British Snoring & Sleep Apnoea Association

Hi Jo,
hope it's worked out right for you this time but I guess you won't know for sure for a few weeks until the internal swelling goes down fully.
fingers crossed for you!

I go in for my op on the 29th of this month, feeling a bit nervous already but i know it should be worth it in the long run.

all the best
Neil

Best of luck Neil and keep us posted as to your post-op progress. I hope that this is the start of something good.

Thank you Moggyman im praying this time its worked as this time it was much bigger op i still have a problem breathing the side ive had the most problems with but the other side i can breath great thats the side they did most work this time just have 2 wait and see still early days i guess

Good luck Neil you will be fine

jo

thanks Alsa and Jo,
I know you're right and everything will be fine just not really looking forward to it.
doesn't help when you work in the hospital mortuary as i do and my colleagues are doing their best to wind me up! mind you they have promised me a clean shroud if their predictions come true!
on a more serious note i will keep you up to speed with my progress after the op, hope things are improving for you Jo.
all the best.
Neil

Moggyman

Good luck with op, keep us posted

Mac

Hi folks,
well had my septoplasty and turbinate reduction done yesterday at the Castle Hill Hospital Cottingham, all went well and no packing was needed although the surgeon did inform me that he inserted several sutures in an attempt to keep my septum reasonably straight and if that doesn't work he'll need to do it using the "old fashioned open technique".
don't quite know what that is but i can imagine it's rather more unpleasant
so i'l try not to think about that unless i have to.
everything feels very blocked and tender but i did manage to use the cpap overnight so thats a bonus! although my mouth was drier than the sahara this am.
asked regarding washing out with salt water but was told that it wasn't deemed necessary and the only advice given was don't attempt to blow your nose for a week, expect some intermittant bleeding, don't do any lifting for 2 weeks and contact the ward in the event of any concerns.
apart from expecting a little more detailed advice i can't fault the service given by the hospital, but then i may be biased as a trust employee!
in all honesty i think people and especially the press are fast to criticise the NHS whenever the oppotunity arises but very rarely give praise where praise is due so therefore all my thanks to the staff on wd 16 and the surgical staff, also to the cleaning portering and catering staff without whom our entire health service would fall apart, but they are the most undervalued and underpaid staff in the NHS.

right off me soapbox now!
hope everyone is well
Neil

ps how are you doing MAC? fully recovered i hope.

Hi everyone.. I basically read through all of these pages as I, too, had a septoplasty and turbinate reduction procedure done this past Friday (being December 3rd, 2010). My right nostril has always had a difficult time in regard to gasping for air.. I've constantly been caught applying pressure to the left nostril and breathing in real hard so all air goes in to the right, for example... So after having seen one ENT, I decided to look for a second opinion as I was advised I would need my nose broken to rectify my situation. So, my current doctor tells me that he would perform the septoplasty and as well, the turbinate reduction on both nostrils when I thought if anything, it would only be done on the right nostril as that was the culprit in so much unhappiness. Upon leaving the hospital, I was not given any dose of pain medication as I appeared "chipper" coming out of anesthesia (um, yeah, you're doped up, go figure!) I will say, my nose was packed with a stuffed rubber glove (and I'm allergic to latex), and I was so worried that my nose would stay this shape (it hasn't, in case you're worried for yourself), but although the pain was the WORST those first 24 hours, I am no currently on day 5, almost 6, and having this perpetually stuffed nose and breathing through the mouth has been causing me to become really anxious and starting to become rather depressed along with that. More and more I feel like there's liquid in the back of my nostrils that I can not get to and it causes me to feel as if I'm drowning. My ears feel full and can't fully pop either. I've resorted to a decongestant to assist but it doesn't budge much. Tomorrow I go to have it looked at and I'm curious about a few things; does anyone know if they still vacuum those nose out even if there aren't any splints? When I look up my nose alert (gross alert!) it looks like a raw T-Bone steak up each nostril, so I'm surmising that these are the swollen turbinates? This is very uncomfortable and all I want to do is just... breath, and desperately and horribly. Thinking about this makes me become teary eyed because I feel that had I of known this beforehand, I never would have had this done as you come out with all the symptons you were hoping to rectify and fix. Can anyone tell me how many days post surgery that you were breathing comfortably again? I see so many say after a few weeks but I just can't get by with this much longer.. my sleep has been zilch and it's just miserable. Your words would greatly be appreciated. Thank you...

Hi All
I have just read through the posts on here as I have been looking for some guidance after having septoplasty and endoscopy to clear polyps in my sinuses on Monday (3 days ago) and I am feeling much more reassured so thank you!
I didn't find out until I met my surgeon on admittance to the day surgery unit that I would also be having work done on my septum (it had been mentioned as a possible cause of my symptoms but major polyps were what I had been told was the cause!). My problems started with a cold in February when my taste and smell disappeared, over the following months this got slowly worse and my nose became continously blocked, constantly running and I started to experience pressure headaches. Before this, apart from the odd slight sinus pains when I had a cold, I had never had a problem with my nose in 29 years so this is all completely new to me!

Since my op I have felt VERY blocked up and pretty emotional (which I'm told is from the general anasthetic). I have attempted a nasal douche every day as instructed but so far nothing much is happening as I can't inhale through my nose at all. I have managed to very gently blow my nose but that is all.
My nose is very runny - sometimes clear, sometimes bloody - and my head feels very pressurised. When I swallow my ears sometimes pop but that is improving.

My nose was slightly swollen and I had a couple of red marks on my temples at first but this is slowly going away - even though I feel like Rocky Bilboa!!

My husband (very bravely) had a look up my nose last night and swears he can see something in my left nostril which is worrying me! They removed some packing as soon as they woke me up and I am sure there is nothing left in there so I think it may be some clotting...has anyone experienced anything similar to this? I'm feeling slightly paranoid but after reading all of your posts I think it could be swelling, clotting etc....

The only other thing I can report is that the roof of my mouth and top front teeth feel achy, as well as my septum - I would best describe it as feeling like I have been hit in the face by a netball!

Any comments on the above from anyone experiencing the same would be appreciated, and good luck to anyone else about to have the op.

I'll keep checking back for replies and to give feedback on my hooter!!
I just really hope my smell and taste come back for Xmas!
Thanks - Sian

Sian, hi! I had posted just prior to your post in regard to the same thing.. I have an update, albeit mild, regarding this.. I, too, was in tears... very emotional, very upset... I would call my best friend 2000 miles away (which was her birthday yesterday) and barely conversating as one) i can't talk due to the congested-like feeling and two) because i've been so emotional over the uncomfortable frustration to the process. Like your husband, I had my cousin peek up my nose to confirm what I saw: a strange looking "thing" (?) up each nostril which I thought was just the turbinates (I had the reduction in this case) and that they were uber upset over being worked on. Well, I went back to my ENT yesterday for my first check up (being 6 days post-op) and first he numbed my nose and then applied these pliers-like things up each nostril and removed the things that I was seeing up there! I wasn't able to take a peek but my mom whom was with me had said they appeared to be these almost dime sized gel filled balls! The doctor never told me anything such as splints were going up there, and instead he said that these were membranes he was now removing. Ok, I know being the more creative type that medicine was not my thing, but my brother is and even he was saying that these must have been a more modern version of a splint. He vacuumed out the nose and removed some more who knows what, but I couldn't even tell you how much better I would have felt mentally and emotionally knowing that these devices were contributing to my frustration. So, being now a day later, I still can't breathe properly through my nose. My right nostril was the more difficult one prior to the surgery as it was the deviated side, and still, it's not budging in regard to getting proper air through. As my doctor said, "it's mad". So, what I meant to add was that I wonder if you do have splints up there. I had no idea at all and was feeling absolutely MISERABLE to it. Now, I'm just waiting to get some air through my nose. I miss being able to smell and taste and sleep? Forget it. I'm up until 4 or 5am and wake up at 11 like clockwork. I know it's only been 7 days but I'm curious as to how long most people had to wait to get an ACTUAL breath of air through their nose. Sometimes it's difficult to be optimistic of the advantages of this recovery when you feel so not good during it.

Hi folks,
Well it's now two weeks since I had the op and I can sympathise with the two posts above as I felt pretty much the same as them at first, fed up with breathing through the mouth and totally blocked nostrils. However I can say don't get discouraged it does get better!
I found that after several days I had a lot of dried blood clot which started to come away and although it was quite frustrating when I could feel it there and couldn't shift it as each bit comes out the breathing through the nose becomes a little easier and more pleasant.
So don't get too disheartened folks it will get better but remember your nose has suffered a lot of surgical trauma during the procedure and it will take quite a while for the swelling to resolve itself, I was told up to 3 months before I would feel the real benefit of the op but even now my breathing is probably slightly better than it was originally (but my nasal airway was about 98% occluded prior to the op).

so chin up, it will get better!

Neil

Hi,
Looking for some advice please...
To cut a long story short early this year(back in July) I had my 2nd septoplasty operation and was really pleased with the outcome but since the last 3 weeks my nose seems to have gone back to how it used to be and cant breathe through the right side of my nose again and to look at it seems to of bent out of shape slightly to what it was-but nothing has happend to cause this. Is this normal for this to happen that it goes back to how it was before ?

Hi,
I am new to the forum and looking for some advice please.
To cut a long story short in july this year I had my 2nd septoplasty operation to help with not being able to breathe through the right side of my nose and both myself and the doctor was really pleased with the outcome of the operation and I could breathe through my nose again but over the past 3 weeks my nose has got worse and worse again and seems to of gone back to how it used to be and the shape seems to off slightly changed-but nothing has happend to cause this. Is this normal for this to happen ?
Thanks

Hi - I'm so sorry i never replied to your post i have just returned to the site for the first time! How are you getting along? It's been 4 weeks since my op and I am so happy! My nose cleared after about 2 weeks and my smell and taste are better than ever!!!
I went to my GP in the end about the things i saw up my nose and she confirmed it was just swelling and mucus, etc, etc, YUCK!! I don't want to gross anyone out but some extremely strange things have come out of my nose in the weeks since my op but I think it is just my body naturally healing itself.
I think that compared to some of the stories i have read on here, i had a pretty easy time. My best advice is to keep up with the nasal douche for 3 weeks (I got a syringe for the early days as there was no way I could inhale anything....far too blocked up! The douching is awful but it works and I have to use nasal drops twice a day but it is a small price to pay to be able to taste again!
I have my post-op check up on 17th Jan and I can't wait to thank my surgeon...at first i thought he was a butcher but now I am eternally grateful!
Good luck to anyone who is having or has had the surgery!
Sian

Hi i had a septoplasty and its been a year. I still feel pain from time to time. The doctor never used any stitches which i find very strange. I asked the consultant and he said some doctors dont! What do you guys think about that? My surgery was done in Manchester withington hospital.

Taz

I had this done on tuesday. It hurt so much the first couple of days and felt awful. In the UK, they don't give you antibiotics afterwards. The cuts on either side of the septum look red and are bulging slightly, do you think this is infected bad enough to request antibiotics?

Thanks