Richmond Leader

• The average lifetime cost of managing acute sinusitis is $38,515.
• The management of sinusitis in the United States exceeds $11 billion per year overall.
• There are minimally invasive treatment options for sinusitis that can provide long-term results and reduce healthcare costs.

Managing chronic sinusitis can be extremely expensive, but a balloon sinuplasty can relieve symptoms long term so patients don't have to pay unnecessary bills. Dr. John Ditto of Richmond Breathe Free said balloon sinuplasty is an effective treatment that can improve your sinusitis long term, leading to fewer medical costs overall.

"Balloon sinuplasty came out in 2005," Ditto told the Richmond Leader. "It's a fantastic new technique because what studies have shown is that it's as effective as traditional functional endoscopic sinus surgery."

Chronic sinusitis is a condition where the sinuses, the spaces inside your nose and head, become inflamed and swollen for three months or more, according to the Mayo Clinic. That can disrupt the normal drainage of mucus, leading to nasal congestion and difficulty breathing through the nose. As a result, individuals may experience a stuffy nose, and the area around their eyes may feel tender and swollen. They listed the triggers to be infections, nasal polyps (abnormal growths in the sinuses), or inflammation of the sinus lining. Both adults and children can be affected by this condition.

If left untreated, however, sinusitis can have a high financial cost. According to a study published in PubMed, the lifetime cost of managing sinusitis could amount to roughly $38,515. Some of the factors involved include the cost of antibiotics and time lost from work.

The American Academy of Otolaryngology reported that approximately 1 in 8 adults in the United States are affected by sinusitis, leading to more than 30 million diagnoses each year. They also noted that the management of acute and chronic sinusitis incurs a direct cost of more than $11 billion annually.

"I can perform a procedure for a patient and improve their recurrent sinusitis by using a minimally invasive technique, instead of taking them to the operating room under general anesthesia and performing a sinus bone and membrane destruction procedure where you're removing things," Ditto said. "Here, I’m just opening things up, just allowing them to breathe."

Instead of paying the high costs of sinusitis, you can seek long-term treatment options such as balloon sinuplasty, a safe, minimally invasive procedure used by surgeons to address chronic sinusitis, according to Nuffield Health. During the process, doctors insert a guide wire equipped with a small balloon into the nostrils and navigate it to the blockage.

To learn more about sinus symptoms and treatments, take this free quiz.