nose pain and swelling

**MissHollywood** · 09-23-2009 08:50 PM

Hi Everyone - especially MedicMan,

I noticed this itching, and then pain and swelling starting in my nose about a week ago and I just saw a Doctor today who is stumped and thinks it is some sort of "trauma" that I forgot about. He said to ice the soreness (which is SO SORE, I feel like Rocky after a boxing match) and take Advil for the pain.

MedicMan - since you experiencing this at the same time presently and have been to see a Specialist, can you tell me what your results were? I do not have insurance, but if this is some sort of awful staph, MERSA, Swine, Bird or whatever infection - I AM SCARED!

About 3 weeks ago, I got a major flu for about 4 days. I never get sick lile this. I had chills, fever, MAJOR aches in my entire body and was so tired, I couldn't even move. I had tiny bit of a cough and sore throat and runny nose, but not much at all. It was awful and I took tons of Zinc, Vitamin C and ImmuCore from Metagenics and it was gone in a few days.

But I am wondering if this nose thing is related? I am really scared, so please tell me what your outcomes were - EVERYBODY - reading this so I know what to expect. And if your nose swelling and pain went away - PLEASE tell us when and what you did.

Thank you!
Here's to everyone's health and wellness!

**lcooper** · 09-23-2009 09:05 PM

I have had 3 incidents of extreme pain on and in my nose. Sometimes it is at the tip of my nose, sometimes on the inside, and sometimes on the bridge. Last year I had it to where I just started crying at the doctor's office. I went to the ER today and the Dr. thinks it is facial cellulitis/MRSA infection. That's why it is a recurring thing. This is very worrisome and I am taking Bacterim again to get rid of it (probably on the short term) but I don't care as long as I get some relief. I am a grade-school teacher and it is beyond exhausting trying to work all day and be sweet to the kids when my nose feels like it is broken and on FIRE! I also have 3 young sons to take care of at home. I think I'm getting depressed. Anyone have info. to share that could help me? The guy who mentioned tea tree oil - that sounds interesting. I will try it. The Dr. also gave me a hospital-grade cleanser to use in the shower to get germs off of my body and face. She said it is pretty strong and abrasive to the skin. Sounds lovely. Help, anyone!!!!! - Lisa

**MissHollywood** · 09-27-2009 01:42 AM

So - it is now Day 11 after I first noticed the intense itching in my nose then the pain/tenderness spread from one side of the outside of my nose to the other and then the bridge and then it swelled up and HURT SO BADLY for a few days.

I talked to my Dad, who is an Alternative Practitioner and he advised that I wait it out before going to get on Antibiotics. I loaded up on Vitamin C, took Immucore, ate tons of garlic, alternated between an ice compress and a warm towel soaked in Epsom Salt and Eucalyptus oil, rinsed with a nasal rinse bottle with sea salt solution and it is completely gone!

YIPEEEE! I am pain free today - all day. It's a miracle and a very strange infection (if that is what it was) to have had.

If I notice it coming back, I may have it looked at more in depth, but for now it is compltely GONE!!

**MedicMan** · 10-01-2009 09:15 AM

(Reference my previous post for the history of my nose pain symptoms)

Saw the ENT two days ago and it was a nasal cartilage infection -- as I had suspected since that's where all the pain was. My primary MD was baffled and shrugged off my suggestion that it was infected cartilage because "...that is very rare..." Well, stranger things have happened, Doc! I think most of us in this forum can attest to the painful reality of a nasal staph infection in our cartilage.

Augmentin was prescribed, I'm on day 8 of antibiotics, and I am 99% better. At first I was frustrated because the Augmentin cleared up the peripheral cartilage pain with the first 24 hours, but it's taken until now for it to reduce the pain and swelling on the bridge of my nose, right where the bone and cartilage meet -- the "epicenter" of my pain.

The ENT said that nasal cartilage infections are somewhat rare, but need to be addressed immediately with antibiotics to prevent further infection and the possibility it could spread to the lining of the brain -- aka bacterial meningitis. No thank you.

I hope this helps you guys. Get checked out and get on the antibiotics!

**LeslieAlane** · 07-10-2010 10:16 AM

Wow - I'm so glad I found this thread! My husband had the same exact symptoms - kept saying he felt like he got punched in the nose and it hurt. It was red and a little swollen and the skin looked a little funny. The first day he said he ached all over and went to bed early. I knew it wasn't a sinus infection. Of course he wanted to blow it off and have it just go away on its own. Luckily I read this thread and read that if it was cellulitis it could spread to the eyes and/or brain. So I insisted he go to the doctor. I shared my 'diagnosis' with him and he agreed it was facial cellulitis. He said he could tell it wasn't a nasal cartilage infection by looking in his nose. Thank goodness he didn't even order xrays as we lost our insurance. He said he cringes when people come in with info from the internet but in this case he was really glad I did - his infection would have only gotten worse and could have caused serious damage in his eyes and/or brain or other areas. He gave him two different antibiotics - one in case it was a staph infection and one in case it was strep related. He said it could be either causing it. The prescriptions were only $15 a piece - the doctor's visit was $180 but it was well worth it. Thanks everyone!!

**lizliz** · 12-08-2010 11:50 PM

i have these EXACT symptoms and was just wondering what antibiotics the doctor perscribed to cure it.

**Skeptic** · 12-21-2010 12:36 AM

I apologize for bumping such an old thread, but this thread is pretty high in Google search results for quite a few terms and I wanted to warn any potential visitors of what a sham all this is. Notice how all the posters have only 1 or 2 posts and recently registered at the time this thread was posted, or that they haven't posted in the year since? Notice how close the replies are to one another, some within a few minutes? There are web-based companies that pay people to post on forums, and I have no doubt one such company was contracted by Zicam to advertise their ineffective product this way.

Zicam is a homeopathic product, and as such contains absolutely no active ingredients. It is water, or in the case of caplets, sugar and cellulose. Please read this, or do your own research on what exactly homeopathy is before being suckered in.
(link removed) dot org is also a good source for the debunking of scammers and sham artists. James Randi stood in front of congress and ingested two whole boxes of a homeopathic pain relief "medication." By all rights he should have died, but he didn't because all he ate was some sugar pills.

**WildChild** · 12-21-2010 09:51 AM

We appreciate your concern. Obviously neither you or Randi understand how homeopathics work. I am familiar with Mr Randi's publication and sometimes he makes some good points but he has his own blind spots. We aren't going there.

One person in the middle of the thread (a one hit wonder) posted that they had good results using Zicom, a few posts later (none of which had anything to do with that product) someone else posted, warning that a zinc based product may be a bad idea for that situation. Other than that you make the only other mention of it. That doesn't look much like a spammer set up. We do get those and deal with them often.

Thank you for your concern that our readers and members get accurate information. This is a chat forum, as such people share opinions and experiences, no one claims to be a doctor. I think this thread has covered a variety of possible causes for the symptoms and it's continued activity over several years shows some interest without it being a high interest subject. Bottom line, just like talking to your freinds, you get different opinions and ideas but have to sift through them and do what you find best for you.

**just wanted to say** · 01-03-2011 09:37 PM

Like so many of you, I had these symptoms: very painful bridge of the nose (don't even think of tiouching it!), proceeding to swollen nose, slight redness, and by the end even the top of my nose - the area between my eyes - was swollen.

And like many of you, I tried to diagnose myself with the internet and failed because it seemed like everyone posted their symptoms, but hardly anyone wrote back to say what it was.

Well, DO NOT DELAY! Go to a doctor. If you had I what I had, you need to be on antibiotics - PRONTO. It is an infection, that if untreated will spread to your brain and be serious bad news.

The doctor thought it was from a tiny zit I squeezed after I washed my face a couple days before the pain started. (This, of course, is very embarrassing and I am only telling you this because I don't want you to ignore the potential seriousness of this. I told my colleagues that it was sinus infection - much less embarrassing.) The doc said that it's really bad to ever break the skin on your nose because if you get an infection, it's very close to your brain and can easily become meningitis.

So, please, learn from my mistake. If it hurts this bad, see a doctor. Tylenol and ibuprofin help a little. So does a very warm compress. But, the only thing that will actually fix it is antibiotics. Don't wait!

**jc1** · 01-09-2011 11:15 AM

I saw this website when I tried the self-diagnosis over the internet, and so I'm here with a three-week follow-up.

First of all, let me advocate: if you think you ought to see a doctor, GO SEE A DOCTOR. I'm one of those idiots who avoids doctors whenever possible.

I had the following experience:

Felt like I had a broken nose, but knew I didn't. I suddenly woke up one morning saying "ow ow ow my nose"; it was as though someone had taken the flat of his hand and jammed my nose really hard. The bridge was very painful/tender, and pain was symmetrical (equally painful on both sides).
Was generally baffled about any possible causes, but shrugged it off as a developing zit... in a really weird place. (Do you get zits on the bridge of your nose? I don't.)
Didn't bother to check online until I casually mentioned it to my mom, and she mentioned lupus. I pooh-poohed this (there was no butterfly rash! come on.), but I wanted to double-check and make really sure she was wrong. I wasn't particularly worried up until this point, and I otherwise wouldn't have even checked the internet at all. (I'm prone to be a cyberchondriac, so I try to hold back as often as possible.)
The bridge of my nose swelled up about 4 days after the pain started, and it gradually receded. Both pain and swelling were gone within a week and a half (no antibiotics). I took some Motrin (ibuprofen) every day or two for the swelling. Basically, it went away on its own.

I did NOT have the following symptoms:

A stuffy nose
A nose that was significantly runnier than usual (I mean, it's winter, so my nose is ALWAYS a little snotty)
Interestingly-colored discharge (i.e. my snot was clear)
Eye pain
Fatigue (feeling tired) or malaise (feeling generally under-the-weather)

In my case, I felt perfectly fine except for a very sensitive nose bridge. The pain started going away almost as soon as the swelling began. I self-diagnosed acute sinusitis (probably ethmoid sinusitis), which generally goes away on its own; in my case, it did. But I know my body, and you know yours, and if you think you should see a doctor, you should. If you have any of the symptoms I DIDN'T have, you probably have something completely different than what I had.

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