Can Sinus Pressure Cause Dizziness?

Sinus pressure can cause dizziness. Sinus-related dizziness (described as lightheadedness, faintness, or loss of balance) is a fairly common problem experienced with sinus infections, allergies, or other issues like nasal polyps. Sinus conditions can also affect your Eustachian tubes (connecting the middle ear to the back of the throat) and inner ear, which can disrupt balance and equilibrium.

What Does Sinus-Related Dizziness Feel Like?

Sinus pressure-related dizziness can make you feel:

• Lightheaded or faint
• Off-balance or unsteady
• Like the room is spinning (vertigo)
• Drowsy
• Foggy
• Unable to determine your position or direction in a room (spatial disorientation)
• Pressure in the head

Other symptoms that may accompany sinus pressure and dizziness include:

• Nausea
• Headaches
• Toothache (especially in upper molars)/jaw pain
• Facial tenderness

How Sinus Pressure Affects Your Ears

Your Eustachian tubes, also known as auditory tubes, connect your middle ears to the upper part of the throat behind the nose. They help keep your middle ears healthy by equalizing pressure, draining mucus, fluids, and debris, and protecting against infections.

Auditory tube dysfunction occurs when these tubes become blocked or don’t open and close properly. This can create negative pressure in the middle ear, affecting the vestibular system—the part of the ear that controls balance and equilibrium. As a result, you may experience symptoms like spatial disorientation or vertigo.

Sinus infections can lead to blocked auditory tubes due to inflammation and thick mucus. This condition is sometimes called sinusitis vertigo.

People with frequent sinus infections commonly suffer from nasal polyps.

People who often have sinus infections may develop nasal polyps. Sometimes, a polyp can block or press on the auditory tube, preventing it from working correctly.

Inflammation of the mucous membranes in the nasal and sinus passageways can cause sinus pressure. However, nasal polyps exacerbate this by taking up space and pressing on important structures in and around the nasal passageways and sinuses.

Can Allergies Cause Dizziness?

Allergies are the underlying cause of many conditions, including chronic rhinosinusitis, nasal polyps, and auditory tube dysfunction. Any of these conditions can lead to changes in the middle and inner ear and, subsequently, the vestibular system, resulting in allergy-induced vertigo.

If allergies lead to temporary auditory tube dysfunction and cause fluid in the ear or a middle ear infection, the resulting vertigo may be temporary and easily treated.

However, long-term untreated problems can lead to more permanent changes in the middle and inner ear, such as a retraction of the eardrum and cholesteatoma, an abnormal collection of skin cells that grow deep in the ear. This can lead to conductive hearing loss when sounds can’t get through to the middle ear.

Other Potential Causes of Dizziness

Other possible causes of dizziness sometimes related to sinus pressure include:

Treatment

Treatment for sinus pressure dizziness depends on the underlying cause of your dizziness. These are options for some common causes:

Treatment for Sinus Infections

Sinus infections that are caused by viruses usually last for seven to 10 days and then start to get better. This is the case for most sinus infections.

Symptoms of viral sinus infections may be treated with the following:

• Nasal saline washes, also called nasal rinse kits, can help flush out your nasal passages.
• Pain relievers, such as ibuprofen (Advil), can relieve headaches and body aches.
• Nasal spray corticosteroids, such as Flonase or Nasacort, can help reduce mucus and swelling in the nasal passages.
• Humidifiers can be used to moisturize the air, thus lubricating and calming the airways and improving mucus drainage.

Sinus infections that are caused by bacteria typically require antibiotics when symptoms persist beyond seven to 10 days.

Treatment for Allergies

Allergies may need to be treated by the following:

• OTC antihistamines
• OTC or prescription corticosteroids
• Avoiding allergy triggers
• Immunotherapy (desensitization of your immune system to allergens through gradual exposure)

Treatment for Nasal Polyps

Nasal polyps may be treated with intranasal or oral corticosteroids to shrink their growth. If the polyps do not respond to corticosteroids, they may need to be surgically removed.

The standard surgical procedure for nasal polyp removal is called functional endoscopic sinus surgery. The procedure removes polyps, clears obstructions, and allows the sinuses to properly drain.

The procedure is done under general anesthetic. The surgeon will use shavers and other special instruments to remove polyps and open the sinuses to allow for drainage.

Treatment for Auditory Tube Dysfunction

Auditory tube dysfunction is often mild and does not last longer than a few days to a week.

For less severe cases of auditory tube dysfunction, a healthcare provider may suggest using an OTC decongestant or antihistamine medication to ease your symptoms. In some cases, these medications may worsen your symptoms. If that happens, stop using them and call your healthcare provider.

More severe or chronic cases may need to be treated with surgery. Your healthcare provider may recommend one of the following surgeries:

• Tympanostomy: A common surgery done to insert tiny, hollow ear tubes into the eardrums. Tympanostomy works by improving drainage and/or providing a more direct route for antibiotics.
• Balloon dilation: Involves inserting a small, specialized balloon into the Eustachian tube to improve airflow.
• Adenoidectomy: A surgery to remove the adenoids in the back of the nose. Adenoids are tiny lymph nodes that can sometimes block the Eustachian tubes.

The surgery you get will depend on the exact cause of the auditory tube dysfunction.