Can an acute sinus infection cause a one sided tension headache with dizziness?

[GG0402]

I am a 39 year old female with severe tension headaches on my right side.  It all started with severe pressure around the ear and jaw, following by excrusiating pain around the temple area.  All on the right side.  My doctor put me on migraine medication which did absolutely nothing for 4 days.  I ended up in hospital after the 5th day as the pain was so intense and no pain killers gave me any relief.  I had a CT Scan which showed a complete block of my side and back sinuses of the right side.  As my ESR level in the blood result was so high I was admitted to hospital as it was believed I could have had temple arteritis.  I had a biopsy on either side of my temple and all that was clear.  I have been treated for the acute sinus infection for 5 weeks with antibiotics and steroids. The ESR level is finally back in the normal range, however I am suffering dizziness, on and off nausea and constant pressure around the top right side of my head down to the jaw.  The extreme painfull headaches have gone, but for the last 4 days I have had alot of pressure on the top of my head with on and off burning sensation.  Can anyone help with any information.  I am sick of feeling unwell.

[rachiepoo126]

i was just wondering how you're feeling now. What was the medicine your doctor gave you for migraine? could the effects have been from coming off of that medicine? I was given meds for headaches and had even worse headaches coming off of them to the point i thought my head was going to cave in. Hope all is well.

[tomsant]

Diagnosis in headache lies primarily on a well taken story from the patient. Then comes examination (of the patient). Since pain in the head can be caused by many structures in the head or neck, the 'story' given by the patient is looked into for any clues. This is coupled with the investigations done. Like in a patient above 50yr age, with pain in the temple, and an ESR above 50 (that's what statistics tell us), consider temporal arteritis. But even if below the age-group, one has to suspect and rule this out as there is a danger to vision. Now that the biopsy has come negative, thank God.

While examining the patient for headache, there are a few things a GP can examine and others only specialists can do.  Here is the hitch. There is no 'headache specialist' as yet, so one has to visit the different specialists in the anatomical area of head and neck. Like eye specialist, neurologist, dental surgeon, and the ENT, and last but not the least, the psychologist/ psychiatrist. They all see the same anatomical area but come to different conclusions. This is because the "eyes do not see what the mind does not know".

As everyone is worried about what happens inside the skull, the neurologist gets the brunt of headache. If he finds nothing, he either puts in a diagnosis of a primary headache, or if a clue is available, refers the patient to the other specialist concerned.

This exercise of consultation and referral may continue, and ultimately no cause may be found (it may be that a cause is there but the doctors were unable to find out, or as yet no cause is known>- primary headache) In such an event, a psychologist/ psychiatrist is to be consulted, but there is a taboo about this in many parts of the world.

'Tension Type Headache' and 'Migraine' are primary headaches (no cause known for the headache). If  headache is caused by 'sinusitis', the diagnosis can't be 'tension type headache' or 'migraine'.

The ongoing dizziness and nausea may be related to a fluid collection/ change of pressure in the middle ear associated with your sinus infection; but difficult to say without examining you. But if the symptoms are regressing, don't bother about the same. Constant pressure sensation from head to jaw etc. is difficult to explain without examining you. Has this been existing for a long time now?

A 'sinus-infection' going beyond 3 weeks has to be evaluated by an ENT specialist. I don't know which specialists sees the headache patient in an ER, but the 'may be anxiety', 'may be sinus infection' etc., have to be confirmed by a concerned specialist.

Your queries may go unnoticed as the answers are given voluntarily (as far as I know) I can do this when I have free time :-)

Hope this helps.

Best rgds,

Thomas Antony

[Ness_is_a_mess]

I have been dealing with an on-going sinus infection for 8+weeks.  Been to the ER twice and was given only a nasal spray and was told that maybe I had anxiety.  Although I may suffer from a bit of anxiety,  never have I experienced a pain like this before.  My temples feel as though someone is poking them with very fine needles.  Within a matter of seconds that needle pain turns into a sharp pain that throbs for about 15 minutes.  I cannot even touch my temples that how bad they hurt!

Temporal arteritis is usually diagnosed in elderly people. UNless you are a senior citizen it is very unlikely that you have that condition.  I have posted so many questions on this forum which go unnoticed.  All my questions are about sinus and headaches and even tumors.  I guess my main questions is :  how bad can sinus really get?  Because I have NO RELIEF not even with meds.  I am very worried.