Sue Mosgrove talks about the new American Sinus Institute Houston location, sinus problems related to the cold weather and the balloon sinuplasty procedure.

Video Transcript:

Speaker 1: Welcome back to San Antonio Living, it's the season of sniffles and headaches and all sorts of problems involving this, right? And it all is caused by one thing: sinus problems. And so joining us this morning is Sue Musgrove with the American Sinus Institute. So good to see you.‍

Sue: Good morning.

‍Speaker 1: You've been busy, I haven't seen you in a while. Where have you been?

‍Sue: I've been in Houston. We have a new location in Houston, we're celebrating our 1 year anniversary in our Houston location, so along with the services we're providing to the San Antonio community, now we're providing to Houston.

‍Speaker 1: That's great, congratulations. It's good to see you back. Let's talk a little bit about what you guys do at the American Sinus Institute.

‍Sue: Okay. We specialize in the balloon sinuplasty procedure. What they do is they go in with, it's a minimally invasive modern technology to open up the sinuses with a balloon catheter. Patients are in and out, same day, can go back to work the next day, great recovery, and helps with all of the symptoms that patients experience when they first come to see us.

‍Speaker 1: So let's talk about some of those symptoms. What are you hearing from patients right now? What are they suffering from?

‍Sue: So, patients come to see us with facial pain, pressure, headaches, post-nasal drip, just miserable, having to take a lot of over-the-counter medications, self-medicating, always stuffy, carrying a box of Kleenex all the time. And this time of year it's not good for patients.

‍Speaker 1: It's not, and I know exactly what you're talking about, because when I feel the pressure here, I know that something's wrong. And I think my sinuses are good, but when they're not good, when they're clogged, nothing gets in there, so nothing works, and that's what the balloon sinuplasty does, it opens those sinuses.

‍Sue: Right. The key to healthy sinuses is good airflow, so we take the little catheter, it's a small balloon catheter, and the doctor goes into each of the sinuses and inflates that catheter, opening your natural ostium from about a 2 millimeter opening to about a 6 millimeter opening. So lots of air can pass through, and that's the key to the healthy sinuses.

‍Speaker 1: So this is something that's become very regular for people to do. You guys have done quite a few sinuplastys in just a couple of years.

‍Sue: Sure, we've done thousands of procedures.

‍Speaker 1: Wow.

‍Sue: We do this procedure under general anesthesia, so our patients are not awake, they don't hear what's going on around them. It's a great technique to put everybody at ease and get the treatment that they need.

‍Speaker 1: This is such a great treatment that it's actually covered by most insurances, right?

Sue: It is. Most major insurances are covering it, and actually this is a great time of year because a lot of people have their deductibles that are almost met, so most of the major insurances are covering the procedure, each is different, but give us a call if you've almost met your deductible.

‍Speaker 1: Let's talk about the best candidate for something like this. What about the age for this as well?

‍Sue: So we're doing this anywhere from eight years old all the way up to 95, is our oldest patient. So anywhere in between, anyone who's suffering with major symptoms, facial pain, pressure, headaches, post-nasal drip, anyone who's just miserable, who can't sleep, all of the things, that fatigue, you're just not sure. Like I said, if you have any of the other symptoms, look at our website, give us a call, we can absolutely help you through your sinus problem.

‍Speaker 1: Okay, good deal. Sue, always good to see you, thank you for coming. Guys, like Sue said, check the website, there's great information there. You can also just call for a consultation and get this done by the end of the year. It's the American Sinus Institute here in San Antonio on De Zavala, the phone number is there on your screen. It is (210) 225-5666, and online at americansinus.com. We'll be right back.