Recovering from septoplasty surgery

I had septoplasty w/ turbinate reduction a little over 2 wks ago. My nose is still hurting and burning and my body has started to ache really bad. But my breathing is excellent !!! Recovery is worse than I ever thought !!!! Pain was horrible and still taking pain pills. I just feel crappy, tired, mind fog and like the flu kinda. So this op has done what suppose to but recovery is not at all what I expected!!!! Thank goodness I don't work !!! Or I would have had to taken more time off. But the recovery is slow and I hope I feel better on a couple of days. Have appt this Tuesday. So I'll see if there's something wrong or if this could be normal. Going to go lay down and take a nap.

Thank you for your post. I had rhinoplasty, septoplasty, turbinate reducation, and sinus surgery 14 days ago, and I was starting to feel discouraged about my progress thus far. Your post has given me hope that it's just going to take longer than I'd hoped to feel better than pre-op.

Hady Septoplasty Monday, still very stuffy, some pain, headache ugh can't breathe good, had to sneeze and that hurt, I'll be getting my stents out Monday, can't wait! Counting the days.

My nose wasn't that bad aside from the blood and soreness. I didn't have packing or stint, just some dissolving stitches. I also had my uvula removed at the same time. I'm 9 days post op and it still feels like I'm swallowing tacks. Nose is much better, haven't had hardly any blood in the tissue for a couple days. I would reconvene that procedure to anyone with restricted breathing, not so sure I could say the same about the uvula.

Thought I'd share my septoplasty experience so far im on day 8 recovery.

first 3 days post surgery - extremely tough, your nose is fully blocked, sealed shut leaving your mouth open most of the time making it dry, delayed swallowing as well didn't help. Having severe anxiety and asthma caused me to panic at stages in the night, feeling very claustrophobic it was truly awful!. I'd really advise anyone with mental illness or asthma please make sure you have the right meds on hand and consult your doctor about these before the surgery. Popsicle's really helped and my appetite and hunger was surprisingly strong.

days 4-6 - improved swallowing helped and i slowly adjusted to having my mouth open most of the time. I slowly weaned off my pain killers sticking to just my antibiotics and nasal spray, as i was finding the pain not too bad, more like a punch to the nose feeling. Plus they stopped my bowels from opening. Found my appetite and liquid intake slowly reduced, i was feeling nausea and an aching sort of dizziness feeling from time to time.

Days 7-8: i got my splints removed, and using a saline solution a few times a day, finally being able to breathe through both nostrils is a relieving feeling however im fairly congested (the same feeling pre surgery that i dearly didn't miss), my nose looks a lot different i'm not sure if it's swollen still (feels swollen) or just because its straighter my eyes are adjusting to the shape?. I'm really struggling with eating and drinking consistently forcing myself too. Generally I drink plenty of water, eat large meals and love to cook due to a fairly heavy exercise routine, however i get nausea just by looking at food. I still feel quite dizzy and achy all over, i only feel comfortable when lying down. and this feeling stops me from getting to sleep at night. I have very little energy. Im hoping tomorrow i can try leaving my house, go driving and see friends as I haven't really been able to do any of these and im going crazy being stuck at home all the time.

Just had a Septoplasty and Inferior Turbinate reduction this past Monday 3/26/18, currently in the process of recovery. It was uncomfortable for sure, but not a terrible experience or as scary as many have made it seem. I wanted to share a positive story, since I was a psycho on here during recovery reading through every post.

Pre-Op - Not much to do, like most surgeries, you can't eat/drink anything 12 hours before surgery. You get general anesthetic and the surgery is about 60-90 min long and you feel nothing. Depending on your surgeon, you will get either splints put up your nose for 6-8 days to keep everything in tact or packing (I have the splints and I am counting down the days that they get removed). If you are a guy with facial hair, I recommend shaving so blood doesn't get stained in your beard/mustache, just one less thing to clean.

Post Surgery - I personally didn't wake up with much pain after the surgery, so maybe when I woke up pain was like a 2/3. My throat was a little soar from intubation but nothing unbearable. Was able to have some Saltines & Ginger Ale. I got a little restless in recovery because when you wake up, you are bleeding (nurse said my bleeding was barely anything compared to others she's seen) and in a bit of pain. I got super nauseous from swallowing a bit of blood and gagged a bit, but they gave me some meds to push the blood through my stomach and ease any pain so I was fine in about an hour. You get a little "mustache gauze wrap" to stop blood from getting on you.

Post Op (so far)

Day 1 Post Surgery - I was given a Percocet with Tylenol in it but narcotics kind of freak me out and I didn't do well with them during my wisdom teeth removal, so I opted for Tylenol Extra Strength every 6 hours and was absolutely fine. Honestly the first two days post-surgery kind of suck because you are not allowed to blow your nose for a week and have a sh*t ton of congestion and bloody boogers. You can't really smell anything and it's semi-difficult to eat/swallow. I didn't really have that much facial pain, but rather these dull headaches/pain around my temples that have been hard to shake. Sleeping was pretty impossible since you have to use your mouth to breathe, your lips/throat instantly get dry.

Day 2 - Pretty much no facial pain! Only slight headaches on and off, but I didn't need to take any medication. Still a bit of blood on the mustache wrap, but not a ton. I am OCD about keeping my nose moist so using nasal saline spray every 2 hours, which has kept everything pretty clean. Slept a little better but not much (bought a dehumidifier which helped).

Day 3 - Still on and off headaches that have been manageable. Starting to slowly be able to breathe through pockets of my nose, started driving and doing normal activities around the house, worked from home on my laptop. I keep hocking up bloody mucus stuck in my throat which actually feels good to do. Slept much better than the past 2 days.

Day 4-7 - Was finally able to take aspirin for my dull headaches which has been life changing to how I feel today (you can't take aspirin or aspirin related products for at least 3 days post surgery because it might cause more bleeding). Finally started getting some partial breathing through my nose and it felt glorious and a sign of good things to come but was short-lived. Still having on and off headaches/temple pain that I am managing with Tylenol or Excedrin.

EDIT:

Day 8 - Just got the splints removed and my god what an incredible feeling! I have never experienced air like this before. It was super simple and did not hurt (I had a 15 min appointment), doctor clipped the stitch and there's this weird uncomfortable feeling on both sides for about 1-2 seconds and then it's over. I also had no numbing spray and today is the first day I didn't have a headache in a week.

Overall, the first 1-2.5 days sucked, but it gets better. I would be lying if I didn't say I constantly think about getting the damn splints out every day by the hour and questioned what did I get myself into a million times. It's not a walk in the park and sleeping is impossible and can make you run down, but you quickly forget about that when you experience the splints come out and can breathe fresh air.

Some advice if you get the surgery:

- Buy a TON of tissues and nasal saline spray
- Drink a lot of water/gatorade
- Take a lot of warm showers
- Have someone to take care of you/keep an eye on you the first couple of days
- Prepare things that you know will keep you occupied for long periods of time during recovery (I went crazy, there are only so many things you can binge watch)
- If you have a recliner, try to lay/sleep in it the first couple of days as propping up a ton of pillows in bed hurt my neck and you need to sleep sitting up right for a few days.
- Get a dehumidifier to keep moisture in the air at night.
- Buy chapstick/lip balm.
- Wear a lot of comfy clothes
- Plan to take at least a week of work off

Sorry this was so long, but does this help? If you're like me, there will be a whirlwind of slight anxiety, will this ever end questions and moments of regret, but there have been a few moments where my nose has been clear for like 30 min and let me tell you, it's cool crisp air like I've never felt before.

If you get the surgery, just remember, it's a week of being uncomfortable for hopefully a lifetime of a better quality of life.

Had septoplasty and terbibate reduction x5 days ago....no splints used and dissolving stiches. 24hrs post opp was stuffy....mild blood drip....no pain tho as local anaesthetic was given and pain killers. 48hrs and nlse stuffed up more....mild pain qnd nose throbbing. Dont take a shower for x48hrs as steam in water can open up vessels and cause bleeding. Also eat cold food....fresh fruit and veg and food which reduces swelling i.e. pineapple... coconut water...honey...ginger....tumeric. the KEY is to start wqrm saline nose rinse after x48hrs....my god this is the life saver. It speeds up healing qnd blockage soooo fast. Im x5 days post opp now and can breath through my nose perfectly....no blood nothing. Im off medicine and back doing normal things. Eat good food to heal yourself...and use saline rinse every 2hrs or so. Boil the water and let it cool down. Bit long but 100% works.

I'm at 2 months post surgery and still feel swelling internally, but more annoying is that I feel mucus at the back of nose and throat all the time. I wonder if this goes away.

Did your nose heal completely After a year?

Hi I'm 2months out septoplasty. Breathing is great on both side but still has swelling on the side I had incision. But that's okay. Nasal rince and spray help. More annoying is having phlegm at the back of that side of nose and throat all the time and impossible to clear it. Did you have the similar problem? Thanks!!!!