Health Tip: If Your Child's Sinuses Are Blocked

(HealthDay News) -- Blocked sinuses, which rarely occur in kids under age five, are often caused by a cold or hay fever, according to St. Louis Children''s Hospital.

By treating your child''s sinus congestion, you can prevent it from developing into a true sinus infection.

Here are some tips:

• Use warm water or saline nose drops followed by suction or nose blowing to wash dried mucus out of the nose.
• Run a humidifier in the home.
• Ice applied over the sinus for 20 minutes may give some pain relief.
• With treatment, sinus congestion often resolves in five to seven days.
• A fever and increased pain could indicate a bacterial sinusitis that may need an antibiotic.

-- Felicity Stone

Last Updated: Sept. 15, 2005