Dr. Kandula went on The Morning Blend to answer questions from Facebook about the connected system of hollow cavities in our skulls.
So in our continuing series, Sleep Well, Breathe Well with ADVENT, we asked our Facebook fans on Friday, "What do you want to know about sinuses?" Dr. Madan Kandula, Founder and CEO is back to answer some of those questions. Good to see your doctor.
Good to see you. Good morning.
Good morning. You know, I think this is something I am hearing from everybody, so I'm sure you are too, but they're like, oh my head lately, my sinuses, the headaches, they're kind of out of control this season. Are you hearing that a lot?
Yeah. It's a pretty common issue. A change in weather, oftentimes, for folks who have issues on the sinus front can lead to headaches and other things. So for folks who aren't initiated, sinuses are basically just air pockets in your skull. They all have little entry points into the nose. If those entry points are narrow, or if there's inflammation in there that can create a lot of trouble. So some folks feel that as headaches, other folks feel it as infections, other folks have drainage, it can be kind of all over the board, but the universal refrain with all that is it could be miserable because you can't avoid it. It's literally you know, right in front of you at all times, which can be pretty miserable.
Oh, that picture even kind of hurts a little to see this, the water right here, the water right here. Cause we know that pressure, right. We can feel that when it's there. So I just, I just felt that even that diagram, that graphic, so, okay. I want to get to the Facebook questions 'cause these are some really good ones. The first one that people want to know is- our first Facebook question is, "What is sinusitis or a sinus infection?"
Yep. It basically- sinusitis is inflammation in the sinuses. And so the old school thought was, oh, it's a bacterial issue, and that's the problem. The new school thought is it's an inflammation issue. And if you have sinus issues, so if you have inflammation in your sinuses, you either have issues with the anatomy. So the sinus openings are too narrow or you have inflammation in the lining of the sinuses or the nose itself. Oftentimes those things combined to kind of really make people miserable. And so for us, it's trying to get to the root cause of what's going on to give somebody some relief.
Absolutely. Okay. So I know you do this like CT scan in-office and, and that's super helpful. People get to see a lot of what's going on. Do you think people are unaware of their sinuses prior to getting that? Cause I think a lot of people don't quite know what's going on with them.
Yeah. You know, really it's just for kind of to make sure that everybody's on the same page here. You don't, you cannot know, I cannot know, nobody can know what's happening in the sinuses without x-ray imaging. A CT scan is the three-dimensional way for us to look in the sinuses. So if you've ever been diagnosed with a sinus infection and haven't had imaging, it's sort of just a guesstimation. A lot of folks, most folks who have chronic sinus issues don't understand or don't know how bad they have it. And so for us to have access to in-office imaging allows us to have point of care understanding about what's going on. And so most of the time, so it's not like rarely, it's really most of the time when somebody comes in and has imaging, we find issues that they didn't know that they had. And so that is really helpful. It's really crucial to be able to get them the relief that they need.
I believe that a hundred percent. And I think so many people are going to relate to this next Facebook question. Someone asked, "I constantly experience facial pressure and pain in the spring and the fall, is this a sign of a sinus issue?"
It certainly can be. The sinuses are very sensitive. The lining is very, very sensitive. And so if there is not enough space in the exit pathways for the sinuses that creates pressure pressure in the sinuses creates irritation in the lining. And that's really, really annoying. And again, you can't really escape that. If your arm hurts, you can kind of, you know, sort of not think about it and sort of move on with life. If your sinuses are irritated, or if you have a headache issue that's related to that, you can't escape from that. You could try to take medications, you can try to take the edge off, but you're just dealing with it and it's front and center. You cannot get away from it, which is miserable.
That is miserable. Okay. I like the next one too, and I've heard this before. "Is it true that people can never have another sinus infection after a balloon sinuplasty?"
It is. I mean, it's sort of- each individual is different and so it all depends on what they've got going on. If somebody who's primary issue is that their anatomy was too tight, what we do with balloon sinuplasty was we take that tight anatomy and we make it more open. And so we give somebody wiggle room to be able to kind of deal with the slings and arrows of life, whether it's weather changes or whatever. So if you have more wiggle room in there, you are less likely to be sort of pushed into trouble from a sinus standpoint. So, you know, certainly can you have an infection on the back end of sinuplasty? You can. It usually is a harder sorta zone to get into. So what we're really trying to do when somebody has sinus issues, it's get them, you know, help get them relief, get them openness where things were shut down.
Okay. This next one I'm super excited about. So we have to get to it 'cause Molly swears by this and you know it, but the next question is, are sinus rinses safe?
Yeah. They are safe. They're, they're safe. They're healthy. One pro tip is never ever, ever do a sinus rinse without putting the salt packet in there. So usually for our patients, they'll do it one time and they'll never do it again. And so a rinse is really, you're taking salt water, your body is made of salt water. That's why you have to add that composition. And you're really just gently pushing it through the nose, up in the sinus area. So if things are open, rinses can be really helpful. They wash out stuff that's built up in there. They can really, really help. And they take some getting used to, so Molly is a pro that's a great thing. If you're an amateur you can sort of follow her lead and become a pro, but it just takes getting practice. I'd say for folks who are suffering with sinus issues or allergy issues even, rinses can help. They're not magic, but they really can be beneficial. Especially if somebody is struggling. If you have a cold, if you have a sinus infection rinses can kind of help your body out by getting things moving along.
My last question is just a yes or no, cause we're at a time. Have you ever seen anybody look as pretty as Molly doing a sinus rinse?
No. That's that's as good as it gets. Yeah. Peak sinus rinse right there.
I mean, what a pro? Seriously, thank you so much for joining us.
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
I'm a pro!
She's a total pro. Go to ADVENTknows.com to schedule an online meeting in just 60 seconds. Most insurances are accepted. No referrals required. ADVENT has locations in Wauwatosa, Mequon, Oconomowoc, Oak Creek and Pleasant Prairie. They also have offices in Appleton and Illinois. I highly recommend it. I swear when you go in, you're going to get answers and it's fantastic.
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