Scottsdale Sinus and Allergy Center offers balloon sinuplasty, a safer and more effective alternative

Advances in medicine over the last few years have produced a great improvement for sinus sufferers, says Dr. Brian Lee of Scottsdale Sinus and Allergy Center.

"One of the one of the biggest advances in our field has been the advent of something called balloon sinuplasty," Lee said. “Essentially it's a tool that we can use to help to permanently open up the sinuses, and that allows the sinuses to drain and allows us to get up in there and see if there is a chronic infection or mucus and get that stuff out.”

A catheter with a tiny balloon attached is inserted into the sinus cavity and then slowly inflated to open the blocked nasal passage.

“This finally allows us to permanently enlarge the drainage pathways to allow patients to function better in the future,” Lee explained. “The best part about it is that we're able to do these procedures in the office under local anesthesia. There's minimal downtime, so patients are really able to get a large amount of relief relatively quickly.”

Balloon sinuplasty is particularly helpful for patients who have tried other treatments but are still suffering from recurring sinus infections.

“By the time they get to a specialist's office, they've already kind of been through the basic stuff, the allergy medications, the nasal sprays, antibiotics and steroids,” Lee said. “That's usually the first level of treatment options. The next step up the ladder would be some type of procedural intervention like balloon sinuplasty.”

For many patients, balloon sinuplasty can make traditional sinus surgery unnecessary.

“It allows us to intervene earlier in the disease process, meaning that there may be some people with very mild or minimal sinus disease, which still really affects their quality of life,” Lee said.

According to the American Journal of Rhinology and Allergy, patients feel very little pain during balloon sinuplasty. Average recovery times are only 1.4 days, compared to 4.2 days for traditional sinus surgeries, another study found in the medical journal Laryngoscope.

A study in the American Journal of Rhinology found that 91% of patients who've had a balloon procedure would do it over again, compared to only 49% of patients who had functional endoscopic sinus surgery.

If you think a visit to the doctor could help improve your symptoms, take this online quiz.

Scottsdale Breathe Free Sinus and Allergy Center is committed to providing the best sinus and allergy relief in the Scottsdale area, using the most advanced, proven patient-friendly techniques available. With 29 million Americans suffering from sinusitis and 242,000 annual chronic sinusitis ER visits, our mission is to provide minimally invasive options for needed long-lasting relief so that patients can get back to living. We call this mission Breathe Free and Live Well, and it is the North Star that guides us in each unique collaborative patient interaction. To learn more about Scottsdale Breathe Free Sinus and Allergy Center, please visit our website.