Have you had a septoplasty?

[thirtythree]

If so, why did you get it, and what was your experience with it? (Recovery, negative side effects, etc.)

 

[FelixDeCat]

No, but Im in desparate need of a rhinoplasty.

 

[KeithTalent]

Snoring problem?

KT

 

[moks78]

How did you get a deviated septum?

Nasal trauma caused by a high velocity fist?

 

[Liet]

I had one in December, for a mildly damaged septum after banging my face into a metal subway turnstyle gate. I could usually only breathe through one nostril at a time, and at night I'd have to breathe through my mouth to get to sleep. This dehydrated the hell out of my and I was generally uncomfortable throughout the entire day.

I saw one doctor who had a horrible attitude and wanted to also cut into my turbinates (fleshy things in your nose that do important things) because it would improve airflow and drainage. He also wanted to put splints in, which apparently is one of the reasons septoplasty can be so excruciating - they need to be removed later and it isn't pleasant...

Then I saw the best damned ENT in New York, who didn't want to operate until I'd tried drugs first (so both she and I could be sure surgery was a good option), didn't want to use splints because "she'd rather I bleed for a day or two than have a week of excruciating pain", and didn't want to cut into the turbinates. Basically a doctor who had MY interests first and foremost.

Overall, good experience. Surgery went just fine, I had a nosebleed for a day or two but nothing serious and didn't need any of the awesome hydrocodone they gave me (that's just a side perk). Just do yourself a favor and remind your doctor on surgery day which nostril is the one that is most problematic. Mine had 7 surgeries to do that day and I wouldn't be surprised if she forgot, and I kinda wish she'd paid more attention to my right nostril. Still, I can breathe through my nose again, which feels GREAT.

 

[LS21]

went for surgery, they put splints on both nose .... recovery SUCKED SUCKED SUCKED

I was in bed for 1 week, and very gentle on the nose week 2

basically, you've got this huge rubber tube in your nostrils, and if you touch your nose 1 bit it starts to bleed. and obviously you cant pinch or anything to stop the bleeding but just to let it flow.

then for the 2 weeks it feels like a MEGABOOGER stuck in your nose that you can do absolutely nothing about

worst of all is you are 95% clogged, so breathing is only through mouth. which means when youre sleeping your mouth DRIES OUT SO BAD and roof of tongue then also gets irritated.

when i had the splints taken out, it felt EXACTLY like the scene from TOTAL RECALL where Arnold pulls the eyeball-sized tracking device out of his nose.

and then a week after that i was 50% clogged for 2 weeks. sometimes cleared up with nasal spray. mostly because i had boogers lodged so far back only doc with headlight & tweezers could remove.





1 year later im glad i can finally breathe through both nostrils. those time to time i get random clogging. it clears up by itself once in a while. or a nasal spray clears it up. im glad i did the surgery but post-op sucked

 

[ra1nman]

I had it done in late December. Recovery time for me was about 3 weeks. The worst part for me was the removal of the splints they shove in your nose to hold your septum straight. I swear those things were almost the length of my index finger. They gave me a prescription for me some pain medicine but I was able to do without them.

I would have trouble sleeping as well when the doctor gave up on prescribing me drugs she finally referred me to ENT. In 5 minutes, the doctor determined that I would be a prime candidate for the operation. I had the operation on a Fri and was back to work on Mon. I had some swelling in my nose but I didn't have any bruising. 2 months later I'm still happy I had the procedure done.

 

[geno]

I fell on my face from the top of a fence right onto a concrete driveway when I was a kid, leaving me with a deviated septum. I'll be keeping a close eye on this thread since I'm interested in getting it fixed some day

 

[thirtythree]

Originally posted by: Liet
I had one in December, for a mildly damaged septum after banging my face into a metal subway turnstyle gate. I could usually only breathe through one nostril at a time, and at night I'd have to breathe through my mouth to get to sleep. This dehydrated the hell out of my and I was generally uncomfortable throughout the entire day.

I saw one doctor who had a horrible attitude and wanted to also cut into my turbinates (fleshy things in your nose that do important things) because it would improve airflow and drainage. He also wanted to put splints in, which apparently is one of the reasons septoplasty can be so excruciating - they need to be removed later and it isn't pleasant...

Then I saw the best damned ENT in New York, who didn't want to operate until I'd tried drugs first (so both she and I could be sure surgery was a good option), didn't want to use splints because "she'd rather I bleed for a day or two than have a week of excruciating pain", and didn't want to cut into the turbinates. Basically a doctor who had MY interests first and foremost.

Overall, good experience. Surgery went just fine, I had a nosebleed for a day or two but nothing serious and didn't need any of the awesome hydrocodone they gave me (that's just a side perk). Just do yourself a favor and remind your doctor on surgery day which nostril is the one that is most problematic. Mine had 7 surgeries to do that day and I wouldn't be surprised if she forgot, and I kinda wish she'd paid more attention to my right nostril. Still, I can breathe through my nose again, which feels GREAT.

This is basically my problem. I'm curious, did the one nostril you could breathe out of ever switch? Usually it's my left nostril, but on rare occasions it's my right