Clinical Tips No. 8: Bacterial Sinusitis? Are you Sure?

🛑 THE PROBLEM
We’re often too quick to prescribe antibiotics for respiratory infections.
Suspected bacterial sinusitis is a common reason (or excuse) for prescribing antibiotics to a patient who has had upper respiratory symptoms for more than a few days.

📚 THE BACKGROUND
We often expect a common cold to go away in 2–3 days.
And yes, fever usually does resolve in 1–3 days in adults, but respiratory symptoms often last much longer than that.

They typically peak after 3–4 days and then take 7–10 days to clear completely, and that’s completely normal.

As long as symptoms are gradually improving, and not worsening, there’s no reason to prescribe antibiotics.
We need to let go of the expectation that every cold resolves in just a couple of days.

Antibiotics are only indicated if:
• Symptoms are progressively worsening
• Or there’s no sign of improvement by day 10

✅ WHAT TO DO
Don’t expect a cold to resolve completely after a few days, and educate your patient that this is unrealistic.
Antibiotics won’t speed up recovery.

Share this tip with other clinicians. This is a low-hanging fruit. It just takes a small shift in mindset.