Swollen red painful eye: Complication of Sinus Infection

Did you know that untreated sinus infections can go on to involve the eye in quite a scary way? As an experienced ENT specialist at our busy ENT clinic in Singapore, we see many paediatric and adult patients who suffer from sinus infections. Sometimes, some children who start off having a bad flu or cold go on to develop sinusitis (sinus infections). Fortunately, most cases of sinus infections will improve with a course of the right antibiotics. But we have had a few patients turn up at our ENT clinic in Singapore with a swollen painful red eye due to the underlying sinusitis. This is far more worrying because if left untreated, vision loss (blindness) may develop as a result of the optic nerve being inflamed and infected by the infection in the sinuses, which are located right beside the eye.

https://www.drannabelle.com/nose-and-sinus-problems-surgeon-children-adults.html

Our sinuses are naturally air-filled spaces in our skull but if their usual drainage pathways become blocked by infection or inflammation in the sinuses, then the mucus secretions become trapped inside the sinuses and sinus infection will then occur. If the eye has already been infected by the sinus infection, then the patient may need to be admitted to hospital in Singapore to receive intravenous antibiotics (through a “drip”). A CT scan of the sinuses is usually performed to assess the severity of the sinus infection. If the eye doesn’t improve with the antibiotic treatment, sometimes surgical drainage may be necessary to clear and wash out the trapped infected secretions of the sinuses and to obtain culture samples of the pus to find out which bug might be the cause of the sinus infection.

The worst thing you could possibly do is to ignore the sinus infection and the swollen eye! Time is of the essence so if this unfortunately happens to someone you know, please tell them to see an experienced ENT specialist in Singapore as soon as possible, even if it is in the middle of the night. Our ENT clinics in Singapore are located at Gleneagles and Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospitals in Singapore for the convenience of our patients. We will always endeavour to see walk-in patients no matter how busy our clinic is, especially in ENT emergencies.

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