Causes of sinus headaches

Sinusitis, or inflammation of the sinuses, is a distinct medical condition, which may have headaches as a symptom.

Choose another disease or condition... Allergic Rhinitis Allergies, Food Allergy & Asthma Center Alzheimer's Disease Anxiety Aortic Aneurysms Arrhythmia Arthritis, Osteo- (OA) Arthritis, Rheumatoid (RA) Asthma Atopic Dermatitis Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Back Pain Brain Tumor Bones, Joints & Muscles Center Breast Cancer Brain & Behavior Center Brain Tumor Cancer Center    Brain Tumor    Breast Cancer    Cancer Prevention    Clinical Trials    Colorectal Cancer    Endometrial Cancer    Living With and Beyond Cancer    Lung Cancer    Prostate Cancer    Skin Cancer Cardiomyopathy Cataracts Cholesterol Control Clinical Trials Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Colorectal Cancer Congenital Heart Disease Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) Crohn's Disease Depression Diabetes Center Diabetes, Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Digestive Disorders Center Eczema Endometrial Cancer Erectile Dysfunction (ED) Eye & Vision Center Fibromyalgia Food Allergies Gallstone Disease Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) GERD Glaucoma Hay Fever Headache Heart Center Hepatitis A Hepatitis B Hepatitis C High Blood Pressure Hypertension Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) Impotence Insomnia Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Living With and Beyond Cancer Losing Weight Lung Cancer Macular Degeneration Memory Loss Osteoarthritis (OA) Osteoporosis Parkinson's Disease Peptic Ulcer Prediabetes Prostate Cancer Respiratory Disorders Center Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Sexual & Reproductive Health Center Sinusitis Skin Cancer Sleep Apnea Sleep Center Stroke Type 1 Diabetes Type 2 Diabetes Ulcerative Colitis (UC) Weight Control America's Best Hospitals for Neurology and Neurosurgery More from the Brain & Behavior Center Headache-Related Clinical Trials Information Email this page Print this section

Sinuses are air-filled cavities located in your forehead, cheeks, and behind the bridge of your nose. The sinuses produce a thin mucus that drains out of the channels of the nose. When a sinus becomes inflamed, usually as the result of an infection, an allergic reaction, or occasionally a tumor, the inflammation will prevent the outflow of mucus and cause a pain similar to that of a headache.

Sinusitis may have a sudden onset and be of short duration or can be a chronic condition, which is defined as at least four recurrences that last 12 weeks or longer.

Most specialists now feel that sinusitis is rarely the cause of headaches in the general population. Sinus symptoms, however, are frequent accompaniments of migraine headaches, and this explains the frequent misidentification of migraines as sinusitis-related headaches. In order for sinusitis to be considered the cause of a headache, it must be acute and must show signs of inflammation by clinical and radiological examination. Just the finding of chronic sinus changes on an X-ray exam does not qualify as proof.