Antibiotics & Sinus Infections - How Antibiotics Help in Treating Sinus Infection

Majority of cases have shown that antibiotics are great in treating sinus infections, but have little or no effect on viruses. Only bacterial infections of the sinus cavities must be treated with antibiotics. That is why The Center for Disease Control & Prevention advises strongly against taking antibiotics for a viral sinus infection. When the bacteria begin to grow fungus taking antibiotics could aggravate the problem. The commonly used antibiotics for treating sinus infection are amoxicillin, azithromycin or penicillin.

Disadvantage of antibiotics in treating sinus infection

Because antibiotics makes the patient feel better fast, people often tend to ask doctors for antibiotics as a quick fix remedy. The prescription is given without making a diagnosis for differentiation between the root cause like bacteria, virus and fungus. The patient often stops taking the prescribed antibiotic without completing the course leading to more problems. Taking the prescription as per advice will reduce the risk of antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotics in treating sinus infection are often used for relief from the symptoms. If it started from a virus, the infection will stay. This can lead to a repetition of the course due to infection within two or three months, leading to chronic sinusitis. In some cases, it will dry up the sinus mucus preventing it from thinning and draining on its own. The sinus mucus moistened enough to become thin and flow out. Allowing it to dry up can make the mucus to get muddy again when it gets a little moisture and bacteria and fungus allow the infection to settle in.

The antibiotics in treating sinus infection are effective as they can kill these bacterial types. Amoxicillin (Amoxil) is used as first choice in treating uncomplicated acute sinus infections. If the patient is allergic to penicillin cefaclor loracarbef clarithromycin), sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim may be used as first choices. If there is no improvement in the patient after five days of treatment with amoxicillin, the patient may be switched to one of the above drugs or amoxicillin-clavulanate. For antibiotics to be effective it should be continued for a minimum of 10 to 14 days.

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