Anybody here have experience with a deviated septum bad enough to not let you breath through your nose (both sides)? Can anybody share recent experiences with having Septoplasty surgery (strictly to correct the septum no other nose altering)? DId the surgery work, how was the healing, and were you able to breath through your nose again? Did any non surgical techniques work?
I had a deviated septum fixed at age 19, my son, 18, had it done twice. Between me and my son, we have had 6 sinus surgeries. We both have inflammation/polyps as well as a dev. septum
My suggestion – to get this done, go to a top ENT and at a research hospital. Do not go to a plastics surgeon. My first one was done by a prominent plastics guy – it was supposed to be 1 day/outpaitent. He also removed my adnoids at the same time. He made some mistake and the next day I started to bleed out. I had to be hospitalized for a week, had multiple blood transfusions and missed a week of college (sophemore year) even though I had the surgery during winter break.
My later ENTs told me the first guy removed more stuff than he needed to (he removed my lower turbinates), and that created lifelong asthma problems when I breath in cold air.
My second surgery was done by a well respected, local ENT. He did a fine job on both me and my son, but both of us needed to repeat the surgery within a year.
The third time we went to a research hospital to an ENT surgeon who only works on difficult sinus surgeries. He gave us a permanent solution – I have now gone 1.5 years and no sign I will need another surgery. He also fixed the dev. Septum that was done to my son previously – the local guy had bungled it and it reverted back to the original position.
The current ENT says it is important to get the Dev. Septum fixed correctly the first time. A lot of time second attempts do not “stick”, and also 2nd attempts cause the surgery to be more intensive with longer recovery time.
I don’t usually write to these non-college threads, but saw this and thought I should share…
Mine was much less traumatic than that one ^, had the surgery when I was 27 or so, done by a local ENT. I missed a day of work, had a little swelling and plastic splints sewn up in the sinuses for a week. Being able to breathe through my nose now has been so worth it. The weird thing was random shooting pains I would get on occasion for about the next year.
As far as I know non-surgical techniques would not have helped at all. He also removed some polyps and scar tissue. I had a lot of sinus and ear infections due to the bunged up septum.
I’m not going to lie, it was pretty darn uncomfortable for the first couple of days. The recovery room was crowded and a nurse didn’t come around with pain pills for about 3 hours. My gf at the time (wife now) had to finally go grab someone.
I didn’t have it on both sides, one side was really deviated. The procedure I had the doctor worked laparascopically (sp?) so there wasn’t any scarring, and afterword I had little to no pain, and I can breath through that side as well as the other one. So yep, it worked well for me.
Mine got progressively worse thru the yea rs, so I was 55. Septoplasty is much more serious, with long tubes. I stayed in bed at least 4 days, and went to work on the 8th, still with tubes.
Annoying was this was cover d, but not the rhinoplasty. Cost a lot, but I wasn’t going to go around with a strange nose