Your Summer Headache and Your Fall Headache May Have Different Causes

As Long Island temperatures fall, the changing season may offer an important clue about recurring headaches. Headaches can feel familiar. When they return year after year, it is easy to assume they always have the same cause. But the headache that troubled you during the hottest days of summer may have a different trigger from the one that appears as temperatures begin to fall. Summer is often associated with migraine complaints. But as temperatures fall across Long Island, another possible source of recurring headaches comes into focus: the sinuses.

Headache Patterns Can Change With the Seasons

Changes in headache frequency as the weather gets colder can offer useful clues about the possible source. When congestion, sinus pressure, drainage, or changes in the sense of smell appear around the same time, sinusitis may be contributing to the headaches. An ENT evaluation can determine what is happening inside the nose and sinuses and help identify the appropriate treatment.

When Sinus Problems Keep Returning

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Treatment depends on the underlying sinus problem. Many patients benefit from medications, nasal sprays, saline rinses, or other medical treatments. For patients with chronic sinusitis and narrowed or blocked sinus drainage pathways, balloon sinuplasty may be an option.

What Is Balloon Sinuplasty?

Balloon sinuplasty is a minimally invasive procedure that opens the affected sinus passage and improves natural drainage. A small balloon catheter is placed into the sinus opening and gently expanded to widen the drainage pathway. For appropriate patients, the procedure can often be performed in the office under local anesthesia and typically takes about 15–30 minutes.

A Different Season May Point to a Different Cause

If headaches become more frequent as summer gives way to fall, the seasonal pattern may provide an important clue. Finding a sinus-related cause can help direct treatment toward the source of the problem. At South Shore Clinic in Rockville Centre, Roger Horioglu, MD, evaluates patients with recurring sinusitis and determines the treatment approach that best fits their condition, including balloon sinuplasty when appropriate.