How do you tell if you have a sinus infection or a sinus cold

How to Tell a Cold From a Sinus Infection

http://sinus-problem.info/kmos.aspx

How to Tell a Cold from a Sinus Infection. and how to prevent a cold from becoming a sinus infection. You are sneezing and hacking, your nose is red, congested and blocked, and you feel awful. You have a slight fever. Is it a common cold?…

How can i tell if i have a sinus infection or just a common cold??

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080623153632AAxCgw5

It’s usually hard to tell but the best way is, take for index finger and your thumb and gently tap the area on the sides of nose. *close to your nose but not on your nose* Your thumb and your index finger should be on either side of your no…

Is It a Cold or Sinus Infection? How to Tell the Difference?

http://www.health.com/health/condition-section/0,,20250907,00.html

At least once a year, Anna Lord, a 32-year-old from Seattle, has “almost unbearable pain” behind her eyes, cheeks, and forehead. Sometimes she has sinus drainage, and occasionally the discomfort arrives with a low-grade fever. R…

Related Questions Answered on Y!Answers

How do you tell if you just have a common cold or you actually have a sinus infection?

Q: I dont want to go to the doctor and get antibiotics if i dont HAVE to …….therefore I want to make sure I dont have a sinus infection…..so how can you tell the difference between a common cold and a sinus infection?

A: Its all the same thing. Colds and sinus infections can be caused by viruses and lumped into the catagory of URI (upper respiratory infection). Bacterial Sinus Infections are another story. These will be persistant, cause a fever (any tempurature over 101) throughout your sickness, sinus symptoms for greater then 10 days, and prolonged sinus symptoms when everything else goes away. Regardless if its bacterial or viral, you should continue with over the counter medications.

What’s the difference between a cold and sinus infection?

Q: So I’ve been sick for seven days and earlier into it like on the fifth day, I had facial pain, and a bloody nose, and the next day, that was gone, I just had headache, Now, the only thing that’s bothering me is my nose which is still sort of plugged up and my throat hurts and I still cough. So I was wondering, I have the sinus medication and I don’t know if it’s just a cold. Please tell me it’s a sinus infection?

A: Sinusitis. Not necessarily an infection. Treat the symptoms as follows. What sinus medication do you have? Here is how I treat my chronic maxillary sinus problems. During the day use an OTC decongestant. I prefer Sudafed. One pill every 4-6 hours. Then at night switch to an antihistamine which will dry you up and help stop the post nasal drip from going down the back of your throat (cause of the sore throat) while sleeping. Get some saline spray as that will help you breathe if the antihistamine (I prefer old fashioned Benadryl) dries your nose up too much. As to the cough it sounds as if it is probably productive (bringing up phlegm when you cough caused by the sinus drainage). For that you want a cough medicine with an expectorant (containing Guafinesin) as that will break up the chest congestion and help you expel the junk from your lungs. As my favorite flight surgeon I worked for in the USAF would always say… “Treat a cold and it will go away in 7 days… leave it alone and it will go away in a week”!

How can I tell the difference between a head cold and a sinus infection?

Q: How do I determine which one I have?

A: Sinus infection causes bad facial pain, can be severe if you don’t get antibiotics to take it away. Your nose will ache by your eyes, cheeks will ache, forehead in the middle between your eyes will ache and you may have a headache usually on top of your head. A cold will produce a headache but will be relieved with Tylenol, a sinus infection may not stop hurting without a course of antibiotics and sinus pills. A head cold will cause sneezing but a sinus infection doesn’t usually. You run a fever with a cold but fever reducer usually work to bring it down, a sinus infection may not come down even with fever reducers. Mucus is yellow or green with a sinus infection, a cold usually has clear mucus. A cold lasts 7-10 days, a sinus infection won’t go away without antibiotics so if you have the symptoms of a sinus infection see your Dr asap before the infection gets worse and may spread to the larynex and rest of the body. You can get laryngitis from a sinus infection so get it treated asap. Don’t rely on Mucinex or other OTC meds if it is a sinus infection.