Sinus Infection - Dallas,TX

you can use saline, a nasal spray you can buy it over the counter (or I use warm water with a little bit of salt) and it will help dry out the sinuses. I will also use a bulb syringe (or a netti pot, as someone suggested) and you can "clean out" the nose with saline or salt water, this helps a lot for people/kids with allergies, it works well for me and for my oldest son who has allergies, as long as I catch it early it has avoided sinus and ear infections for my son!

I would give the proper dosage of Sudafed with the antibiotic. And continue the antibiotic for the full recommended period. The red throat is probably just drainage.

Cool mist humidifier in the bedroom at night helps keep sinuses moist and can prevent further infection. We also bought a HEPA air filter for 2 bedrooms to filter out allergens and that helps a lot!

The throat is really red because of the mucus drainage down the back. Happens when the crud breaks up and moves. It either gets blown out the nose (hard for 2 yr. old) or goes down the throat.

When he gets old enough and can use a neti pot---neti pot is the BEST way to prevent more sinus infections.

Kids are going to get sinus infections and that is beyond your control. He probably will be much better in no time. Augmentin is a great antibiotic. You might also try saline nasal drops to help clear out his sinus cavity and head. His throat might be red due to all the drainage he is probably having, or, possibly from a yeast infection in the mouth. Just watch for really red mouth, tongue.Also, for white coating or patches inside the mouth. If you see any of these things he may need some medication for a yeast infection of the mouth. One last thing is watch for diarrhea, augmentin always caused diarrhea when my little ones had to take it.

Our son had lots of sinus and ear infections. How are his ears?

I echo the treatments the others have mentioned:
nasal snot-removing bulb
saline spray (thins out mucous so it can drain or be sucked out w/bulb)
saline rinse (like Neti pot or NeilMed sinus rinse bottle - not sure if he's old enough for the rinse bottle. I think the Neti pot might be easier to use on children)
humidifier (thins out mucous, helps membranes stay moist)
get a HEPA air filter to clean the air (for environmental allergens like pollen, dust mites, and to remove germs in air; be aware that infections can also be a result of other kinds of allergens: milk, food; people can develop a sensitivity to something anytime in their life)

I'd like to add one:
go to a health food store and buy a good quality probiotic to help restore the helpful germs/bacteria/flora in the stomach that the antibiotic (augmentin) kills. Otherwise he'll be susceptible to yeast infections or whatever.

Hope this helps! God bless!

P.,
If he is not getting better rule out strep throat.
I can recommend some children's vitamins that would boost his immune system if you are interested.
Hope he is better soon!
Victoria

Both my sons got frequent sinus infections when they were younger. Keeping a humidifier going in their bedroom during the dry months helped, but eventually they were put on allergy meds and have not had a sinus infection since.

The back of his throat is likely red from sinus drainage. It's acidic and very irritating. The congestion should start clearing up soon.

I'm sorry I'm not much help, but thought I'd throw this out there for you!

D.

Make sure to give him every last drop of the meds even if he's feeling better before you run out of medicine. Also, a fever is the body's natural way of killing a germs. Try and let the fever ride without giving him anything (like Motrin) to break the fever. Just keep him comfortable and hydrated. When my daughter used to get sick as a toddler, she would sleep for hours and hours and then one day just wake up fine. It's best to let the body do it's thing. The antibiotic is a good start, but honestly sometimes doctors will give you one but it's a virus, not a bacteria. Take the medicine just in case, but take however much time he needs to rest, rest, rest. Have him drink a ton of fluids, including foods with lots of fluid content, like watermelon and even popcicles and jello. Try and keep him so hydrated that he pees a lot to flush the germs out of his body.

As far as keeping him from getting sick repeatedly...well... no one wants our kids to be sick. But I'm with my grandmother in believing that kids needs to be exposed to germs at a young age so their bodies can learn to fight off infection. I'm not saying to have him lick the floor of the grocery store or anything, but all of the moms who go crazy sanitzing everything and constantly bathing their kids in antibacterial cleansers are doing more harm than good, in my opinion. Just do careful hand washing when he's out in public, try and keep him away from playdates with kids who are coughing and have green runny noses, and otherwise just let him be a kid and try not to worry too much about how soon he'll be sick again.

Oh- and the red throat... My guess is that since he has a sinus infection that the snot is dripping down the back of his throat. Again... take all the medicine the doctor gave, keep him hydrated, and don't take him back to the doctor just for that unless he complains about it hurting to swallow or if he's coughing an awful lot to the point where he is having a hard time sleeping.

Be sure they do a strep test. It sounds like how strep can act. I still put a little bleach in my rinse water (don't like dishwashers, have had several) after dealing with strep when our kids were little.