<p>My husband is debating this surgery. His allergist has recommended it, yet warned him that polyps often come back. It sounds like a very painful surgery, so he’s wondering if it’s worth it. Any opinions?</p>
<p>No advice for your particular issue, but I recently discovered that the Mayo Clinic has a really good medical advice web site. (I don’t think I’m allowed to post the link here, but you can Google it.)
It has comprehensive articles about all sorts of conditions, including nasal polyps, and their treatment. It’s also non-commercial, unlike WebMd.</p>
<p>Why did the allergist recommend it? </p>
<p>I had a fever for six months due to a sinus infection that would not resolve itself. We finally did surgery and I had many polyps removed. The first day or so after the surgery is not fun but I was really too drugged up to remember much of it. Beyond that, it was no worse than any other surgical recovery I’ve had for other procedures.</p>
<p>What are your husband’s symptons with having these polyps?</p>
<p>If it is only for nasal congestions, then I wouldn’t do it.</p>
<p>I had polyps removed in 1991. They haven’t come back, and in fact I was in to see my ENT on another matter recently and he said my sinuses look great. With polyps, I had chronic sinus infections. I think two other things have helped: the invention of Singulair and the fact that I’m no longer exposed to my mother’s cats! The painful part of the process is having your sinuses packed after surgery, but I hear that they remove the packing sooner now.</p>
<p>My mother has had this done several times, along this numerous courses of prednisone to try to keep them under control.</p>
<p>They keep coming back though, and the prednisone had side effects she didn’t like.</p>
<p>I vote with cbreeze. DH did it many years ago. Wasn’t a horrible experience, but not very effective in clearing congestion.</p>
<p>My sister had this done over 10 years ago. She used to sound horribly congested, and now never does. She attributes her improvement to the surgery.</p>
<p>I have also considered this surgery, but have decided that the cons outweigh the prons,from my research, but mostly from advice from others that have had it done. One of my friends now snores terrible and has had a horrible experience.</p>
<p>Important to remember that everyone is different though…</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses. I figured this was a fairly common problem. H doesn’t get a lot of sinus infections, but his congestion is so bad that he can no longer taste what he eats. He’s trying a twice-daily prednisone spray right now. We’ll see if those benefits outweigh the side-effects. It sounds like surgery can work for some people.</p>
<p>You may already know this, but my doctors say that controlling allergies is the key to preventing polyps from returning and/or managing them in the first place. In addition to the spray, make sure your H is on the best allergy treatment regimen.</p>