Deviated Septum Surgery

hey folks!

last Monday(today is Friday) i had the surgery done to correct the deviated septum. According to the doctor, it wasn't complicated and it lasted approx 1h15min. I underwent a full anesthesia. I was a bit scared of doing it but it turned out to be fine(unless there's a long term side effect).

When i woke up, i had a small packing on the outside of the nose to keep the blood from dripping. No packing was needed. I had the surgery at 9:30am, i was out of the hospital at 12:30. Once i got home, i went straight to bed with small tampons(LOL) in my nose. Next day i woke, thinking i'll be ready to go to resume my daily activities, boy was i wrong. When i woke up, i thought i was in Antarctica, shivering and sweating at the same time. I was making short trips to the bathroom every 2 hours. At that point, my head was pounding so hard that i thought i'll pain a vain or something. I couldn't think properly let alone do anything. At this point i was still bleeding. I popped a liquid gel advil and passed out.

Next morning(2 days after surgery), when i woke up, i thought was gonna start seeing improvements. I didn't have any nose pain but pretty much the same scenario as the day before. the bleeding still didn't stop.

3 days after surgery, less shivering, weak, can't breath with my nose and still bleeding.

4 days after surgery, some shivering, can't breath with my nose, bleeding continues.

5 days after surgery, some shivering, left nostril completely blocked(that the surgery side) and right nostril, 80% blocked(getting air out sounds like a cricket). Still bleeding.

I have doctors appointment on tuesday coming up, i hope he'll be able to let me know what's the deal with bleeding.

Hey, regarding the surgery for a deviated septum. I had it done back in 2004. It took about 90 minutes, there was no pain afterwards. They separated the inner skin from the cartilage and chipped away abit of cartilage off the tip, sewed everything back up and that was that. They placed a small tube inside each nostril to help with the breathing. About 10 days later they removed the tubes and I was breathing just fine. My nose was sensitive to the touch which lasted a few months but then everything healed up just fine and still today I breathe so much better. Mind you it didn’t relieve my sinus issues and I still snore but I CAN BREATH which makes a big difference for me.
Hope this helps.

I literally just had this done 3 days ago. I promise you my surgeon did not break my nose!! Honestly, there is a lot of pressure but it isn't that bad (don't get me wrong, I am so happy for my pain pills). There is A LOT of maintenance though (flushing and cleaning the nose).

As per the "packing"-- I have none, my doctor put in splints. i did have to keep gauze under my nose for about 2 days-but that is just for the blood to drop onto.

Hello everyone, I just had my septum straignten and sinuses unblocked and 2weeks later my nose is still very sore and I'm not breathing any better!

I experience bleeding for the entire 2weeks and was told not to blow my nose once the packing was removed. So the blood clots were now going to the back of my throat (sorry is sounds disgusting). The surgery was about 1hr and I didnt experience any real pain until after the packing was removed.

If the doc tells you you can return back to work the next day (my doctor told me this).....DON'T BELIEVE HIM/HER!!! I would advise you rest for a good week before you think about returning back to work.

My post op appt is soon comming so maybe good news to come! :-(

I am scheduled to have a septoplasty in about a week, and I am completely freaking out. I can't imagine not being able to breath out of your nose - I have a panic attack when one side is blocked!

Any ideas? Am I overreacting?

Had my surgery two days ago, all my family and friends were begging me to get it. The doctors made it sound like a walk in the park. It definitely has been hell, no matter how well I can breath after.

Its not the pain at all, they put you out and you dont feel a thing, its just the pressure from the packing and the dried blood. The scariest part is when they pull the packing out, like other writers said it is very deep inside you and nothing can prepare you for when they yank it out. My doctor decided to have his resident do it without him there for obvious reasons, its really bad. They dont warn you but the packing probably isnt working if you have leaking, which is what i had and pulled those things out of my brain the bloodgates opened right up, spewing blood everywhere, the resident dr what scared as hell so was I, lucky i had billards on TV and tried to focus on that. He then got some afrin and was squirting it up my nose to stop the bleeding, when that didnt work he grabed a fist full of wood long qtips and shoved 100 up my nose as tight as possible. Meanwhile my mouth is full of blood so i grabbed a cup and start spitting it out. Bloode was everywhere. Then he pulled them out which was so painful and it started gushing again and he said he wanted to re[pack my nose and i said just try the qtips again so he did and after about an hour it slowed down and he agreeed not to pack it again. It still leaks alittle but i slept without a bandage and it dried up a little. People are saying to use saline but i'm afraid this will make it bleed more.

On top of this he dr used a medicine that made my heart race like crazy. today I'm just really dizzy and light headed, no real [ain but my septum feels really weak. The whole thing is just scary, not an easy recovery by any means! i will see my dr in a week he is suppose to clean out the scabs but it just freaks me out all the risks involved.

They arent going to invent a medicine that cures you because then they can do all these surgeries and that's where the money is at.

I recommend just living with your stuffy nose even with polyps!

i had my surgery done yesterday and boy i hate not breathing i have a fear of suffocating and i was so worried last night and did not want to fall asleep thinking i was going to choke on the drainage but made it threw and this morning i took the gause out myself and immediately started to breathe i do have a stuffy nose but it has only been a day so i am looking forward to one week from now so i could blow my nose out. i had the surgery because of all the cocaine and a few broken noses in the past stopped me from being able to breathe at night of course the doc. sent me for a sleep study and determined i have sleep apnea so i sleep with a c-pap machine

Anybody ever have it this bad?

The surgery for my septoplasy and turbinate reduction was 6 days ago. The surgery went well and was only 40 mins. When I woke I felt fine as the anesthesia wore off. I thought it was no biggie and was going to be really easy. Next day i was a mess. First off learning to breathe and eat, drink through your mouth is hard and ive since day 2 developed like a filmy goo over my lips and mouth. Finding it very hard to eat or drink. I had tremendous pressure on my entire head, felt like my head weighed 100 pounds and my eyes were sensitive to light and coundn't stand loud noise. More importantly my top 2 front teeth and upper lip were numb and my teeth in my mouth hurt. I saw my dr the next day and he said he had to cut an opening in my nose to my naval cavity. Words can not describe the pain of what he did. Since then the pressure hasn't been that bad however I have been pouring out blood everyday and night, even with the bandage with straps that you wear. For some reason the bleeding isn't stopping so now it doesn't seem like the stents will come out on Monday as was planned. Also, I've lost 10 pounds this week. I know everyones body reacts differently and heals differently but does this experience so far resemble anyone else's because I'm past frustration. i'd like to know that this will be over really quickly because this is torture.

For those of you that are having the surgery don't let me scare you off, everyone is different, I'm just wondering if anyone else had issues like this and if so when i can expect this to end already so I can go back to my life.

I had my deviated septum fixed on a Tuesday. Not to much pain. I did have a lot of build up of blood in my nose since I had packing. I had so much that my left eye started bleeding...alot! That was a pain. On Thursday I had the packing removed.....ouch!! As they were pulling it out, it felt like there was not end to the amount of packing. Once the packing was out the bleeding in my eye stopped. I had the splints removed the following Monday......again, ouch!!! That was not pleasent!! Nose is still very sore to the touch and the drainage and the stuffiness....what a hassel. Hopefully in the end when this heals completely, I can breather better!!

I had my done on Monday 4/13/09. They did pack the nose with tampons, but they came out on Tuesday. Felt much better after that. Had the spilnts removed today (Friday) and doing better. Still sore, but I'm pretty sure it was a success. Very little pain. The worst part was waking up after surgery with the packing in your nose. My doctor gives his patients xanax to help keep them calm while they have the packing in because it can be uncomfortable. I was worried about the removal of the packing and the splints, but took my pain meds right before the appt. and it was not that hard. Glad it's over and looking forward to breating better and no more sinus infections. I would recommend it if you seriously are having problems.

Today is Saturday, had surgery Thursday - about 1 1/2 hour outpatient procedure. Had packing in my nose and some bleeding the first night.
Not in alot of pain but very uncomfortable - terrible sinus pressure, eyes watering, headache. Cold washcloth on my eyes/forehead helped as did sucking on a few popsicles. Packing was removed Friday am - momentarily shocking but it was over pretty quickly. Doc numbed and cleaned out nasal cavities and I could breath! I thought this was a breeze.

WRONG!! Got home and everything stopped up again. Taking Claritin, Sudafed and Tylenol and back to washcloth and popsicles. Also, using a nasal rinse that at first worked well but now that every thing is stopped up, kindof just drips back out the way it went in. Called Doc last night and apparently this is normal.

So, today - Saturday - am minimally better. No bleeding now but have the sensation that I am going to sneeze which scares me to death. At this point, not sure it was worth it but will give it a few weeks to see if Im wrong again.

I had surgery to repair poor sinus drainage and a deviated septum 2 days ago. I've heard & read so many diverse descriptions of the post-surgery pain/treatment. The truth is that the amount of trauma introduced differs for many reasons. My surgeon gave me the detailed explanation of what to expect and then, at the end, said a lot of it will depend on what she saw when she actually got in there.

In my case, splints were used to keep the septum in place and allow drainage with no packing. The one side was nearly completely sealed, so a lot of work was done. Since the day it was done, I've had a gauze holder stretched from ear to ear to catch the light mixture of body fluid and blood that's been consistently trickling out. I gently flush 3 to 4 times a day, which seems to help.

For pain, I've been using percocet (often counting the hours until I'm allowed to take the next dosage). My nose and upper lip swelled up a lot and I have what reminds me of a severe sinus infection. Hot & cold sweats, pretty intense headache and steady drainage. Additionally, I do tend to swallow a moderate amount of blood, but I haven't vomitted.

The pain level is certainly higher than what I was anticipating, but it had to be done. Except the first day after surgery, I've actually noticed an instant and marked improvement in the ability to breathe through my nose (although I try not to in an attempt to allow as much drainage as possible).

So far, I'm pretty excited about the prospect of not have 8-10 sinus infections a year due to poor sinus draining and improved breathability. I return to have the splints removed in 4 days. I will post again then.

I just had it done the other day and it was probably the easiest surgery I have ever been through. I reccomend it though. I am already breathing better and I sleep better too.

I'm commenting on an old posting from Kelly you had severe pain with surgery and still stuffed up. I too had the surgery and never felt so much pain in my life! The stents placed in my nose were 3"long and 1" wide and when they were pulled from my nose I too was bleeding a lot! The doc said crying is ok but stop bleeding on me. I'd rather have a broken clavical again. Anyhow, I agree with Kelly and would never had the surgery. Check all other options first. I'm 16, maybe it would have worked if I was older.

I had one done on the 16th, and I'm glad i did. It was laser surgery and i promise they wont break your nose, I have a wonderful surgeon named doctor Hardnick at the MGH in Boston, Ma that suggested i get it. I had a horrible deviated septum not only was it really deviated, but large. It was extremely hard to breath, and because of that I'd get sweaty, hot, and tired easily. I thought it was normal because I've had it for a long time but I'm looking forward to see what is really like to actually breath for once. The min i woke up from anastasia, i could notice a difference but it got stuffy as the day or two went by and bleed. Its common for bleeding to happen after surgery so they give you this elastic thing (like cut off part of the masks they where to cover their mouths)with some gauze. There ascent really any pain when i left the hospital but you look pretty funny walking down the street with that thing on your face. When you wake up from surgery, your thought its so sore and they wont give you anything to drink because you ll get sick so instead they give you ice for like 2o minutes, then they give you a beverage. Its strange to eat, smile, walk, sneeze (they tell you to try not to sneeze, blow your nose, or breath out of your nose) after for a few days. The second day after the procedure only the left side of my nose hurt so much, making any for of an expiration on my face excruciatingly painful. thankfully it didnt last to long on like 4 day, now I'm so happy that part over and done with. at that time i was pissed i did the surgery, trust me you would to. You still need to keep in mind its different for everyone so for you it might not be as bad. the nose swells up a bit you can feel it but its not like a ballon. the 22nd and the 3rd, i two separate gross odd moment, one i accidently sneezed and dry blood scab thing it was nasty flew out of my nose, i was a little worried something bad happened but I'm fine. the second my nose was all fluids and i was trying to clear it but doing that thing were you heave the c**p from your nose and spit it out instead of blowing your nose because well you litterly cant blow your nose, well for me it was sent possible because there was no way for it to come out from the swelling on the inside of the nose. so during this second misshape i went to go spit it out in the trash and a disgusting huge ball of I'm not sure what came out with that mucus blood. it smelt horrible. sorry for the mental image. thats the fist week, hoep it helps