X-Ray PNS (Sinuses)
A focused scan for Frontal sinus, Maxillary sinus, Nasal cavity.
Overview
Examines Frontal sinus, Maxillary sinus, Nasal cavity. Performed at an NABL-accredited Meridian Health centre with a same-day report and a free doctor review.
The full panel
3 areas across 1 groupEvery parameter, grouped by body system — no clicking to expand.
What this scan measures
The air-filled sinus cavities in the face — frontal, maxillary and ethmoid — plus the nasal cavity and the nasal septum. Healthy sinuses are full of air and appear black; fluid, thickened lining or a mass makes them appear grey or white.
It is ordered for persistent facial pain or pressure, blocked nose and post-nasal drip that have not settled with treatment, to look for fluid levels suggesting acute sinusitis, and to assess a deviated nasal septum. CT is far more sensitive and is used when surgery is being considered or complications are suspected.
Symptoms that lead to this scan
- Facial pain or pressure over the cheeks or forehead
- Blocked or persistently runny nose
- Headache that worsens on bending forward
- Reduced sense of smell, or persistent post-nasal drip
- Recurrent sinus infections
Understanding your results
A fluid level in a sinus supports acute sinusitis, and mucosal thickening suggests chronic inflammation — but plain sinus X-rays both miss disease and over-call it, because the projection superimposes several structures. A normal film does not exclude sinus disease, and mucosal thickening is often found in people with no symptoms. Where the clinical picture and the film disagree, or where surgery is contemplated, a CT of the sinuses is the appropriate next test.
Why the preparation matters
No fasting or preparation. Remove spectacles, earrings, hair clips and any removable dental appliance. The view is taken with the head tilted in a specific position, usually sitting upright, because fluid only forms a visible horizontal level when gravity can act on it — a film taken lying down can hide exactly the finding being looked for.
X-Ray — safety and who should not be scanned
Full X-Ray guideThis is a low-dose ionising radiation test. Published reference figures put a chest X-ray at roughly the natural background radiation an average person absorbs over about ten days — less than a long-haul flight adds. Views through thicker tissue, such as the abdomen or lumbar spine, carry a meaningfully higher dose, which is why they are ordered more selectively. Modern digital detectors need far less radiation than the film systems they replaced, and the beam is collimated to the area being examined.
- Pregnancy, or any chance of it
- Tell the radiographer before the exposure, not after. X-rays of the chest or a limb deliver very little to the uterus and can often proceed with shielding when clinically necessary, but abdominal and pelvic views are usually deferred or replaced by ultrasound. The decision is made deliberately, by a doctor, in every case.
- Children and repeated imaging
- Children are more radiosensitive and have more years ahead in which an effect could appear, so paediatric exposures use reduced settings and every repeat is justified individually. If you have had several X-rays recently, say so — prior images can often be reused instead.
- Inability to hold the position or the breath
- Movement blurs the image and usually means the exposure has to be repeated, doubling the dose for no benefit. Tell the radiographer if pain, breathlessness or unsteadiness will make the position difficult; the view can almost always be adapted or supported.
- Metal and dense objects in the field
- Jewellery, coins, hairpins, bra underwires, belt buckles, dentures and some clothing prints appear as solid white shadows that can hide the anatomy underneath. They are removed before the exposure rather than worked around.
Who should consider this scan
- Anyone with facial pain and nasal blockage lasting more than ten days
- People with recurrent sinus infections
- Anyone with persistent post-nasal drip or reduced smell
- Patients with suspected nasal septal deviation
- Children with chronic nasal obstruction, where indicated
Conditions it helps detect
How it works
Patient stories
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“Booked at night, sample collected next morning. The parameter breakdown is genuinely thorough.”
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