I've been doing frequent saline rinses and taking extra strength Tylenol during the day/Vicodin at night (I have five kids, so no V during the day). I have very little swelling on day two. No black eyes, or at least no more than the mild ones I had from breaking my nose. My dr doesn't do packing, I do have splints inside my nose which are annoying and a Denver splint on the outside of my nose to stabilize the break (broke my nose in 4 places). I think the biggest issue I have is the obnoxious about of congestion in the back of my throat. Yuck! I can't wait to get the splints out next week and be able to blow my nose again.
Thommo i have done my septoplasty last saturday today is day 4 still feeling congestion and some blood drip in thoroat splints remove on friday no pain no sweelling every thing is ok give some advice
Thommo here:-
Hi Vetphar, you will get a bit of blood dripping for a few days until it congeals. I never had the splints so I was lucky, they sound a bit uncomfortable, but once they are out the relief everyone expresses seems promising! Good that you have no pain and swelling. I too was lucky. Once you get into the douching of your nose it gets better, quicker. It helps with the healing process as the liquid contains a salt like product (you can use salt the surgeon told me) which dries up all the little bits of cuts and nicks. It also aids in clearing the clots, boogers, scabs etc. I was doing it 3 times a day, sometimes 4. Can't recommend that enough. You get into a routine with kneeling on the bathroom floor over the bath, saline bottle in one hand and a bunch of tissues sitting on the bath. A couple of deep squirts up one nostril and then wipe the bits hanging out of your nose! Nice. Watching the big clots etc squirt out of your nose is not nice to discuss or see, but hey it's the process you need to go through to get better. You can feel them coming out so although the bottle is regulated so that you use half on each nostril, if I had a big blood clot that I could sense was in one nostril, I'd give it the whole bottle until it mostly/all came out. You can then breathe heaps better. Wipe nose with tissues (I just had a whole toilet roll in the bathroom as we have a seperate toilet) or toilet paper, head back outside and mix up a another bottle for the other nostril. Be careful not to microwave it too hot. From experience - ouch! A touch on the cooler side is better than too hot! Some days I though that I was fine and could breathe out of both nostrils almost 100%, but I kept the douching going for over 4 weeks and I think at least for nearly the 4 weeks there was still little bits of dried blood coming out so it was doing good. I then was 100%. As youre only in your first week, dont expect miracles. Be gentle with the squirting but a regular stream is good to unlodge bits. You really do feel great when youre at the point that a few seconds after doing it and wiping your nose, you get to a point where you can breathe clearly. It then gets blocked up again usually in the first couple of weeks, but it takes longer and longer between it buildinbg up, until one day you can breathe out of both clearly for the entire day. As I said I still gave it a squirt a couple of times a day to be sure, and little bits were still there. Good luck with it and let us all know how you're going.
I had septoplasty and turbinate surgery nine days ago. If I had read some of the experiences recorded on here before the surgery I may well have backed off as I was already very apprehensive beforehand. I guess people are more inclined to report if they have bad experiences and are seeking help and advice and, as individuals, it's slightly different for us all. Much will depend on the extent of the original problem (I only had general breathing/sleeping difficulties); the skills and knowledge of the medical team (the UK National Health Service staff were wonderful) and our own response to the surgery (apparently I am lucky enough to not be much of a bleeder, though I tend to vomit following anaesthesia).
My surgery has generally been trouble free, with the worst being over in 24 hours. One benefit of reading the postings on here for me would have been what to expect afterwards. Some of the immediate post op effects came as a shock as my surgeon tended to gloss over them when we discussed having it done. I was not prepared for the problems of being only able to breathe through my mouth - I had difficulty eating and drinking. I found sleeping impossible on the first night because I couldn't a grip on the technique of breathing only through my mouth when asleep. Every time I fell asleep I closed my mouth, couldn't breathe, and then woke up. On the other hand, I had very little pain.
I didn't enjoy the packing inside my nose on coming round from the operation but, unlike a lot of people here, this was taken out after a few hours only, probably because there wasn't much evidence of bleeding. Withdrawal of the packing was not painful but a strange experience to say the least and I was mainly relieved to have the pressure taken away.
I was sent home nine hours after the surgery, having eaten a three course meal four hours after the operation. I had a false start whilst waiting for my lift as I stupidly bent over to look at my phone for some time and this triggered bleeding that needed attending to back in the ward. Keep your head up ...
After two days I was feeling much better, though I had a sore throat initially; there was also some pain at the front of my nose and I had waves of tiredness as the effects of the anaesthetic wore off. Quite a lot of bloody debris came from my nose - gruesome but fascinating at the same time. The saline nose wash helped loosen this and gave overall relief.
One of the issues that hasn't come up very much here is that of the danger of post-op infection. As infection-protecting mucous has been stripped away in the operation it needs time to recover and replenish. I was given quite a lot of advice on this: as a result I was scrupuluos with hygiene; used the antibiotics and cleansing the cleansing liquids/creams as instructed and avoided crowds of people.
Over a week after the operation I am feeling pretty good: one nostril is almost clear and the other is slowly getting better (someone here has mentioned a 5% per day improvement and that's about right for me). I have taken two weeks off work to recover, partly to keep away from people who may have colds. One week was not enough for me, but I am almost ready to go back now and really glad I went ahead with the procedure.
I am currently two days post-op (surgery on tuesday, today is thursday) and i feel fine. After surgery was no picnic, as i was very dizzy from anesthesia and had a splitting headache centered behind my eyes, which disappeared by noon the next day. My ENT doctor gave me:
1. Steroids, taken six times the first day, and decreasing by one each day until reaching zero (helped greatly with swelling)
2. Antibiotics, so I don't get an infection
3. Stents, which I got during the surgery
4. Sinus rinse at least four times a day
5. Tylenol with codeine for pain.
I feel pretty good currently, I'm functioning at about 90% and can perform normal things around the house. I overall feel as if I'm coming down off a head cold, with massive amounts of congestion and the occasional headache my only persisting symptoms. I am too congested to breath through my nose, but I expected that. I've had a sore throat on and off, from blood runoff and the breathing tube during surgery, but it hasn't been much pain. The day of surgery, I got into the OR just after noon and was driven home at 3:30, just over an hour after waking up from surgery. That first day was awful post-op, as I had a terrible headache and was very dizzy and disoriented from anesthesia. I didn't get much sleep that night. The second day I woke up feeling much improved, with only a slight headache and a little dizziness. By the end of the day the headache and dizziness had subsided. The second night i slept in a recliner with a blanket, and made it through the night without waking up. The Sinus Rinse is unpleasent but not painful, and it's really helped to clean out my sinuses. Most of the dried and clotted blood is already gone from my nose. Overall, recovery was not as difficult as I expected, and I am looking forward to breathing clearly. My nose even looks a little straighter from the outside now! If you're considering thsi surgery, go for it.
I had Septoplasty with Turbinates on the 6th of September. The pain wasn't too bad afterward and esily controlled by 5/325 percocet. The Dr. was great and gave me liquid pain meds and liquid anti-biotic and that made it much easier to take the meds because of the sore throat from the brathing tube and also due to the fact he stuck some other kind of instrument in my tongue and pallette because he said that my tongue was too large in the back of my mouth and causing a breathing restriction. The reason I had the surgery was because I was unsuccessful at sleeping with a CPAP and I have severe sleep apnea and my sleep Dr. said I needed to see an ENT doctor. My follow up was 7 days after surgery and I wish someone would have told me about the vacuuming out of the scab/clot/mucus. It didn't really vacuum it out it just kind of suctioned to the blob and then he pulled it out. This was worse than the pain from surgery because I hadn't taken anything for pain on this day and it was an hour to get home before I could get anything and after he pulled out the blobs he cut out my stitch and numbed easy nostril with a numbing solution and I was ok. He asked me to breathe and I was amazed at the lack of restriction and just how much ai could go in my nose. I guess it is relevant to say that I was born with the deviated septum and it wasn't due to any injury. Five minutes after leaving the office for my follow up the inflammation started in and the numbnes wore off and I was miserable until I was able to get home and get some pain meds. It has been 5 days since my follow up and everyday is better than the day before. I feel like I had a sinus infection and most of the mucus was dark yellow coming from my left nostril only but is not nearly as bad. I can also say that today was the first day in a week or more that I woke up and didn't have mucus dried in my nose and mouth and that is a blessing itself. I have only slept in the bed on two pillows and this foan thing they gave me when I left the hospital and one night a few nights ago woke up on my stomach and think maybe I bumped my nose in my sleep because it was awfully sore that morning. The weirdest things I have experienced throughtout this are headaches, scalp tenderness, left ear pain and I love Goodys but cant take them :( and also my top two front teeth hurt like crazy the day after and have been super sensitive since then but it has gotten better also. The saline wash is good for you and will help a lot and I probably didn't do it enough initially due to the amount of pain and aggravation it caused but I have done it a lot since my follow up and it seems to help. I have the pressurized can and use the tip for babies and on about day 5 I tried the second tip and found that it hurt like a SOB so I went back to the mist tip. I have always had a delicate nose and the lest little thing makes it itch and just putting saline up it causes my eyes to turn red and tear up but I am sure that most of you won't have the same problems. As I type this being 12 days after my surgery I can now breathe through each nostril nearly as good as I could before surgery and around 30 percent. I hope it gets back to the way it was after he sucked the blobs out and I am not scheduled to be seen again until the 27th so I was doing well at my follow up een though I didn't ice it and didn't rinse it enough or maybe even properly and I am sure I have had some sort of infection as the dark yellow mucus would indicate but that didn't start until 5 days after surgery and got a lot worse after the follow up. Oh yeah and nausea was never a problem but was warned that it may be from the drainage and stuff so I asked for meds and the first two days I took it to be safe because the last thing I wanted was to vomit through my nose...lol. My energy level is back to normal and I am on again off again with pain meds and when a sinus headache sets in and wont go away I will take one but I usually try and give it time to see if it goes away too. One last thing. I am also a smoker and from the time I left the hospital 4 hrs after my surgery I have been smoking regularly and it seems to have made no difference.
I would say that 90% of these replies are either made by people that had a bad doctor, didn't follow instructions, or are huge pu**ies. Seriously, I made the mistake of reading this thread 2 days before my Septoplasty and Turbinate Reduction surgery. I watched the YouTube video and manage to totally freak myself out. I thought to myself, "I'm 32, never had surgery and this is what my first experience is going to be like!" I'm writing this post after having my surgery less than 24hrs ago and I feel fine... I literally have not had any pain, at all, none, zero. Has it been uncomfortable.... yes, but not intolerable, excruciating pain and suffering like you'll read about here.
A lot of posts were from people asking what happened and what I should do so I'll give a quick rundown from my experience.
First make sure your doctor is not going to use packing to stop the bleeding. After talking to my doctor and researching a little online, I've discovered that this way is very outdated causing more discomfort than you deserve post surgery. Two days prior to the surgery I stocked up on bottled water, Grape Gatorade, Neosporin + pain relief, Q-tips, distilled water, Tylenol Amphetamine, NeilMed Sinus Rinse Kit, Saline solution (They will prescribe this to you but the mark up is about 7x what the OTC cost is), tissues, Burts Bees Wax chap stick, 3 family size chicken noodle soup cans, and a large bag of hard candy from the bulk candy isle. I know it sounds like a lot, but for me, these items are working great.
Stop taking meds that will thin the blood at least 2 weeks prior to surgery. A few days before the surgery learn how to use the NeilMed Sinus Rinse; you won't regret it as this is great for flushing the nasal passage of blood clots and other goop. Follow your doctors directions exactly (Probably the most overlooked part of the surgery). Don't drink or eat after the time they tell you. It is very important that your stomach is empty and you are close to you true body weight in order for the Anesthesiologist to be able to give you the right dosing. This could be why you see a lot of complaints about nausea. When you show up to the surgery were pj's or other very loose fitting clothing especially when it comes to the shirt. In fact it would be a good idea to where a button up shirt. When you get admitted the nurses will go over a bunch of things, the most important part for you is to be honest with them so they can make your experience easier. This waiting will be the most nerve-racking part. They will get your IV set up and then you wait. When everyone is ready you'll say goodbye to whoever is there with you and start rolling into the surgery room. For me this part was funny because I was getting pretty nervous inside. The nurse said, "Say goodbye to your wife" and as I was hugging her I noticed the lights started looking blurry like I was under water. Then we started moving and I said to the nurse, "Did you give me the anesthesia?" to which she answered yes. I was about to tell her how sneaky she was, but honestly my next moment I remember has being back with me wife in recovery. I didn't wake up to any pain as they gave me a Percocet. I left the hospital an hour after I woke up making my visit a total of 4.5hrs.
Now comes the part you have to be diligent with... recovery maintenance. The bleeding will be profuse for a little while. You should be wearing the mustache gauze guard when you get home. First thing you want to do is perform the Sinus rinse to flush out all the blood that you can. Then put the gauze guard back on and repeat as needed. I did this three times in the first 2 hrs. Then I rinsed with Saline every hour for the next 2. I used the Q-tips to clear out the inside of the nose **You have to be careful and only stick the swab head in as you have splints with stitches in them. Put the Neosporin on the inner edge of the nostril with the Q-tip when you get the bleeding to stop (Took me about 4 hours). Eat some soup, but let it cool so that it is only warm. You don't want to loosen the sinuses and create any more nasal drip than you have to. Use the chap stick to keep your lips protected because you'll be breathing through your mouth exclusively. Finally, drink water/Gatorade constantly... I've drunk 6 bottles of water and 4 bottles of Gatorade so far. It really will help your throat out from all the breathing through your mouth and from the breathing tube they insert into your throat during surgery. If you need it take the Tylenol for the pain and if you really feel bad enough or are having trouble sleeping on an elevated surface take the Vicodin.
That's all I have to offer as far as my experience goes. Just be diligent with the nasal rinses, don't blow your nose, and I think everything will be fine. I get my stints out in 6 days and I cannot wait to blow my nose!
Good Luck!!!
Thommo here: Glad yours was an easy journey. So was mine! Unfortunately I think some of the people on here may have had the same procedures as you, but maybe theirs was more difficult a job, they had complications, they have different pain threshholds, etc. Really hard to compare the same surgery with the same surgey and they both come out the same, especially with what they do tou your nose, sinuses etc. glad you had a good Doc and are well. Down here in Australia we go one better. They only use splints as a very last resort. It would have to be a very difficult procedure to wrrant splints. Ive read on here that getting them out is worse than the operation! I hope not. Anyway, all good and take care. If youre blowing your nose, do so VERY gently for obvious reaons.
I had septoplasty (both sides) and bilateral ethmoidectomy three days ago, (10/10/12....it is now 10/13/12) My doctor does not use packing or splints. I also have no stitches. I had a horrible headache for two days prior to my surgery that would not go away, no matter what I did or what meds I had taken - so I was feeling pretty crummy to begin with. After the surgery, my head hurt even worse and the congestion/swelling in my nose was unreal. I had read forums, watched youtubes, etc to be prepared, but to be honest, the congestion was worse than I was prepared for. I was also led to believe I could go back to work after 5 days...I am a 4th grade teacher, and I have already contacted my principal and have asked for two days off (surg was on Wed., it's now Saturday). It's hard to sleep at night being so congested, despite having pillows elevated, and sleeping upright - which probably leads to general fatigue. Had first cleaning by ENT yesterday...he said it all looked good inside beause of my vigilance in saline rinsing, but his 5" trigger did hurt despite the fact he used numbing spray and he told me to take pain meds prior to coming. However, it was short lived. So far, I'm not convinced I've done the right thing...but hope so later. I'm supposed to be playing my flute& piccolo in an orchestra concert a week tonight, and was told I'd be able to do so....surely hope I can. My upper lip swelling is coming down, but not being able to breathe will affect my playing - not sure how the numb hard pallette (by my teeth) will affect my playing either. Well, that's my experience so far.....I have appreciated everyone taking time to share their experiences along the way. It helps.
Thommo: sounds like you are going OK Robin. 3 days is only a short time with this. Give it at least a week or 2 and you'll say why didn't I do this sooner. You can see the light at the end of the tunnel and each day it gets better and better. Go back and have a look at my story and multiple posts. Mine was 5 months ago (or was it 6?), and it's a distant memory. It would be a freak occurrence if you haven't done the right thing.
I will be surprised if you can play the piccolo in a week! Sleeping with your head elevated is actually more painful I thought. Gave it away after the 2nd night. Being a school teacher perhaps you could have planned the op so it coincided with the gazillion weeks leave you get? If not, didn't the doc give you 2 weeks off anyway? Just to relax and get a good way over it? It is called major surgery and needs appropriate time to heal. There was one guy on here that wanted to go back to the gym in a day or so after. Committed.......... or he should be? You be the judge?? Just tell your doc of the pain and that you need more time off. Can't believe he'd say no!!
Saline, saline, saline.
Good luck with it and let people know how youre going. Too few follow-up responses, which is why people think it's all doom and gloom (me included, hence why I try to come back in here with the GOOD stories to balance it)