Online doctor, sinus pain
Sinus Infection (Sinusitis) While Travelling How long is too long?
Aching cheeks, a blocked nose and pressure behind the eyes that arrived after a cold and has not shifted. NHS guidance says sinusitis usually clears on its own within four weeks, and that antibiotics are rarely needed because it is usually viral. Talk it through with an English-speaking doctor by video for a fixed €40 if you are trying to work out whether yours is one of the ones worth assessing.
Duration is the useful measure here, not severity. Sinusitis can feel dreadful and still be entirely ordinary, and it can be mild and still be worth a look if it has gone on.
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English-speaking doctors, licensed to treat you where you are.
What Sinusitis Usually Does
NHS guidance lists the main symptoms as pain, swelling and tenderness around your cheeks, eyes or forehead; a blocked or runny nose; a reduced sense of smell; green or yellow mucus from your nose; and a high temperature. It often follows a cold, which is why it tends to turn up in the second week of a trip rather than the first.
The important part is the timeline. NHS says it usually clears up on its own within four weeks, and that antibiotics are rarely needed because sinusitis is usually caused by a virus rather than bacteria. That is a very different message from the one the search results give you, and it is the accurate one.
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- Avoid unnecessary travel and waiting rooms
- Get clear guidance about your symptoms and treatment
- Access care while travelling or living abroad
Do You Need a Doctor for Sinusitis?
Usually not, and NHS is unusually direct about it. The judgement is about duration and about a small set of exceptions, and that is a conversation rather than an examination.
A consultation may be a useful first step when
- you are trying to work out whether this has gone on long enough to matter
- it followed a cold and you cannot tell whether it is improving or settling in
- you want to know what actually helps, and what is a waste of a pharmacy visit
- you keep getting it and want to understand why
- you are weighing whether to find a clinic while you are away or wait until home
NHS gives the thresholds a doctor will be working to: no better after 7 days of treatment from a pharmacy or GP, no better after 3 weeks of treating it yourself, or repeated episodes. Whether anything is prescribed is a clinical judgement subject to local rules.
Seek in-person or urgent care instead when
- you are very unwell
- painkillers are not helping, or the symptoms are getting worse
- you have a weakened immune system
- there is swelling or redness around the eye, or a change in your vision
- the person affected is a child aged 11 or younger
Pomodoc connects you with an English-speaking doctor by video, licensed to treat you where you are, for €40 per consultation. Fixed price, no surprises.
Being told this is ordinary and will pass is a legitimate outcome. So is being told the four-week clock started three weeks ago and it is time somebody looked.
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How It Works
Medical advice by video in three simple steps
Start online
Tell us which country you are in and what is going on. It is a short form, not an appointment request.
Join by video
See your English-speaking doctor using your phone, tablet or computer.
Get clear guidance
Discuss your symptoms and receive advice about your next steps.
Why Use Pomodoc?
Explain it in English
Describe where it hurts and how long it has gone on, in English, instead of pointing at your own face at a pharmacy counter.
Get help without leaving your accommodation
Attend your appointment from your hotel, holiday rental, home or workplace.
Duration is a conversation, not an examination
The judgement here is about how long this has run and what has changed, which is exactly what a consultation is good at.
Understand what to do next
A doctor can help you decide whether you need treatment, an in-person appointment, or just more time.
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More About Sinus Pain Away From Home
The timeline that decides everything
NHS puts sinusitis at usually clearing up on its own within four weeks. That is longer than most people expect and it is the single most useful fact on this page, because the instinct at day five is that something has gone wrong.
The thresholds NHS gives for seeking help are about failure to improve rather than about a fixed number of days being ill: no better after 7 days of treatment from a pharmacy or a GP, no better after 3 weeks of treating it yourself, or getting it repeatedly. If you have seen a ten-day figure elsewhere, it is real but narrower than it sounds: UK NICE guidance uses symptoms lasting around 10 days or more with no improvement as the point at which a clinician may consider a nasal steroid or a back-up antibiotic, and CDC lists more than 10 days without getting better as a reason to see a provider. Neither means antibiotics are needed at day ten; NICE gives the usual course as 2 to 3 weeks.
Green mucus on its own does not settle it
NHS states it plainly: rarely, you may need antibiotics, and this is not common as sinusitis is usually caused by a virus rather than bacteria. NHS lists green or yellow mucus from your nose as one of the main symptoms of sinusitis, which it says is usually viral, so the colour on its own is not a reason to expect antibiotics.
The antibiotics question deserves more room than a landing page should give it, and it has its own piece: Sinus Infection on Holiday, linked below, works through when someone genuinely is the exception. This page stays on the question in front of you, which is whether what you have has run long enough to need looking at.
What actually helps in a hotel room
NHS self-care is rest, staying hydrated, painkillers such as paracetamol or ibuprofen, and cleaning your nose with a salt water solution. Sachets for a nasal rinse are sold in pharmacies almost everywhere and are the most useful thing on that list for pressure specifically.
NHS advice for a cold suggests breathing in steam to ease a blocked nose, for example by sitting in the bathroom with a hot shower running, and says not to let children breathe in steam from a bowl of hot water because of the risk of scalding.
If it started as a cold, or if flying made it worse
Sinusitis commonly follows a cold, and if what you are really trying to work out is which illness you have, our colds and flu page separates them on how fast they arrived and how much they have taken out of you.
Pain that comes on with the pressure changes of a flight is a separate question from an infection. CDC notes that barotrauma can occur when the pressure in an air-filled body space, the sinuses included, does not match the cabin, and that travellers with sinus infections or severe congestion might choose to postpone flying to prevent pain or injury. If it is your ears that hurt, our ear infection page covers flying in more detail.
Good things to know.
How long does a sinus infection last?
NHS guidance says sinusitis usually clears up on its own within four weeks. The thresholds for seeking help are about not improving rather than about a set number of days: no better after 7 days of treatment from a pharmacy or GP, no better after 3 weeks of self-treatment, or getting it repeatedly.
Do I need antibiotics for a sinus infection?
Usually not. NHS states that antibiotics are rarely needed because sinusitis is usually caused by a virus rather than bacteria. NHS lists green or yellow mucus as one of the main symptoms of sinusitis, so the colour on its own is not a reason to expect antibiotics. Whether antibiotics are appropriate in a particular case is a clinical judgement, not something to settle at a pharmacy counter.
Can an online doctor help with sinusitis?
Yes, for the judgement most people need, which is whether this has gone on long enough or changed enough to matter. A doctor can take a history, apply the NHS thresholds to your case and tell you whether to treat it, be seen, or give it more time. What cannot be done over video is examining inside your nose or imaging your sinuses.
What helps sinus pressure while travelling?
NHS self-care is rest, staying hydrated, painkillers such as paracetamol or ibuprofen, and cleaning your nose with a salt water solution. Nasal rinse sachets are widely sold in pharmacies and are the most directly useful of those for pressure. NHS advice for a cold also suggests steam from a hot shower to ease a blocked nose, and says not to let children breathe in steam from a bowl of hot water because of the risk of scalding.
When is sinus pain an emergency?
Swelling or redness around the eye, double vision or any new change in vision with sinusitis is a reason to go to an emergency department, not to wait: NICE guidance lists these as reasons for hospital referral, because the sinuses sit against the eye socket and spread there, though rare, is serious. NICE also lists severe frontal headache, swelling over the forehead and signs of meningitis as reasons for hospital referral. A severe headache with a stiff neck, confusion or drowsiness — which NHS lists among the symptoms of meningitis — means calling your local emergency number or 112 from any phone in the EU.
My sinuses hurt on the flight. Is that the same thing?
Not necessarily. Pain that comes on with the pressure changes of a flight can have a different cause: CDC notes that barotrauma can occur when the pressure inside the sinuses does not match the cabin, and that travellers with sinus infections or severe congestion might choose to postpone flying. If the pain persists on the ground for days along with a blocked nose and facial tenderness, this page is the right one.
Sources
- Sinus Infection BasicsCenters for Disease Control and PreventionThat symptoms lasting more than 10 days without getting better are a reason to see a healthcare provider.
- Sinusitis (acute): antimicrobial prescribing (NG79), recommendation 1.1.9National Institute for Health and Care ExcellenceThat people with acute sinusitis should be referred to hospital if they have intraorbital or periorbital complications, including periorbital oedema or cellulitis, a displaced eyeball, double vision, ophthalmoplegia or newly reduced visual acuity, or intracranial complications, including swelling over the frontal bone, signs of meningitis, severe frontal headache or focal neurological signs.; that the usual course of acute sinusitis is 2 to 3 weeks; and that for symptoms around 10 days or more with no improvement a clinician may consider a high-dose nasal corticosteroid and no antibiotic or a back-up antibiotic prescription
- Sinusitis (sinus infection)NHSThe symptom list including pain, swelling and tenderness around the cheeks, eyes or forehead, a blocked or runny nose, reduced sense of smell, green or yellow mucus and a high temperature; that it usually clears up on its own within four weeks; the self-care advice of rest, hydration, painkillers and cleaning the nose with a salt water solution; the thresholds for seeing a GP of no improvement after 7 days of pharmacy or GP treatment, no improvement after 3 weeks of self-treatment, repeated episodes, and a child aged 11 or younger; that antibiotics are rarely needed because sinusitis is usually viral; and the urgent flags of being very unwell, painkillers not helping or symptoms worsening, and having a weakened immune system.
- Common coldNHSThe advice to breathe in steam to ease a blocked nose, for example by sitting in the bathroom with a hot shower running, and not to let children breathe in steam from a bowl of hot water because of the risk of scalding.
- MeningitisNHSThat the symptoms of meningitis include a stiff neck, a severe headache that is getting worse, confusion, and being very sleepy or difficult to wake.
- Air Travel (CDC Yellow Book, 2026 edition)Centers for Disease Control and PreventionThat barotrauma can occur when the pressure inside an air-filled, enclosed body space such as the middle ear or sinuses is not the same as the cabin pressure, and that travellers with ear, nose and sinus infections or severe congestion might choose to postpone flying to prevent pain or injury.
Sources last checked: . General information, not a diagnosis.
Sinus Pain That Will Not Shift?
Speak to an English-speaking doctor by video and get guidance from wherever you are.
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Video consultations are for suitable non-emergency medical concerns. In a life-threatening emergency, call your local emergency number, or 112 from any phone in the EU. This page is general information, not medical advice about your own situation.