Sinusitis FAQ

SINUS SURGERY

Question:

I recently had a relatively new type of sinus surgery called powered FESS. Instead of  a miniature scalpel, the surgeon uses a high-powered scraper to remove diseased tissue. This new procedure causes less trauma  and bleeding while promoting faster healing. As a result, nasal packing (the pits!) is usally not necessary. If you want the name of  my particular surgeon in Manhattan, send me e-mail and I’ll be glad to give it to you.   -Jake-

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Aaron Fox wrote: > On 27 Sep 1996, Marc Giller wrote: > > At any rate, I would like to hear from anyone who has undergone > > surgery.  There is a post (see below) describing the experience > > of surgery, but I haven’t been able to find much detail about > > long-term outcomes.  A quick search turned up very few examples: > Can’t tell you about long-term outcomes yet, as I had FESS about 15 days > ago.  But I can tell you that about 3 days ago I passed the point where I > felt about like I did the day before the surgery and have continued to > feel MUCH better.  The first week after the surgery was a time of > miserable pain  (but good pain killers made it bearable).  The next week, > after the packing was out,  I still had bad congestion and pressure.  This > week I can breathe better than anytime in the past year.  And I’m not > taking any drugs for the first time in a year too as of two days ago. > What a liberation!  Even if this only gives me two years of peace before I > need it again I am grateful (2 years is the shortest repeat time I have > heard about).  A week of pain and a few weeks of fatigue every two years > would be preferable to months and months of sinusitis. > > No mention was made of the reasons for surgery — eg. deviated > > septum or polyps or narrow tube opening into sinuses. > Mine was for a) reduction of enlarged turbinates, b) removal of scar > tissue from infection as well as removal of actively infected tissue, and > c) removal of polyps which prevented drainage .  You could see the > blockage and scar tissue quite clearly on a CT-scan.  I feel like a huge > core of blockage was removed from my head, and it feels GREAT.  Find a > *really* good surgeon, one who does FESS several times a week.  You’ll be > amazed at the difference. > Aaron > *************************************************************************** *** >                                 Aaron A. Fox, > Assistant Professor,    Dept. of Anthropology,   University of Washington > Box 353100, Seattle WA 98195-3100, FAX 206-543-3285, TEL: 206-685-1811 > EMAIL: a…@u.washington.edu > WWW: http://weber.u.washington.edu/~aaf/ > "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass.  And I’m all out of > bubblegum!" —  "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, in John Carpenter’s *They Live* > "There ain’t nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and > dead armadillos" — Jim Hightower. > *************************************************************************** ***

Aaron- remember me? I have one question, my CT-scan showed nothing (or so they said, I never did get the results, all they told me was it was "negative"). I know I must have scar tissure from my addiction to "Duration", which was about 15 years ago and lasted for 2 years. Would surgery clear this up as well? I know I need to get a new ENT, where would I be able to get a recommendation for one in the South Jersey area? THANKS!!!

Response:

On 27 Sep 1996, Marc Giller wrote: > At any rate, I would like to hear from anyone who has undergone > surgery.  There is a post (see below) describing the experience > of surgery, but I haven’t been able to find much detail about > long-term outcomes.  A quick search turned up very few examples:

Can’t tell you about long-term outcomes yet, as I had FESS about 15 days ago.  But I can tell you that about 3 days ago I passed the point where I felt about like I did the day before the surgery and have continued to feel MUCH better.  The first week after the surgery was a time of miserable pain  (but good pain killers made it bearable).  The next week, after the packing was out,  I still had bad congestion and pressure.  This week I can breathe better than anytime in the past year.  And I’m not taking any drugs for the first time in a year too as of two days ago. What a liberation!  Even if this only gives me two years of peace before I need it again I am grateful (2 years is the shortest repeat time I have heard about).  A week of pain and a few weeks of fatigue every two years would be preferable to months and months of sinusitis. > No mention was made of the reasons for surgery — eg. deviated > septum or polyps or narrow tube opening into sinuses.

Mine was for a) reduction of enlarged turbinates, b) removal of scar tissue from infection as well as removal of actively infected tissue, and c) removal of polyps which prevented drainage .  You could see the blockage and scar tissue quite clearly on a CT-scan.  I feel like a huge core of blockage was removed from my head, and it feels GREAT.  Find a *really* good surgeon, one who does FESS several times a week.  You’ll be amazed at the difference. Aaron *************************************************************************** ***                                 Aaron A. Fox, Assistant Professor,    Dept. of Anthropology,   University of Washington Box 353100, Seattle WA 98195-3100, FAX 206-543-3285, TEL: 206-685-1811 EMAIL: a…@u.washington.edu WWW: http://weber.u.washington.edu/~aaf/ "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass.  And I’m all out of bubblegum!" —  "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, in John Carpenter’s *They Live* "There ain’t nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos" — Jim Hightower. *************************************************************************** ***

Response:

Filed under: Sinusitis surgery

Related Posts

• eye problems-sinusitis
• Nasal Irrigation Water
• How to treat dry stuffiness in nose while having hypertrophic vasomotor (allergic) rhinitis?
• Surgery questions
• Surgery or ???
• I think it's time....
• How to find a good surgeon ?
• Infection after surgery
• OT The Headache Saga Continues
• ENT says septoplasti necessary - for real?