Anyone have surgery for chronic Sinusitis?

[lokiju]

Anyone here have surgery for chronic Sinusitis? If so, did it help? Was it worth doing? Would you have still done it or not done it in hindsight?

How was the pain level?

How long did recovery take?

Looking like I'll have to get this done 🙁

 

[Crusty]

When I was younger I was one sinus infection away from having the surgery according to my allergist, luckily as I got older I stopped getting the infections.

 

[rudder]

My young son had this type of surgery. I think he took all of two doses of pain meds... leaving me the rest. Pain wise it appeared minimal... does not seem to be very effective at first. It has been a good while since he has had an infection though.

 

[dud]

Anyone here have surgery for chronic Sinusitis? If so, did it help? Was it worth doing? Would you have still done it or not done it in hindsight?

How was the pain level?

How long did recovery take?

Looking like I'll have to get this done 🙁

Yes sireee ...

Pain was relatively minimal but I was uncomfortable for the first 48 hours after the procedure (when the nasal inserts were removed).

Recovery takes a few weeks and happens in steps ... see answer above for first step.

 

[JJ650]

I had it done this past April.

I really didn't hurt after the surgery. No pain in my sinus, but my top teeth hurt like a bitch for about a day.
The first few days you are pretty miserable. You can't breathe or smell and everything taste awful. It's like having the mother of all sinus infection and you can't blow your nose.

After a 4 days or so, I went back to the ENT doc and he sucked out the clots. Only then could I breathe again. The sensation of having your sinus vacuumed out is very odd and not comfortable.

I did not have any packing, so I was spared that miserable experience.

I am still not sure if it helped me or not. Ever since the procedure, I have still had many sinus infections and some pretty bad ear infections to follow. Didn't have any ear infections in my adult life until this surgey.

If you do get it done, please be very mindful about doing the sinus rinse on a regular basis. You'll be surprised what falls out of your nose after doing them. It's pretty gross, but very relieving as well. DON'T LET THE SINUS DRY OUT! I got stuck on an extended flight about 3 weeks after my surgery. The air was on the plane was so dry, I bled the whole 6 hours. Hurt quite a bit as well.

Oh yeah, prepare for lots of nose bleeds for about a month. Lots.

 

[lokiju]

I had it done this past April.

I really didn't hurt after the surgery. No pain in my sinus, but my top teeth hurt like a bitch for about a day.
The first few days you are pretty miserable. You can't breathe or smell and everything taste awful. It's like having the mother of all sinus infection and you can't blow your nose.

After a 4 days or so, I went back to the ENT doc and he sucked out the clots. Only then could I breathe again. The sensation of having your sinus vacuumed out is very odd and not comfortable.

I did not have any packing, so I was spared that miserable experience.

I am still not sure if it helped me or not. Ever since the procedure, I have still had many sinus infections and some pretty bad ear infections to follow. Didn't have any ear infections in my adult life until this surgey.

If you do get it done, please be very mindful about doing the sinus rinse on a regular basis. You'll be surprised what falls out of your nose after doing them. It's pretty gross, but very relieving as well. DON'T LET THE SINUS DRY OUT! I got stuck on an extended flight about 3 weeks after my surgery. The air was on the plane was so dry, I bled the whole 6 hours. Hurt quite a bit as well.

Oh yeah, prepare for lots of nose bleeds for about a month. Lots.

Wow that sounds terrible.

I spoke with the ENT a little ago and he's sent in another Rx for antibiotics for another sinus infection I'm coming down with but he's still pushing to avoid surgery.

I've been doing allergy shots and while it's not "cured" my sinus infections I did realize today that I've gone 2 months without a sinus infection since starting the allergy shot treatments.

Prior to that it was every single month I had one without exception.

So maybe there is still some hope.

 

[Macamus Prime]

I attempted to have the surgery done, however, my HMO turned me down saying I didn't need it.

Turns out, I didn't. I tried all sorts of alternative methods thereafter; allergy shots, acupuncture and changing my diet finally worked.

I cut out processed sugar and increased raw vegatables. Worked like a charm.

I dated a girl who told me she had the surgery done. She said the symptoms came back 4 years after the surgery. She had the packing and everything.

 

[JJ650]

Wow that sounds terrible.

I spoke with the ENT a little ago and he's sent in another Rx for antibiotics for another sinus infection I'm coming down with but he's still pushing to avoid surgery.

I've been doing allergy shots and while it's not "cured" my sinus infections I did realize today that I've gone 2 months without a sinus infection since starting the allergy shot treatments.

Prior to that it was every single month I had one without exception.

So maybe there is still some hope.

I am starting to think mine may be tied to allergies as well. The surgery was needed in my case. I have had SOOO many infections that the antibiodics were having little impact anymore. I had been on too many in fact and the list of working medications was shrinking.

Interesting about the diet change. Maybe I should give it a shot. It's definitely worth a try!

 

[lokiju]

I attempted to have the surgery done, however, my HMO turned me down saying I didn't need it.

Turns out, I didn't. I tried all sorts of alternative methods thereafter; allergy shots, acupuncture and changing my diet finally worked.

I cut out processed sugar and increased raw vegatables. Worked like a charm.

I dated a girl who told me she had the surgery done. She said the symptoms came back 4 years after the surgery. She had the packing and everything.

That diet comment is interesting and something I've pondered myself.

I'm overweight and need to change something and can't help but wonder if it's all related.

Only other thing that's changed since prior years is I had my tonsils removed last year due to chronic tonsilithis which is horrible but realistically I'd not of kept getting those as well if I didn't have the never ending sinus issues.

It's been over 6 moths now that I've had a sinus infection every single month up until this last stretch of 2 months.

I no joke have even talked with my 3 different doctors (ENT, Allergist, PCP) about "prescriptions" for tax write off purposes for wood flooring being installed, a HEPA air system, air duct cleaning, anything that can be done to maybe help even a little with stopping whatever is causing my sinus issues.

They're all just about at the point of having no clue what else to try I think.

 

[SketchMaster]

I would get an infection every time I flew due to the dry air and sudden pressure change, and since I traveled for a living it meant that after working for a month overseas I could plan on at least a week of hell for my "vacation" time; for some odd reason it would only happen when I got back to Colorado. At first they were easy to treat and I could work while sick, but after each one it got worse, 103+ fevers, ear aches, and sinus pressure so bad that even after popping 800mg of ibuprofen and the maximum dosage of Sudafed I would have to convince myself that the pain wouldn't go away by stabbing my face (people who have been in that kind of pain know your mind WILL start thinking about that as a real option).

Diagnosis:

After having 8+ sinus infections in the span of 9 months my doctor referred me to an ENT; the ENT ordered a CAT scan when he noticed I had a pretty bad deviated septum. When I first showed up to the ENT I was just getting over the hump of a sinus infection and was finishing up my antibiotics, so when I came back in a few days later with a CD the radiologist gave me that results were stored on we had this conversation:

ENT: "So, how are you feeling? Last time you where here you looked pretty rough."

Me: "Eh, I'm feeling ok; not 100%, but close.

ENT: "Good to hear. Ok, lets take a look at the scans...

Ok... Yeah, you have a lot of blockage going on in there... You can see up here in the sinuses where all the mucus and puss has built up. ...Oh... Looks like you also have an infection here, here... Here...

... Are you sure you're feeling OK?"

Me: "...Yes, Whhhhy?"

ENT: "Just checking..."

*Looks back at the scan*

ENT: "You sure?"

Me: "...As good as I can feel, I guess."

ENT: "Um.... Yeah... I'm going to go ahead and have you setup a time for surgery."

Turns out I was so backed up that it was getting into ears and the hollow parts of my skull behind the ears. The ENT put me on a Z-pack and had me setup the surgery date right there. I had to go get one more scan done before I could get cut up, they had to scan my head with a special marking device strapped to my head that they would use in the OR to be able to do pseudo-live scans of my head to make sure they were hitting their marks (there is about a 5% chance of going too deep and damaging the brain, but it's so rare that they hardly worry about it these days; you have to try to mess up basically).

Under the Knife:

The surgery was pretty easy, after changing into a gown they prepped me with an IV and I got to speak with the anesthesiologist; I was happy to find he was a very experienced doctor and not some guy fresh out of college (I used to work in a vet clinic, I know how quickly shit can hit the fan if someone isn't paying attention). They wheeled me into the OR and the nurse setup my vitals and we joked around a bit to blow off some of my stress, then she strapped the plastic marker to my face; it's hard to describe what it looks like, but the thing is not very comfortable. While that was going on, the two Doctors looked over my scans one last time, then came over to ask me if I was ready, then knocked me out.

Post-op and recovery:

It took me a while to really shake off the drugs after waking up in the recovery room, there was padding in my nose and it burned more than anything. The nurse came over to remove the packing, and I will not lie, it hurt like hell to have those thing ripped out; but my god did it feel better. After the initial torrent of blood spewed from my nose, they had me snort some nasal spray to stop the bleeding. After the bleeding calmed down they put on that little nose bra you've seen in pictures of people after their surgery. Do NOT let that thing come off unless you are changing the gauze, blood will pour out of your nose. After all that was done I watched the girl across from me, who had been wheeled in moments before, start to wake up and the nurse did the same dance with her that she had just finished with me. looking back I should have seen about getting her number, because even with a puffy face and a nose hammock, she was pretty cute.

The first couple days sucked the most, you have to sleep sitting up and the gauze must be changed every few hours. The pain? Really not that bad, it felt more like I had taken a dodgeball to the face than anything else. They gave me some pain pills, but I only took the Vicodin for the first two days; and that was mostly for the legal high (been a while since I had taken a real vacation from work, I wanted to make the best of it). They gave me the bottle of spray they had me snort to control the bleeding, I had to use it every now and then if I did something to cause a gusher (You CANNOT bend over the first week after the operation, not only does it hurt like hell you will also cause your nose to erupt with blood). I was already using a sinus rinse to help clear out the sinus infections, so using it after the operation was nothing new; though, the giant blood clots that came out of my face were... Disturbing the first few times I saw them; not to mention the sensation of it slithering out of my head.

After the third to fourth day I was able to remove the face thong and go out to the store for some icecream (you got'a have icecream after surgery, it's like, a law!"). After stepping out of my stuffy apartment that I had kept very humid, I walked into the cool late spring night air and took my first deep breath through my nose since before the surgery.

Oh... My... GOD.

Even with the blood clots still messing with my nose, I had never realized just how BAD my sense of smell had become from all the infections I had. It was... Yeah, wow. Walking around Wal-Mart was a bit more hit and miss, some of the people that wander the store at 1:27AM didn't take the time to put on some speed stick before wobbling out the door in their sweat pants.


I had to go back a few times to have the ENT check everything out, he would spray a mixture of Lidocaine and antihistamines up my nose and then proceed to suck out any clots and loose scabs. It doesn't feel great, and the spray kinda makes you high in the not so great kind of way.


Since the operation I haven't been sick, and that's with spending a month in Iraq and then over four months in Afghanistan. I can breath very well through my nose and haven't noticed any real problems since. My situation may be different than yours, since my problem was only partially allergies; but if your ENT thinks it will really help I would suggest that you consider the option. Otherwise, cleaning up your diet, using a sinus rinse, and doing allergy therapy (Something that I may still consider if this acts up again) may be all you need to clear this up.

Cliffs: I like to write.

 

[lokiju]

Cliffs: I like to write.

😀

Thanks for the details story. Reminds me a bit of my Tonsil removal last year as far as the procedure, coming to and recovery.

I REALLY hope I don't have to get the surgery and from my CT scans they did not see anything obvious like in your case so the surgery would be to just open things up to clear out and stop the festering and pooling that causes the infections.

They also mentioned some in office procedure that my ENT might try 1st if the Allergist cannot get things "fixed" that's a sort of balloon up there that opens things up. IDK, sounds like that'd suck also.

 

[polarmystery]

I had a septoplasty and a turbinectomy in late April of this year. I had tubes in my nose for about half a week, and after they were gone, my recovery time was about 2-3 weeks before felt somewhat "normal." Well worth it.

 

[JJ650]

The clots really do feel like they are slithering out of your head! A very creepy feeling indeed. But once they are out, it feels SOOO much better.

Just be ready to be disgusted at the sight. Week old blood clots are nasty looking bastards. Mine refused to go down the drain too. YUM!

 

[SketchMaster]

😀

Thanks for the details story. Reminds me a bit of my Tonsil removal last year as far as the procedure, coming to and recovery.

I REALLY hope I don't have to get the surgery and from my CT scans they did not see anything obvious like in your case so the surgery would be to just open things up to clear out and stop the festering and pooling that causes the infections.

They also mentioned some in office procedure that my ENT might try 1st if the Allergist cannot get things "fixed" that's a sort of balloon up there that opens things up. IDK, sounds like that'd suck also.

One thing I remember the most about coming to was they gave me apple juice and graham crackers to help with the funk from the drugs and thinking, "F*** yeah! Juice and crackers is the best!"

I don't blame you for not wanting surgery, it's never a fun idea to get put under and have someone rummage around your body. I know what you are talking about with the balloon device, if you keep getting infections while trying to get rid of the allergies I would ask the docs about it. The procedure is MUCH less invasive than what I went through because it's just pushing open the holes to let that funk out, so it may be worth it to give you a break from infections while getting your allergies figured out.*

If you haven't already, start using a sinus rinse; it will help keep you from getting sick, and will flush out all the nasty stuff when you do get sick. Trust me, it may seem nasty and scream "hippie magic BS" but it does help.

*Do not take medical advice from a guy who spent two years BSing his way through workdays as a Vet Tech Asst. with a GED and no formal training.