Our team of experts also helps manage more chronic immunology conditions, such as chronic sinusitis and cough. These conditions may sometimes be triggered by or result from a patient’s allergies and asthma.
Chronic Sinusitis
You may have experienced a sinus infection that went away after a course of medication or other recommendations. Yet when a sinus infection lingers or doesn’t go away after an extended period of time despite treatment, it is considered chronic and often needs a more comprehensive assessment and ongoing plan of action. Aside from having a runny or stuffy nose, you may also experience the following symptoms:
- Sinus pressure, congestion and pain
- Headache, facial pain
- Fever
- Bad breath
- Cough (either dry or with mucus)
- Postnasal drip, leading to throat irritation
Comprehensive Sinus and Allergy Clinic
If your allergy and immunology team assesses that you have an unmanageable sinus condition including nasal polyps, allergies or recurrent infections that have required many years of treatment or multiple surgeries, often with asthma, they may refer you to NorthShore’s Comprehensive Sinus and Allergy Clinic. It is the first clinic of its type in the Northern suburbs, providing a multidisciplinary program of comprehensive and individualized care for adult and pediatric patients.
Allergist and immunologist Ewa Schafer, MD, and Otolaryngologist Joseph Raviv, MD, spearhead the team and program with approaches that may include changes in medication and/or lifestyle to decrease infection risks, allergen immunotherapy (allergy shots), immunologic therapy and/or endoscopic medicine. The Clinic sees patients out of its Northbrook office on Tuesdays. To schedule an appointment, call Dr. Schafer at 847.998.4170 or Dr. Raviv at 847.504.3300 and request a “Sinus Clinic” consultation. You will be asked to bring all previous testing documents as well as copies on CD of any CT scans performed within the past two years.
Based on your previous treatment and symptoms, our allergy and immunology team [link] will determine which treatment option is best. The first line of treatment usually involves medication. In some more chronic cases when medication or other therapies do not prove effect, sinus surgery may be necessary.