Sinus Infections: We Had it All Backwards!

Chronic sinus infections used to be treated with antibiotics. Dr. Greene explains why this practice actually ended up making the infections worse.

Dr. Greene on why why we had it backwards in treating sinus infections…

When children were diagnosed with chronic sinus infections, they were treated with longer and stronger antibiotics. A study in the September 1999 issue of the Mayo Clinic Proceedings turns this practice on its head. 202 out of the 210 people with chronic sinus infection studied were found to have fungus in their mucus. The seemingly interminable congestion was actually an immune response to the fungus!

And guess what? Antibiotics make fungal infections worse.

Instead, treating the fungus can make the long-term problem clear up as if by magic.

Published on: September 20, 1999
About the Author
Photo of Alan Greene MD
Dr. Greene is a practicing physician, author, national and international TEDx speaker, and global health advocate. He is a graduate of Princeton University and University of California San Francisco.
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