Staph nose infection so worried

[LondonHA]

Hi everyone. I am sick of HA ruining my life. How can some people go the doctor, get told something, and just automatically trust them to diagnose properly and take the medicine believing it will truly cure them, whilst pushing worry out of their mind?I just can't! I had a spot in my nose that kept bleeding - no surprise as I had a stinking cold (before the spot appeared) and I had been blowing my nose relentlessly. I'm also a runner and that gets all the snot moving blegh, so I'd be running and blowing my nose and knocking the spot.
After pretty much every bad cold I've ever had, I get sinus pain. Not always an infection I don't think as I don't always get green snot and lots of it, more high up sinus pain, headaches and rushing noise in my ears. We are a family of ENT problems! So I'm not surprised. But I went to doctors recently as the sinus pain woke me up on monday morning early hours. I only managed to get to docs on Friday and she said it's difficult to diagnose without seeing it firsthand when the pain is there.

And then I mentioned my spot. She did a swab and sent it off for tests saying it could be a staph infection. She mentioned MRSA but then stopped halfway through and said 'well, we'll treat that if it comes but let's not worry about that now'. She said she wasn't saying my nose thing was related to the sinus pain but let's treat both and see what happens. She gave me Naseptin cream for the spot and amoxicillin.

But last night I woke up with sinus pain again. Not as painful as before, at all, but still. My spot looks so much better (had been getting better on its own for few days before I saw doc) butI am convinced that this staph infection has got to my sinuses and is going to cause awful problems and get to my brain....ugh, usual HA stuff! I am googling like crazy which I know I shouldn't as I start to manifest the symptoms I Read about. I know that staph infections are pretty common but I've never heard or known anyone get one so it terrifies me. What if it turns to MRSA or something awful?

I just need some assurance that a bit of sinus pain after a cold and a nasty spot in my nose that might have a staph infection (I haven't got test results yet - it will say if it's staph or not or MRSA even) isn't going to kill me. Doctor was pretty relaxed about whole thing and said if spot hadn't cleared or sinuses still hurt after 10 days to come back, but I am feeling so much better than I did Monday and my spot is almost gone so maybe it was happening naturally. I'll do all my antibiotics etc but...gah, I just lie there at night thinking of infection creeping into my brain and I'll be dead. My Mum is my usual source of reassurance but she is on holiday and I don't want to bring her down with my paranoia.

[GlassPinata]

My older son got a staph infection in his nose once, as a child. It was actually AROUND his nostrils... from constant rubbing, etc. It looked like sores under his nose. They began to spread all the way to his upper lip.
If I recall, we were prescribed both an antibacterial ointment to put directly on the sores, and a prescription for oral antibiotics.
It began to work immediately, halting the spread of sores. In a few days, they were all dried up and scabbed over. Within two weeks, they had dried up and fallen off, and you couldn't tell anything had ever happened. No scars, nothing.

Staph infections around the nose are apparently not uncommon (especially in children) and antibiotics clear them right up.

MRSA is a little tougher to treat, requiring stronger antibiotics; my ex-husband once got a MRSA infection in his groin area, after picking at an ingrown hair with an unsterilized sewing needle. However, they CAN be effectively treated.
We weren't even insured at the time, so he just went to the emergency room (several times) and received different prescriptions, until one of them finally worked. Again though, his infection cleared up eventually, without any scarring or long-term effects.

There is no guarantee you have anything of the sort, but if you do, doctors are adept at treating these infections, and you will be okay.
Antibiotics DO work on MRSA; it's just that first line antibiotics don't work too well on them. They require stronger ones, of the sort that doctors don't like to prescribe for lesser infections.

I think you will be just fine, though. take care.

[LondonHA]

Thanks for replying to me! It's good to hear people who've had something similar and got over it. And that even things worse than what I might have are still manageable. I just need to learn to deal with what I have, rather than trying to scale it up to the final, worst case scenario.
I guess I just worry my sinus pain is the staph infection in my sinuses. But I did explain all the pain etc to the doctor and she didn't seem concerned about any link. And I am so prone to sinus pain, lots of incidences of this since I was a child. So that's not unusual for me.
The spot in my nose hasn't formed a new scab and seems to be shrinking. Still a little red but no head has formed again. Fingers crossed.

[Chris 614]

You are going to be fine. My son also has had a staph infection on his nose. Took antibiotics and it was fine. I think your sinus pain is just sinus pain. You've been sick. It happens. There are no infections attacking your brain.