What kind of Dr. or specialist should I visit for the pressure?
I just want relief. My Dr. always says I have a sinus infection, but this is every week. I never have a fever or discolored thick mucus except when I do have an infection which I have gotten plenty of but this headache pressure doesn't go away and I spend my whole weekend in bed. I do everything to relieve sinus pressure and I have no problem breathing through my nose, but the headache stays and I can't function.
Migraine is commonly misdiagnosed as sinus headache. Self-diagnosed sinus headache is nearly always migraine (90% of the time). Migraine is commonly associated with forehead and facial pressure over the sinuses, nasal congestion, and runny nose.
Migraines vs. Sinus Headaches | American Migraine Foundation
https://americanmigrainefoundation.org/understanding-migraine/sinus-headachesThank you so much. These answers are a great help. I don't want to fill my body with sinus meds, antibiotics. I am sick of spending all my time with the Neti Pot, hot. hot baths trying to relieve the pain.
I had no idea you could get migraines in places other than your head until a couple of years ago. I started getting this unbearable pain in my face, particularly in my nose and behind my eyes, that I assumed was sinus-related though I had no congestion or abnormal mucus or anything "sinus infection like." It continued on for a while, usually spreading into my temples or neck and giving me the type of migraine I'd gotten used to, so I'd take an abortive with some Advil Cold & Sinus, and that would usually knock out the pain. I saw an ENT, who checked me over and told me my sinuses were fine and that it was likely migraines. I was so confused - this was in my FACE, not my head. It was terrible pressure and pain, in all the areas where my sinuses were. How could THAT be a migraine?! He referred me to a neurologist (the 3rd I'd seen), who told me that you can indeed get migraine pain in other places besides your head - you could feel it your ears, your neck, your nose, even your stomach. I was shocked, but at least I had an explanation. Nowadays I very often get a migraine from severe allergy symptoms or sinus inflammation, where it only hurts in my face (eyes/nose) and there is no infection present, but the pain is horrible. So when you get what feels like a bad sinus headache but with no signs of infection, it's almost certain to be a migraine and will generally not respond to the same treatments you'd use for an actual sinus problem. Find yourself a good neurologist, or even an ENT, who will give you an accurate diagnosis and treat you accordingly so you can hopefully get some relief at last.
Thank you. I know it's bad to take antibiotics without an infection. That helps a lot.
Hi Ransom,
Looks like you've gotten some solid feedback from the community thus far. I wanted to share with you an article from our site that discusses some of the differences and similarities between sinus headache and migraine. It is true that the two are often confused, and that migraine is oft misdiagnosed: https://migraine.com/migraine-types/sinus-migraine/ I recommend sharing your concern that you may have gotten a misdiagnoses with your doctor so that the two of you may investigate further. Take care!Thank you, I will check it out.
I wasn't able to log on to here for some reason for a while.
