AS a sufferer of chronic sinusitis since 11th grade of high school (im now an MS1), Id like to point out a few things from my personal experience:
The image portrayed of "pt with sinusitis often has had a cold for only a few days" is garbage. I personally will never see a doc unless i've been severly congested for atleast 10d.
Antibiotics HAVE significantly helped me through my incidents, which occur >4/yr. I've seen an allergist and have been on allegra and flonase for several years, it has helped to reduce the frequency. I've been CTd by an ENT for possible FESS, and am not a candidate because my ostia are normal and there is not significant scar tissue in any of my sinuses (my maxillary sinuses are the ones most often implicated). The ENT did remove my adenoids, which were abnormally enlarged, this past summer. But i've had one case of sinusitis since then, so it might reduce the freq. but it certainly hasn't removed the problem.
I think anyone who has said that Abs are only for extreme cases with high fever needs to reconsider, as I don't even present with fever during sinusitis, and until you know the chronic pain associated with it you shouldnt be so quick to judge. So far it has been the ONLY effective treatment for me.