septoplasty and turbinate surgery

Hi Boston...it sounds like you are making some good improvement with your nose being more open now than before surgery. I was told exactly what you were told. First week is the worst in terms of swelling, then it gradually goes down after the next 3 weeks. By 8-12 weeks, you should see your final results. My doctor saw me after the first week, then at the 4 week mark and then released me. This sounds like what your doc is telling you. I was actually really tired for the first 3 weeks post surgery, but everyone is different of course. Take it easy and as Rooster said, try to concentrate on other things. It will get better. Continue with the nasal rinses if it doesn't bother you. It made my nose feel much better each day.

About post to Boston is from me. I hit the submit button at the wrong time. Sorry about that.

It's essential that you check out the surgeon who will be doing the work. It's important to get just the right amount of adjustment, and a botched job can be far worse than before. But a good one is heavenly.

Gondring wrote:It's essential that you check out the surgeon who will be doing the work. It's important to get just the right amount of adjustment, and a botched job can be far worse than before. But a good one is heavenly.

I second that - the surgeon is more important than the choice of instrument.

Of course, this is somewhat circular logic, because a good surgeon will choose the appropriate instrument.

4TCARL wrote:Hi Boston...it sounds like you are making some good improvement with your nose being more open now than before surgery. I was told exactly what you were told. First week is the worst in terms of swelling, then it gradually goes down after the next 3 weeks. By 8-12 weeks, you should see your final results. My doctor saw me after the first week, then at the 4 week mark and then released me. This sounds like what your doc is telling you. I was actually really tired for the first 3 weeks post surgery, but everyone is different of course. Take it easy and as Rooster said, try to concentrate on other things. It will get better. Continue with the nasal rinses if it doesn't bother you. It made my nose feel much better each day.

Thanks, san jose. I am wondering did your doc's prediction work for you? Did you experience significant improvement between the 2nd and 4th week? and when did the improvement stop? For me, now I am 9 days post op. I could say my breath is definitely better than before the surgery, but still far from free breath. One apparent sign is the sound I make when breath is still much louder than normal people and feels some resisting force when inhale or exhale the air. Btw, I feels tired after the surgery possibly because my heart rate increases (80+ now and 100 right after surgery...)

Hi,

I wanted to share my very good experience with septoplasty & turbinate reduction surgery. I'm a 49 yr. old malein otherwise good health.

Had the surgery on 6/19. I read all the internet forum posts and researched heavily before my surgery. The wide variety of experiences I read about had me perplexed. How would I respond? Wake up screaming in pain or desireous of a sandwich?

I'm happy to report that I ate soup and half a sandwich about an hour after getting home from the outpatient procedure. I was prescribed vicodan for pain but didn't need anything. I did have a scratchy throat from the breathing tube used during surgery. Water and throat losenges kept the discomfort to a minimum.

I will admit that for me, the first night was completely miserable for me due to the packing. No pain but extreme discomfort. I've conditioned myself to breath out of my nose and the packing prevented me from doing that. Every time I would nod off to sleep I would wake up with the sensation of suffocating because I was trying to breath out of a nose that could not pass air. I just stayed up all night watching bad TV and went to my surgeons office the next morning two hours before my scheduled appointment. She saw me early and removed the packing. This was painless. Less than 24 hours post surgery I was breathing far better than before the surgery.

Nose was very dry for the next 5 days. Saline spray helped that. I felt better every day. On day 6 my splints were removed and I was cleared to gently blow my nose.

I've had two additional follow-up apointments to have my surgeon suck out dead tissue crud. She removed a big wad of clotted blood today and that opened things up even more.

I'm sleeping really well, breathing great and I'm not fully healed. Nose is a little dry but overall I feel great about the decision to have the procedure. If you are considering having this done and are stressing out, please spare yourself the worry. Minimal inconvenience for huge improvements. I missed three days of in-office work including the day of surgery.

Don't stress!

Hey Boston...it's great that you are already experiencing improvement. That's excellent news!!!! Yes, I did notice improvement between the 2nd and 4th week. I would say my complete result was evident by 7-8 weeks post surgery. I will tell you that during that time I did have days where my nose wasn't as open as it was on other days and it freaked me out that the surgery wasn't going to work. I can tell you, 8 months post surgery, that my breathing is much better and the surgery was the best thing I did. Is my nose absolutely perfect now? No, it's not. But it is so much better than it was before I had the procedure. I was diagnosed with allergies a couple of months prior to surgery. That definitely contributes to the amount of congestion I feel on any given day. Do you know if you have allergies? I don't have typical symptoms (sneezing, runny nose, itchy, watery eyes). The only real symptom I have is congestion in my nose, for which I use a spray steroid and antihistamine as needed. Might be worth checking out if you don't know. As Rooster mentioned in a previous post, try to focus on something else other than your breathing if you can (I know it was hard for me at first). It will make a difference and I think will help in your healing in the long run. I know that the more I felt stressed about it, the higher my blood pressure was and my heart rate was through the roof some days. As I mentioned before, I was tired for about three weeks post surgery. Your body is healing itself and ridding itself of the drugs they gave you for surgery. I used it as a good excuse to take naps. You will get your energy back, don't worry.

Hey sanjose, thanks for your reply. From what you mentioned, I have the feeling that we have very similar symptoms. Actually I had allergy test about two month before the surgery and I was diagnosed as 'dust &dust mite allergic'. But when I talked to an ENT doctor(not my surgeon), he said that kind of test might not be accurate since the test was done to our skin, not turbinate in the nose. My allergic symptom only includes congestion too , So how are you feeling now? Is the nose still a bothering you? I got from your last reply that we cant expect perfect nose from the surgery, but what I am expecting is at least a nose not bothering my daily life. Actually I have tried Nasonex and Veramyst before the surgery (also some antihistamin) unfortunately, they all failed on me. I am still using veramyst now as instructed by my surgeon.

Hey Boston...what I meant is that for me, my nose isn't perfect. That's not to say your's won't be, so please don't be discouraged by how I feel about my nose. That being said, as I mentioned, my nose is 1000 times better AFTER surgery than it was before and I have no regrets whatsoever about it. It definitely improved my breathing, and it sounds like it has already started to do so for you as well. Hang in there. What I also didn't mention is that the doc wanted me to have two other procedures...a septoplasty and a nasal valve repair. My deviated septum is actually very slight, but because it is located high up on the septum, they were going to have to do an open rhinoplasty. I decided not to do it as the septal deviation is so slight, it's not really interfering. Sounded like a lot of pain for nothing. I have the same allergies as you, as well as seasonal. Ugh! I tried just about every nasal steroid there is. The only one that really helps is the Flonase for me. I also take the occasional Allegra (prescription) when stuff is really bad around here.

Hey Boston...I just realized that I didn't explain well why I don't think my nose works perfectly. It's not because I don't feel the surgery worked, but rather because I have lingering allergies. The surgery definitely worked. Hope this helps.

Hey Sanjose, I wish after several weeks I can say the same thing '1000 times better after the surgery'. Actually today there's a chunk of blood and mucus coming out from my throat, surprised me a little bit and after that I felt some improvement of breath, just like the first time I flushed out some dried blood when rinsing. I am wondering if moving to another place would reduce your allergy to the environment?

Hey Boston...how are you feeling these days? Breathing better, I hope?

TraceyES

One tip...when you go to kiss your significant other, make him/her hold completely still and allow you to make the approach and the kiss. The "face bumping" potential for kissing is high.

thanks for the kissing instructions.
I never have thought to find post surgery kissing instructions on this forum

do you have kissing instructions for UPPP surgery?

I am having tongue advancement surgey next week. do you have L###ing instructions for this surgey??

Has anyone been able to reduce their pressure or go off CPAP when they get septoplasty and turbinate surgery? Or does it just improve CPAP therapy?

Hi all,

I am having surgery Tuesday, 6/22. I am having a septoplasty, turbinate reduction, and correction of a C.B. cell (concha bullosa). I am hopeful that I will both see an improvement in daily breathing, and better CPAP results. Currently any congestion at all and my numbers go up. I see my AHI range from 1.9 to 10.6 from day to day depending on the pollen count, and other environmental factors. At my last visit to the ENT who is doing my surgery, he found that my left nostril - breathing passage, was 99% obstructed between the deviated septum and the C.B. cell.

Luckily my ENT/Surgeon uses the latest surgical technique, also described by Dr Steven Park, and he does not use any nasal packing or splints, and instead uses a "Quilt stitch" to secure the corrected septum while it heals. My surgeon says I should notice significantly improved breathing as soon as I wake up from the anesthesia. I am just excited to not have to deal with the packing or splints as they seem to be the most unpleasant part of the recovery from what I have read.

Hopefully all will go well, surgery is never fun, and I guess I really do not know what I am getting myself into, but I trust my Dr, and I am hopeful it will all be worth it to be able to breath well for the first time in years, perhaps for the first time in my life.

I have an Auto machine, and while I am using it in straight CPAP mode now, I plan to put it into Auto mode when I am able to use it again, and I will see if my pressure changes.

Wish me well, I will report on my surgery, and recovery in this thread next week.

Regards,

Brooks, aka Skier757.