Ear, Nose and Throat Center

Park Ridge
Buffalo Grove

(847) 685-1000

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PATIENT EDUCATION

  • Ears
    • Child's Hearing Loss
    • Cholesteatoma
    • Cochlear Implants
    • Ear Plastic Surgery
    • Ear Tubes
    • Earaches
    • Ears and Altitude
    • Earwax
    • Quick Glossary for Good Ear Health
    • Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease
    • Better Ear Health
    • Buying a Hearing Aid
    • Child Screening
    • Chronic Otitis Media
    • Cochlear-Meningitis Vaccination
    • Day Care and Ear, Nose, and Throat Problems
    • Ear Infection and Vaccines
    • Your Genes and Hearing Loss
    • How the Ear Works
    • Hyperacusis
    • Know the Power of Sound
    • Noise-Induced Hearing Loss In Children
    • Pediatric Obesity
    • What You Should Know About Otosclerosis
    • When Your Child Has Tinnitus
    • Why Do Children Have Earaches?
    • Infant Hearing Loss
    • Noise and Hearing Protection
    • Perforated Eardrum
    • Swimmer's Ear
    • Tinnitus
    • Travel Tips for the Hearing Impaired
  • Throat
    • About Your Voice
    • Common Problems That Can Affect Your Voice
    • Day Care and Ear, Nose, and Throat
    • Can the Medications I Take Harm My Voice
    • Gastroesphageal Reflux (GERD)
    • How Allergies Affect your Child's Ears, Nose, and Throat
    • Keeping Your Voice Healthy
    • Laryngeal (Voice Box) Cancer
    • Laryngopharyngeal Reflux and Children
    • Nodules, Polyps, and Cysts
    • Pediatric GERD
    • Pediatric Obesity and Ear, Nose, and Throat Disorders
    • Special Care for Occupational and Professional Voice Users
    • Tips for Healthy Voices
    • Tonsillectomy Procedures
    • Tonsillitis
    • Tonsils and Adenoids PostOp
    • Vocal Cord Paralysis
    • GERD and LPR
    • Hoarseness
    • How the Voice Works
    • Secondhand Smoke
    • Sore Throats
    • Swallowing Disorders
    • Tonsils and Adenoids
    • Diet and Exercise Tips
  • Nose and Mouth
    • Allergies and Hay Fever
    • Antihistamines, Decongestants, and "Cold" Remedies
    • Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP)
    • Facial Sports Injuries
    • 20 Questions about Your Sinuses
    • Allergic Rhinitis (Hay Fever)
    • Allergic Rhinitis, Sinusitis, and Rhinosinusitis
    • Antibiotics and Sinusitis
    • Are We Through With Chew Yet?
    • Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate
    • Could My Child Have Sleep Apnea?
    • Day Care and Ear, Nose, and Throat Problems
    • Deviated Septum
    • Do I Have Sinusitis?
    • How Allergies Affect your Child's Ears, Nose, and Throat
    • Injection Snoreplasty
    • Pediatric Obesity
    • Sinus Headaches
    • Sinus Pain
    • Sinus Surgery
    • Sinusitis: Special Considerations for Aging Patients
    • Tips for Sinus Sufferers
    • Tongue-tie (Ankyloglossia)
    • Your Nose: The Guardian Of Your Lungs
    • Fungal Sinusitis
    • Laser Assisted Uvula Palatoplasty (LAUP)
    • Mouth Sores
    • Nasal Fractures
    • Nose Surgery
    • Nosebleeds
    • Post-Nasal Drip
    • Salivary Glands
    • Secondhand Smoke
    • Sinusitis
    • Smell and Taste
    • Smokeless Tobacco
    • Snoring
    • Stuffy Noses
    • TMJ Pain
    • Tonsils and Adenoids
  • Head and Neck
    • Bell's Palsy
    • Children and Facial Paralysis
    • Dizziness and Motion Sickness
    • Facial Plastic Surgery
    • Facial Sports Injuries
    • Children and Facial Trauma
    • Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate
    • Pediatric Head and Neck Tumors
    • Sinus Pain
    • Sinusitis
    • Fall Prevention
    • Head and Neck Cancer
    • Sinus Headaches
    • Thyroid Disorders and Surgery
    • TMJ
  • Cancer
    • Are We Through With Chew Yet?
    • Common Problems That Can Affect Your Voice
    • Laryngeal (Voice Box) Cancer
    • Pediatric Head and Neck Tumors
    • Pediatric Thyroid Cancer
    • Rhabdomyosarcoma
    • Head and Neck Cancer
    • Quiting Smokeless Tobacco
    • Secondhand Smoke
    • Skin Cancer
    • Smokeless Tobacco
  • Pediatric
    • Child's Hearing Loss
    • Children and Facial Paralysis
    • Facial Sports Injuries
    • Allergic Rhinitis (Hay Fever)
    • Child Screening
    • Children and Facial Trauma
    • Cochlear-Meningitis Vaccination
    • Could My Child Have Sleep Apnea?
    • Day Care and Ear, Nose, and Throat
    • How Allergies Affect your Child's Ears, Nose, and Throat
    • Laryngopharyngeal Reflux and Children
    • Noise-Induced Hearing Loss In Children
    • Pediatric Food Allergies
    • Pediatric GERD
    • Pediatric Head and Neck Tumors
    • Pediatric Obesity and Ear, Nose, and Throat Disorders
    • Pediatric Thyroid Cancer
    • When Your Child Has Tinnitus
    • Why Do Children Have Earaches?
    • Pediatric Sinusitis
    • Secondhand Smoke and Children
  • Información de Salud en Español
    • Colesteatoma
    • Diábolos Estudio acerca de causas y opciones terapéuticas
    • Doctor? ¿Por Qué a Mi Hijo Le Duele El Oído?
    • Doctor? ¿Qué Causa El Ruido En El Oído?
    • El Humo del Tabaco Ambiental y los Niños
    • La pérdida de la audición
    • Otitis Media Crónica (Infección del Oído Medio) e Hipocusia
    • Perfóracion Timpánica
    • Qué Debe Saber Acerca de la Otoesclerosis
    • Screening de Audición en Niños
    • Sirvan Las Amigdalas Y Los Adenoides?
    • Amigdalitis
    • Rinitis alérgica, sinusitis y rinosinusitis
    • Implantes cocleares
    • Problemas comunes que pueden afectar a su voz
    • ¿Tengo sinusitis?
    • Cera en los oídos
    • Reflujo Gastroesofágico (ERGE)
    • Las fracturas nasales
    • Nódulos, pólipos y quistes
    • Hemorragias nasales
    • Glosario para una buena salud del oído

SINUSITIS: SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR AGING PATIENTS

Our team of specialists and staff believe that informed patients are better equipped to make decisions regarding their health and well being. For your personal use, we have created an extensive patient library covering an array of educational topics. Browse through these diagnoses and treatments to learn more about topics of interest to you. Or, for a more comprehensive search of our entire Web site, enter your term(s) in the search bar provided.

As always, you can contact our office to answer any questions or concerns.

More than 20 percent of U.S. residents will be 65 or older in 2030. Of all Americans 65 and older, 14.1 percent report that they suffer from chronic sinusitis; for those 75 years and older, the rate declines to 13.5 percent.

Geriatric Rhinitis Complaints Are:

  • Constant need to clear the throat
  • A sense of nasal obstruction
  • Nasal crusting
  • Vague facial pressure
  • Decreased sense of smell and taste

For the most part, sinusitis symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment are the same for the elderly as other adult age groups. However, there are special considerations for older Americans.

Changing Physiology: With aging, the physiology and function of the nose changes. The nose lengthens, and the nasal tip begins to droop due to weakening of the supporting cartilage. This in turn causes a restriction of nasal airflow, particularly at the nasal valve region (where the upper and lower lateral cartilages meet). Narrowing in this area results in the complaint of nasal obstruction, often referred to as geriatric rhinitis.

Patients with geriatric rhinitis typically complain of constant “sinus drainage,” a chronic need to clear the throat or “hawk” mucus, and a sense of nasal obstruction, most often when they lie down. Other features include nasal crusting especially in the winter and in patients taking diuretics, vague facial pressure (attributed to “sinus trouble”), and a decreased sense of smell and taste.

However, it is a mistake to blame all upper respiratory problems on the aging process. Elderly patients with symptoms such as repeated sneezing, and watery eyes, nasal obstruction with clear profuse watery runny nose, and soft, pale turbinates (top-shaped bones in the nose) may have allergic rhinitis. Patients with this diagnosis will benefit from consultation with an otolaryngic allergist.

Patients with chronic sinusitis will have a long history of thick drainage that is often foul smelling and tasting and is associated with nasal obstruction, headaches, and facial pressure. These patients usually have pus drainage and nasal redness. In contrast, the geriatric rhinitis patient usually has a dry, irritated nose. The diagnosis of chronic sinusitis can be confirmed with a computed tomography scan (CT scan) of the sinuses.

Sinusitis or rhinosinusitis, which is it? In recent studies, otolaryngologist–head and neck surgeons have concluded that sinusitis is often preceded by rhinitis and rarely occurs without concurrent rhinitis. The symptoms, nasal obstruction/discharge and loss of smell, occur in both disorders. Symptoms associated with rhinosinusitis include nasal obstruction, nasal congestion, nasal discharge, nasal purulence, postnasal drip, facial pressure and pain, alteration in the sense of smell, cough, fever, halitosis, fatigue, dental pain, pharyngitis, otologic symptoms (e.g., ear fullness and clicking), and headache. Patients with documented chronic sinusitis unresponsive to medications should be referred to an otolaryngologist.

Osteoporosis: Osteoporosis is a significant health problem in the United States affecting approximately 24 million Americans, 15 to 20 million of whom are women over 45 years of age. Because of the concerns regarding prolonged estrogen use in postmenopausal women, a nasal calcitonin spray is sometimes prescribed to prevent bone loss. The most common side effect reported with nasal calcitonin spray is a runny nose. Other symptoms that may occur include nasal crust, dryness, redness, irritation, sinusitis, nosebleeds, and headache. Sinusitis sufferers using a nasal calcitonin spray should inform their physicians.

Medications For Geriatric Rhinitis: Treatment for this age group needs to be more individualized to meet the patient’s slower metabolism and the increasing potential for side effects. The majority (80 to 85 percent) of the nation’s elderly have chronic diseases and take multiple drugs including over-the-counter medications, Placing them at higher risk for drug interactions than other patients.

Surgery For Geriatric Rhinitis: Nasal and sinus surgery is occasionally advised for older patients. Patients with structural abnormalities, such as a deviated septum or nasal valve collapse causing severe nasal problems, should be referred to an otolaryngologist for evaluation and possible surgical management.

Sources For Aging Patients: Administration on Aging (AoA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Geriatrics.


Phone: (847) 685-1000                                                Fax: (847) 685-6685

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