Recovering from septoplasty surgery

Reading these posts helped me as I walked through my recovery, so I thought I'd post my experience as well. Today is exactly 1 week since my septoplasty and turbinate reduction and while I'm not completely out of the woods, I am doing much better.

This is in regard to all the people that have had sinus surgery. I only hope yours turned out better than mine. Back in 1997 I had Endoscopy with total ( ant & post ) ethmoidectomy, endoscopy with maxillary antrostomy & septoplasty. I was congested and had lost my taste & smell. The surgery was hell and after 2 weeks I was no better. Over time things did not improve at all. Prednisone for my asthma & allergies was the only drug that made my life bearable. Now my new Doctor has taken me off of it and all my symptoms have returned with a vengeance.  I now have huge polyps that have to be removed. I'm not looking forward to the surgery but I have no other choice. Breathing through my mouth has become awful especially at night. The first surgery was such a disappointment that I'm not expecting this outcome to cure my stuffy nose or bring back my taste & smell either. 

Hi from Australia. Read with interest these pages before my surgery and it helped. Thought I'd follow up with my own experience. 36 years of spraying otc nose spray, 3 or 4 time per day!! Beat that record! lol.

Had Septo, turbinate, ethmoidectomy, antrostomy, sphenoidectomy and polyps removed on Tuesday at 230pm. About 2hrs the Doc said it took. It's now Thursday 1pm. Stayed overnight on the Tuesday and had balloons up each nostril as there was a bit more bleeding than the Doc anticipated. No pain really and it has been the same since I woke up in post-op about 530pm.  Lucky me. Just taking panadol and anti-biotics. The balloons removal was a bit harrowing. Feel like they are pulling your brain out with them! lol. .... and then the blood started flowing for a minute ir two. It eventually stopped. Left the hospital at 11am after seeing the Doc. Next appt is 4 weeks.

So, at home and removed the under nose (over ear like sunglassees) gauze a couple of times, but I have none now. Yes it is weeping light pinky fluid from my L nostril and more blood like from the R. I just dab them with tissues. Sleeping is OK however the mouth breathing dries it out and the crackling and popping noises coming out of my nose are weird. Have had 3 goes at the saline solution flushing and that's not much fun. Some gunk and little clots come out as well as a flow of pink blood. Seems to partially block each ear for a few seconds and is rather uncomfortable, but of course tolerable. Hasn't really helped with clearing my nose and if anything, seems to make it MORE congested. I know there are a few purposes for the flushing, so will persist. Hoping to do the flushing 3 times a day for a week whilst Im at home and then twice (as I'll be at work) a week. Might try it more often as people say more is better. Less is NOT recommended.

I'm wondering if I can breathe in through my nose and then spit out the gunk? Im not going to, but wonder if I can, as Im sure I'll get rid of more gunk? Anyone know if that's OK?

Nose is sore at the tip but I can scratch it anywhere if it's itchy so that tells you that downward pressure, like when youre scratching, is painless.

Feeling a bit drowsy and don't bend down as it just blocks your nose up and feels weird. Take it easy and don't do anything stressful for at least 2 weeks. Then only minor activity. No other pain anywhere as it's all behind your cheeks etc.

Glad I read this site and the gazillions of others so that I knew what to expect before, during and after. Most invaluable. I particulalrly like the people commenting 2, 3 or 4 weeks later as 99% of them all feel great and the pain is a distant memory. Congrats to them and lets hope we all can breathe a whole lot better than we did before going in. Good luck.

I had my septoplasty on Wednesday. Today is Saturday and my nose looks fine but inside it feels tender and swollen. I was wondering if it was normal and found this board. So nice to know it's very normal. Ive tried to blow my nose a bit but don't want to blow too hard. I'm not sure what I screw up doing that but I don't want to find out. The worst part is the stuffy feeling and tenderness inside. One thing I did not do, which the doctor mentioned (maybe too casually) was, when I was taking Vicodin, to take stool softener along with it. I had never taken Vicodin before and hopefully will never have to again. You do not want to deal with the constipation that Vicodin brings on. So take something to help your body do what it does. Fiber and water are not strong enough to counteract Vicodin. You need an over the counter drug. This is very important.

I've had the same opp but had it 2 days ago and god does my nose hurt!! The hospital gave me ibuprofen even though I'am asmatic so at night I started to see things and cry uncontrollable which freaked my mum out I was so scared. Tablets don't seem to help with pain and no matter what I do I can't sleep, just in so much pain!!!

Do NOT blow your nose. This was made abundantly clear by the suregeon and the nurse who, when she was 20yo had septo and blew her nose a few times and damaged it such that she had to had septo again 6 months later! Really want to go through this again? You have been warned. Let it heal naturally and flush it with the solution they should have given you. If it feels blocked flush it again. Good luck.

Yeah, I get that. But a gentle blow through both nostrils if fine, according to my ENT. I've been GENTLY doing it like that and it's fine. But I blow both at the same time, so pressure stays the same on both sides. I have had very little bleeding. Just mostly mucous.

I am 8 days post op and doing well. Other than the nose being tender and slightly congested, I'm in good shape. i get the splints out on Monday which I can't wait for. I had the surgery on a Thursday and went back to work the next Monday. It was fine, but I have to admit that I was tired.

2 weeks now and I'm feeling great. There is still very minor swelling and stuffiness, but the doctor looked at it yesterday and said it's doing great. I'm back at the gym now and everything seems to be fine. Those first few days are tough, but I'm breathing so much better already.
To those that are contemplating this surgery, it is uncomfortable for the the first few days (some longer than that, judging from the posts) but once you are on the mend you'll be glad you did it. Good luck.

I am glad I found this web site because I thought my septoplasty experience had to be the worst of all time ...well, not really, but ya know.  I had the surgery this past Wednesday May16, 2012.  At first, I was totally out-of-it IQ-wise from the anesthetic and pain medicine, but in no pain.  The pain started a couple of hours later and soon expanded into possibly the worst I have ever had.  I got into the just bearable range with Vicodin.  As soon as I went to bed, I began feeling the congestion in my throat.  I was sleeping in a somewhat sitting position as I had been advised.  I got up and managed to cough up some of it without blowing my nose.  It was a mixture of blood and phlegm.  I feared that if that combination managed to slide down my trachea (which was where it was headed)  I could choke to death.  I got no sleep that night or the night after.  By that time I could barely figure out how to operate my Directv remote.  Then, I went in to the Dr. to get the splints removed Friday morning.  (I could barely walk without help).  The part that I feared most (removal) was quick and easy.  Very mild pain, and the surgeon was effusive with joy.  My nose was perfectly straight (I had broken it a few years earlier) and I could breathe easily through both nostrils. Saturday, I found that the swelling was mostly gone (Yay!) and my nose looked exactly like it did the previous Tuesday (Oh, No ... it can't be). I also found that I could easily move it to the side, where it looked good and worked pretty well.  So, I put tape on my nose with a slight sideways tension.  This morning (Sunday) it looks better, and tomorrow I will be able to call a doctor.  

My splints were also removed the very next day and everything is fine. It is hard to make a call on anything at this point in the game. I also had mine on a Wednesday and I was still in some pain and very stuffy with swelling. The swelling takes at least 2 weeks to go down. I am now at 2 1/2 weeks and still a bit of swelling on my left turbinate. But it gets better every day. Definitely talk to your doctor and tell him or her your concerns, but the process of healing is slow and patience is of utmost importance, right now.

Hello out there,

Thommo here. Im from Gosford NSW. 1hr North of Sydney. Didn't cost me a cent. Im with NIB in a family package (pretty basic, no extras etc) and they meet all the costs......almost. Surgeon was free. Anesthaeseologist will be about 3 to $400 they told me. Other than that, and some after surgery meds (about $60 worth), nothing else. For lets say $500 you can get all this done. I was in Gosford Private hospital also so not your local hospital. Excellent care and I have some doctor friends and they said my doc is the one people come to see for this type of surgery. He was a Thomson also (name sake!). Cost me about $230 to see him initially and I got back about $150 I think. Obviously talk to your specialist and see what they charge. Not a lot of money to free up your breathing for the rest of your life!! I pity the US people on here as I see and hear what they [pay. $10,000 type figures are not unusual. Yay Australia and its great medical system. I see why US citizens go across the border to Canada for care!

Not all US people pay $10,000 I have insurance and the total price, with surgery office visits and meds, was $100.

Hi all. I am a 24 year old male and live in Brisbane, Australia. I had my septoplasty/turbine reduction and sinus operation on Tuesday 29/05/2012 and it has been 5 days since surgery now. I had this surgery because for 14 years I have not been able to breathe through my nose, I have massive headaches, stuffy nose all the time and many colds a year. I also had white tongue and post nasal drainage which the cause is believed to be as a result of the very deviated septum. Prior to going to the hospital I made a massive mistake of reading members posts and completely freaking my self out in relation to this surgery. I usually do not make posts on forums but I thought I would add my 5 cents worth and give you a detailed account of my experience so far.

Day 1 (Day of Surgery)-
My admission time was 12pm at the Princess Alexander Hospital and I was an intermediate patient (public hospital/ private surgeon). I came on time and straight away I was taken to the Pre-Op room and advised by the nurse that I was the first operation for the day for my surgeon which in my opinion was good as I wanted to get it out of the way. I was quickly prepared and the Anesthesiologist came up and told me about the procedure which was great. She made me feel very relaxed and was extremely friendly. At around 1:30pm I was wheeled down to the Operation Theater and the surgery assistants and the doctor had a chat to me and told me what was going to happen. They were absolutely fantastic and had a very calming effect on me. I was then told that I was goign to get something in my arm and that it would make me relaxed.. this was the last thing I remember hearing before the operation. I remember waking up and as expected being very tired and sleepy. It took around 40 minutes to wake up and I was not in any pain at all. The nurse came over and did the obs on me and all appeared to be ok. I felt very tired and slept for around 1 hr and then the nurse came with some food. I tried to eat however straight away I felt like I was going to faint and then preceded to sleep for another hour or so and skip the food part.When I woke up again the surgeon came to see me and told me that I was very blocked however all went according to plan. He said that he did not use any packing or stints and that he would come and see me in the morning. For the rest of the night I was ok and did not have any pain. I had a gauze to catch the drainage from the nose which was minimal. I slowly started to develop a headache and was given Endone which made me feel great. Still no pain to the nose or anything else. That night I slept on and off for a few hours and breathing though my mouth was not an issue as I did this for 14 years. I struggled to sleep as the old fellow next to me snored all night. In the morning I got up, saw the surgeon and was discharged from the hospital around 830 am. I still did not have any pain, just a very stuffy nose and I bit of pressure in my eyes.

Day 2-
I still don't have any pain to the nose unless I touch the tip off it. I do feel a bit tired and have a small headache in with pain in my eyes. I layed on the couch for the rest of the day and snoozed on and off. I took one Endone which made me relaxed and I slept for a few hours. I still don't have any pain to the nose and there is small amount of drainage. Around 6pm I started to use the saline solution FOS and some disgusting stuff came from my nose. I still have no air passage through my nose and only using mouth breathing. I went to bed around 10pm and had 3 pillows to keep my head elevated. Had a really bad night sleep most likely due to the uncomfortable pillow situation and my back was starting to hurt as hell.. I woke up again with a small headache, nothing major and sore back.. My back does get sore quite easily.

Day 3 -
Still nothing major. Do feel tired but mostly due to lack off sleep and lazing around all day long. Otherwise still no pain to nose and there is small amount of drainage. Watched movies and the day went past completely ok. Went to bed and again struggles to sleep and had a small fever.

Day 4-
Feeling pretty good and a small headache still present but stopped taking any pills. No pain to nose and using the saline solution around 5 times a day. Can feel that I can get a small amount of air through nostrils however I still want to use mouth breathing for optimal recovery.

Day 5-
Slept all night on a normal pillow and took 2 Panamax's before sleep in case fever came on or whatever. Woke up feeling really good and the back is sore still and small headache but nothing major. Just had breakfast and wrote this.

Overall compared to what I read prior to the surgery this had been a walk in the part so far. If the surgery is successful, I would recommend that anyone who had a doubt in their mind about it to go ahead and get this done. I think every person is different and  that we all deal with pain different. I am of the opinion that a lot of the time major wingers come to these forums to have a rant but its not actually that bad.

My recommendation is to eat really well, drink lots of liquid and have a positive attitude. I have taken 4 weeks of sick leave as I am a police officer and ready do not want to get punched in the face and go back to square one. If I was to start breathing property today I feel fit enough to go back to work. But better be safe then sorry.

If anyone is having this done soon, best of luck and do not worry. It is nothing major and you will be ok.

Cheers

Paul