In this module, we will cover the basics to help you understand chronic rhinosinusitis or CRS. But first, let us begin with an important question:
Why do we have sinuses in the first place?
Sinuses are small, air-filled spaces inside your head, connected to your nose. Think of them as tiny air pockets behind your nose, cheeks, and forehead. They are covered with soft, moist tissue and help your body in three important ways:
Plus, they even play a role in giving your voice its unique sound!
CRS happens when the soft tissue inside your sinuses and nasal passages gets swollen and irritated. This swelling and irritation are called inflammation. It is your body’s immune system working to protect you, similar to what happens when you have a cold. However, with CRS, the immune system does not calm down when it is supposed to, or the soft tissue is continuously irritated by external triggers (like cigarette smoke, air pollution, or workplace irritants like dust, gases, fumes and smoke).
This ongoing inflammation or irritation can lead to symptoms that last 12 weeks or longer, including:
CRS is a pretty common condition—about 1 in 10 people in Europe suffer from it. It can be hard to make CRS go away completely, but with the right care and preventive measures, a lot of people feel much better and find it easier to deal with their symptoms in daily life.
The exact reasons behind this long-lasting inflammation are not fully understood. However, we do know that several factors can contribute to CRS, such as:
There are two types of CRS:
Nasal polyps are soft, round growths that can form inside your nose or sinuses. They look like tiny grapes and occur because of this long-lasting inflammation. Although these polyps can become larger, the good news is that they are not cancer and will not turn into cancer.
If you have (large) nasal polyps, you might:
Together with our Patient Advisory Board, we’ve termed this subtype (CRSwNP) as Nasal Polyp Syndrome. We even wrote a full paper around this patient-friendly term, which is free to access here.
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