What's wrong with me

I have suffered with pain behind my nose, catarrh and swollen eyes for around a year which has recently got much worse. I keep feeling dizzy which is worse when I bend my head forward or lie down. i also have a feelign of fullness behind mu nose and horrible headaches which sometimes make the left side of my face feel numb. My doctor doesn't seem to know what to do. Please help
jennie

[National Jewish]

The sinuses are hollow areas within your head.  The maxillary sinuses are behind your cheeks.  The frontal sinuses are behind your forehead.  The ethmoid sinuses are behind and below the frontal sinuses.  The sphenoid sinuses are behind your nose.  To work properly, mucus needs to drain well from the sinuses.  The nasal septum is a plate of bone and cartilage along the center of the nose.  A deviated nasal septum is shifted to one side.  When your septum is deviated there is less space on the side that the septum leans towards.  Generally this area is squeezed.  A deviated nasal septum may cause blockage of the sinuses on that side to the point that the sinuses do not drain as well.  This can cause swelling of the nasal and sinus passages.  As the sinuses become swollen, the drainage openings that lead from each sinus into the nose become blocked.  Both the swelling and the mucus that collects in the sealed-off sinus can cause pressure.  This is a possible explanation of the left side of your face feeling numb.  Surgery would return the septum to its usual position in the center of the nose.  This is generally helpful in clearing the blockage and decreasing sinusitis.

What you have described sounds like sinusitis.  This is an inflammation of the mucous membranes that line the sinus cavities.  Inflammation of the sinuses could be due to an allergy, an infection, or ongoing exposure to an irritant, such as pollution or smoke.  Symptoms can include a headache or pressure in the area of the sinuses, a stuffy nose, cough, sore throat, dizziness, constant low fever, and thick, yellow to green nasal drainage.  This inflammation can block sinus drainage and cause increased mucus production.  The mucus can drain from the nose and sinuses down the back of the throat causing a constant or intermittent postnasal drip and sore throat.

The best way to identify a sinus infection is with a sinus CT scan, although sinus x-rays are a decent alternative.  A sinus CT scan will also identify if any of the openings that drain your sinuses are blocked.  If your symptoms are due to sinusitis, they will last as long as the inflammation continues.  Please read our Sinusitis MedFact at http://www.nationaljewish.org/medfacts/sin.html for information about ways to clear up the inflammation.  Check with your doctor to see which of these would work best for you.