Suggest Treatment For Sinus Headaches And Coughs

Posted on Fri, 23 Dec 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 23 Dec 2016 Answered on

Thu, 19 Jan 2017 Last reviewed on

Question : HELLO I HAVE A SINUS TERRIBLE HEADACHE , RUNNY NOSE, AND COUGHIN AND I DO NOT HAVE A DRS OFFICE CLOSE I BROUGHT WITH ME A BOX OF LEVOFLOXACIN 500MG (3 PILLS) AND A BOX OF AZITROMICINA 500MG (5 CAPSULES). MY 9 YR OLD SON HAD THE SAME THING AND WAS PRESCRIBED BEFORE WE LEFT CEFDINIR 250MG. I USUALLY USE LEVOFLOXACIN BCSE IT WORKS MUCH BETTER FOR ME BUT I'M NOT SURE IF 3 PILLS WILL DO IT OR SHOULD I TAKE THE 3 PILLS AND THEN THE 5 OF AZITROMICINA?

Answered by Dr. Prof. Kunal Saha (3 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Levofloxacin for 5 days. Need not be followed by azithromycin.

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for asking on HealthcareMagic.

I have gone through your query and understand your concerns. Incidentally the sinuses are air filled pockets in the skull but have a very poor blood supply. Medicines including antibiotics find it hard to reach the sinuses. The improvement that you see is most often due to elimination of the superadded infections but the underlying infection most often goes unattended. Steam inhalation is the mainstay of treatment. Water in form of vapor reaches deep inside and helps in diluting and opening up of the thickened mucus blocking that had been blocking the openings of the sinuses.

If you take levofloxacin it should be taken for 5 days. If you take azithromycin taking it for 3 days suffices. Both need not be combined. And as I mentioned, the role of antibiotics is secondary.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar