in your forehead, at the back of your neck, etc. Those are your sinus passages, and if they are infected you will have pain and/or pressure.

You may also have a fever.

Sudafed is often used to relieve the pain and pressure in the face from sinus issues. It can, however, cause further irritation to the sinus cavities due to over-drying that can occur with the main active ingredient in that particular drug.

You will need to see a doctor if you believe you have a sinus infection. Some things you can do at home to help are:

Take a decongestant.
Use a cool water evaporator to put moisture in the air while you sleep at night, this helps a great deal!
Alternate hot and cold compresses on your face to help relieve the pressure. Hot compresses will open your sinuses, allowing drainage, cold compresses applied afterwards helps to relieve teh blood engorgement that hot compresses can sometime cause. (Heat can cause swelling and blood engorgment, this is normal.)

Winter weather, the cold dry air, can cause sinus irritation, leading to infection. So can colds and allergie-related congestion.

Answer 3

Stuff that is green in color will come out when you blow your nose, and no matter how much you blow, your nose keeps filling back up. Headaches and dry eyes have also happened to me when I had sinus infections. I would have a doc check it out.

Answer 4

If your snot is green then you need to see a doc for antibiotics. If not, then wait it out....antibiotics won't work on viruses (aka, colds).