Actual sinusitis is a bacterial infection of the sinuses.  However, the majority of patients that feel as if they have a sinus infection simply have a viral illness affecting their sinuses that will not respond to antibiotic therapy.  Science has revealed that in most otherwise-healthy individuals, the sinuses do not become infected before approximately 10 days of illness.  If you have fever with significant pain in the sinuses and green or yellow drainage, it is up to your physician's discretion as to whether antibiotics might be effective for your illness.  In either case, decongestants and sinus irrigation as seen on the Oprah Winfrey show may be helpful.

By the time a child reaches one year of age, he/she has developed both the maxillary (cheeks) and ethmoid (base of nose) sinuses.  Sphenoid sinuses (also at the base of the nose) develop by the age of 5-6 and the frontal sinuses develop by the age of 7-8 years old.  Thus, children under the age of 1 cannot possibly develop sinusitis despite have green nasal discharge.  Additionally, it is relatively uncommon for children up to the age of approximately kindergarten to develop a true sinusitis.

If I come in to be seen, will I receive antibiotics?

Only a professional health care provider can determine if your symptoms are due to sinusitis or simply nasal congestion.  A careful history and physical examination can clarify this.  Unfortunately, although many physicians may choose to order X-rays and CT scans to identify sinusitis, neither test is at all useful in delineating sinus congestion from actual bacterial sinusitis.