Sinusitis FAQ

Septoplasty

Question:

On Wed, 20 Apr 2005 22:30:04 GMT, "Steven L." <sdlit…@earthlinkNOSPAM.net> wrote: >bo…@yahoo.com wrote: >> Had septoplasty done yesterday morning (19th), about how long does it >> realistically take before the pain, swelling, bloody nasal drainage, >> and coughing up old wads of blood eases off and you start to feel >> normal? >With me, the pain was pretty much gone in 72 hours.  My doctor had given >me a prescription for Percocet to help cope with the pain. >The bloody nasal drainage continued for another week or so, getting a >little better each day.

Looks like I have a bit longer to go then before I should expect the pain to fade.  The doctor prescribed Hydrocodone/APAP 7.5/500 for the pain and when I called in today to ask whether I could resume using my nasal steroid spray (Nasocort AQ) and get an analgesic nasal spray to reduce the pain, he said no to both.  The steroid spray would constrict the blood vessels and adversely affect the healing process, and if the pain was a problem I should take two of the Hydrocodone/APAP pills every 4-6 hours instead of just one. Hope when all this is over and behind me the benefits prove to have been worth it.  Which for me would just mean being able to see a reduction in the frequency and duration of seasonal sinus infections. My last sinus infection ran from January until March of this year and required three consecutive 5 day Levapak antibiotic prescriptions, then one 10 prescription for Augmentin, followed by one 13 day prescription for Augmentin XR before I was finally over the problem. That’s when I started seriously considering alternative solutions and had a CT scan of my sinuses done and decided to go with the Septoplasty procedure.  My badly deviated septum made the left side too narrow, too easily clogged from congestion related to seasonal allergies, and usually every sinus infection I’ve had in recent years would always begin on that side and then spread.  Used to be easier to just fix the problem by relying on antibiotics to treat the sinus infections as they occured, but after years of repeatedly relying on the usual antibiotics, they just aren’t as effective as they once were.

Response:

I wouldn’t spray anything up there right now not even saline. Let it heal up fast. Think of it like a cut on your skin if you keep messing with it, it takes longer to heal and it scars. Just let it be, don’t mess with it, dont blow your nose either. Im guessing if you have stents you had a deviated septum and he broke it and straightened it. Don’t bend over or lift anything either. I hate codine for a pain killer, it just makes me sleepy.

Response:

O also, I never really expierenced heavy pain but by a week it felt a ton better those first few nights were harsh. After the stents come out you feel 10 times better and id say by the next day you will feel 80%. The healing of the septum will take like 2-3 months to heal up without having some kinda pain when you push on your nose. Its not anything you will feel in day to day things but if you bump your nose you feel it.

Response:

On Thu, 21 Apr 2005 22:43:55 -0400, "frankbcnt" <frankb…@hotmail.com> wrote: >I wouldn’t spray anything up there right now not even saline. Let it heal >up fast. Think of it like a cut on your skin if you keep messing with it, >it takes longer to heal and it scars. Just let it be, don’t mess with it, >dont blow your nose either. Im guessing if you have stents you had a >deviated septum and he broke it and straightened it. Don’t bend over or >lift anything either. >I hate codine for a pain killer, it just makes me sleepy.

I also hate taking anything with codine.  As pain medications go the stuff the doctor prescribed doesn’t have that great of an effect on me, and while the codine in it will initially make me sleepy that doesn’t last for more than a few hours and then I’m awake and can’t get back to sleep again until after I’ve taken the next dose.  Unless I want to be in an endless day and night, on again off again sleep cycle, I have to stop taking the medicine with codine  and switch to something else for the pain.  Which was why I had hoped I could switch to using a nasal spray that could reduce the pain at it’s source with minimal effects on the rest of the body.  

Response:

On 4/22/05 5:37 AM, in article b8oh61d1f3993bb3dtmtu2fr878hdv6…@4ax.com, "bo…@yahoo.com" <bo…@yahoo.com> wrote: > Which was why I had hoped I could switch > to using a nasal spray that could reduce the pain at it’s source with > minimal effects on the rest of the body.

Post op for pain we use Benadryl. Helps you sleep and reduces pain and swelling.

Response:

On Fri, 22 Apr 2005 08:39:44 -0700, Murray Grossan <hydro…@adelphia.net> wrote: >On 4/22/05 5:37 AM, in article b8oh61d1f3993bb3dtmtu2fr878hdv6…@4ax.com, >"bo…@yahoo.com" <bo…@yahoo.com> wrote: >> Which was why I had hoped I could switch >> to using a nasal spray that could reduce the pain at it’s source with >> minimal effects on the rest of the body. >Post op for pain we use Benadryl. Helps you sleep and reduces pain and >swelling.

Bleeding in my nose finally tapered off to nothing today.  Also the pain in my nose isn’t as bad now as it was. Seems like the pain is more generalized in my sinuses (with some sore upper teeth and a feeling of pressure along with soreness below the cheek bones and along my forehead just above the eyebrows).  Without taking anything for pain, feels like I have a large economy sized sinus headache…or a sinus infection. But I’m already on a ten day course of Augmentin that I started as soon as I got out of the hospital, and when I called my doctor and mentioned the sinus pain and pressure he had me stop by his office early Friday morning so he could take a quick look and make sure everything was ok.  There’s obvious swelling, but that and the pain were in line with what he expected.  Told me to keep taking the medications, go get some Neosporin and swab some just inside of my nose with a QTip, and he’d see me next Tuesday (which will be 7 days since I had the surgery).  Although I’m not sure what he intends to do during that visit…another checkup to see how things are progressing, or maybe remove some of the hardware he installed in nose.

Response:

bo…@yahoo.com wrote: > Had septoplasty done yesterday morning (19th), about how long does it > realistically take before the pain, swelling, bloody nasal drainage, > and coughing up old wads of blood eases off and you start to feel > normal?

With me, the pain was pretty much gone in 72 hours.  My doctor had given me a prescription for Percocet to help cope with the pain. The bloody nasal drainage continued for another week or so, getting a little better each day. — Steven D. Litvintchouk Email:  sdlit…@earthlinkNOSPAM.net Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me.

Response:

Had septoplasty done yesterday morning (19th), about how long does it realistically take before the pain, swelling, bloody nasal drainage, and coughing up old wads of blood eases off and you start to feel normal? During the procedure the doctor installed 2 stints and 2 splints. I’ve already started nasal irrigation 3-4 times a day along with spraying instant ocean once an hour. Inside of my nose has been so sore I’ve wished that I had an analgesic nasal spray to use.

Response:

In article <6rsjka$56…@heliodor.xara.net>, "Tony" <aop…@globalnet.co.uk> wrote:

I am sure your doctor can give you this information, if you ask him/her. There is a discussion of this on http://www.entnet.org/ from the American Acadamy of Otolaryngology. > Hi > I am due to have surgery on the bone in the centre of my nose (septum) to > aid sinus drainage. > My operation has been arranged for 31 August and I am urgently seeking > information on what this operation entails. > Any information regarding this operation would be gratefully received. > Thanks in anticipation. > Tony

– Murray Grossan, M.D. http://www.ent-consult.com   tell a friend

Response:

"Tony" <aop…@globalnet.co.uk> writes: >I am due to have surgery on the bone in the centre of my nose (septum) to >aid sinus drainage. >My operation has been arranged for 31 August and I am urgently seeking >information on what this operation entails.

Some septum operations simply involve shaving down the bulging side of the septum. Obviously this would tend to weaken the septum in the case of a very significantly deformed septum. In the latter case, which I had, the septum can be actually removed from between the mucous membranes of the nose, squashed flat in a special device, then returned to its proper position. It’s not the most pleasant of operations from which to recover; I strongly recommend that you master nasal irrigation *before* the surgery, as frequent irrigation after the packing is removed can drastically reduce the production of scar tissue, which must be removed after it forms, a painful process. Nasal irrigation can be done with a WaterPik appliance with a Grossan tip (see www.ent-consult.com), a baby’s nose syringe, or a Neti pot (see various "holistic" health sources). In all cases, nasal irrigation should be done with a saline solution, rather than water, as water is very uncomfortable in the nose. I use a mixture of 1/4 teaspoon (5 ml) salt and 1/4 teaspoon baking  soda in 1 cup (250 ml) of warm water. Some prefer a slightly higher concentration of salt. — Paula Burch … pbu…@bcm.tmc.edu Would you like to learn to tie dye? See my (non-commercial, ad-free) Hand Dyeing pages at http://www.flash.net/~pburch/dyeing.html

Response:

Tony, Tony, I had tremendous blockage to my right sinuses for years and somewhat less blockage to the left side.  I also had a spur or protrusion to the entry of my right sinus.  When my sinuses would swell, the spur would touch the opposite side of the passage, causing great discomfort and headaches.  I had my surgery August of 1997. My ENT made two small incisions.  One in each nostril, at the bottom of the septum.  He worked between the septum and the skin to remove the the cartiledge.   I was in the OR for about 30 minutes.  Never knew what was going on.  Rolled back out after 30 minutes, I dank a cup of coffee and went home. I was feling well enough by the afternoon to drive, but in the early evening came down with a terrible head cold.  I’m told this is normal. The cold lasted several days, about like a head cold usually effects me.  I was miserable with runny nose and eyes for about 3 days. My ENT doctor did not pack my nose.  He does things a little differently.   After the cold symptoms were over, I could breathe 100% better.  I would not trade that surgery for anything in the world.  My sinuses get much more fresh air and I seem to have fewer sinus infections.   Oh yes, I was told not to blow my nose for about a week or 10 days.   When I went back to the ENT Doc about a week  later, he suctioned my lower sinuses and and I went back 6 months later for a checkup.   I never irrigated either. Good luck, mine was not bad at all, and wish I had done it long ago. On Mon, 24 Aug 1998 21:50:27 +0100, "Tony" <aop…@globalnet.co.uk> wrote: >Hi >I am due to have surgery on the bone in the centre of my nose (septum) to >aid sinus drainage. >My operation has been arranged for 31 August and I am urgently seeking >information on what this operation entails. >Any information regarding this operation would be gratefully received. >Thanks in anticipation. >Tony

Jim E-Mail: j…@digitalexp.net

Response:

Hi I am due to have surgery on the bone in the centre of my nose (septum) to aid sinus drainage. My operation has been arranged for 31 August and I am urgently seeking information on what this operation entails. Any information regarding this operation would be gratefully received. Thanks in anticipation. Tony

Response:

Filed under: Nasal irrigation

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