What is sinusitis?

Also known as: sinus infection, sinus disease.

Sinuses are air-filled cavities. There are four located in the skull; behind the cheeks of the face (maxillary; present at birth), around the bridge of the nose (ethmoid; present at birth), forehead (frontal; develops around 7 years of age), and deep in the face behind the nose (sphenoid; develops during adolescence). When these cavities become infected, the condition is known as sinusitis. Sinusitis may be acute (symptoms less than 1 week), subacute (symptoms last 4-12 weeks), chronic (symptoms last for more than 8 weeks), or recurrent (3 or more acute sinus infections in one year).

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Reviewed by: Jack Wolfsdorf, MD, FAAP

This page was last updated on: 1/29/2019 3:21:13 PM