Sinus fungal ball can cause headaches
In the past month,
I’ve talked to four different people who have either had a sinus surgery, or had an actual sinus fungal ball, so today I will write about it.
An “aspergilloma” is the name of what it was once called, but I believe this is older terminology. I’m calling a “sinus fungal ball” today for the purpose of this article.
These sinus fungal balls are occurring at rapid, alarming rates, due to this being a new long-term complication of having COVID-19. Having serious dental surgeries or procedures appears to increase one’s risk for SFB.
One confounding symptom is a foul odor that no one else smells, or the inability to smell. Those symptoms occur in both COVID and a sinus fungal ball.
Some of you taking migraine medicines or experiencing persistent daily headaches may have an SFB, because these always cause frontal headaches and they don’t respond to normal headache medications. People with a SFB may not be properly diagnosed for years, and will suffer with odd symptoms, always above the neck!
A sinus fungal ball consists of aspergillus organisms most of the time. That pathogen has a life cycle and produces chemicals upon dying off. These chemicals can cause other symptoms in your head, and all over your body.
The fungal infection is impossible to see from the outside, and difficult to diagnose if you don’t know about it. It may be visually seen on a CT scan, and by the odd combination of never-ending symptoms in your head.
You may or may not have sinusitis symptoms, and that’s the challenge. If you do have sinus infections, then antibiotics will always be prescribed, right? But I’m afraid those don’t work well! They don’t kill fungal organisms, plus they don’t get past the biofilm.
SFB almost always go hand-in-hand with bacterial infections, but again, prescribed antibiotics don’t cure the problem and leave you with a destroyed microbiome.
Only surgery will bring relief.
Sometimes people with a SFB want to wait and fix this on their own with herbal medicine and saline rinses, but I am not in agreement with the “wait and see” approach. This is a potentially deadly pathogen that can get into your brain or lungs. It’s not like a sinus cyst, where it can sit there for years and not be problematic.
An SFB made of aspergillus is a fungus, and as such, it wants to survive. Therefore it’s very invasive, therefore you need to see an ENT physician.
Ever see a mushroom in your grass, and the next day there’s 20, then your whole lawn is covered in them? Same with fungus in your head! You can’t expect it to stay put.
I understand this is a complex, serious topic, so if you are interested in learning more and hearing about some case studies, I have written more extensively about it. I really want you to get properly diagnosed.
This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. For a longer version of this article, visit Suzy Cohen’s website at www.suzycohen.com.