Anyone have (or know someone who has had) a deviated septum and gotten it fixed??

[violet02]

So far awhile now I''ve known that I have a deviated septum that I need to have a septoplasty to get it fixed. I''m what my ENT likes to call a ''mouth breather'' haha... anwyays, I''m planning on having surgery for this on July 16th. Apprently they need to do some turbinate surgery as well to reduce a bit of the size.

My friend said her brother had this done and it was not a huge deal except for the cotton and splints stuffed up his nose for a week which is what I''ll have to go through. The end result is of course no more cracked dry peeling lips and being able to actually breathe normally through my nose.

I''m concerned about the ''possible'' complications though. I''ll talk to my doctor more about this in a week but I was wondering if anyone else had this surgery and had any issues with it?

Here''s a link to the page with a list of complications on it:
http://www.american-rhinologic.org/patientinfo.septoplasty.phtml

Turbinate surgery seems the scariest from what I''ve read and too much reduction of that can cause very bad irreperable damage to your breathing, talking and more... I''m a bit worried to be undertaking this with my wedding coming up in October but I figured sooner is better than closer to the wedding date. Also I''m wondering how long it will take before I am ''back to normal''. I am hoping to get my engagement photos done soon. I was thinking July but with this surgery coming up it looks like maybe August.

Anyways I''m scared but hoping it''s not as bad as I think it will be! It would suck to have a chronic bloody nose or to actually change my appearance over this!

 

[sumbride]

My brother had it. It did change his appearance a bit in that they took the big bump out of his nose. His was a result of a bad break I think, not a pre-existing deviated septum. He was very miserable after the surgery, but it was complicated by the fact that the dr. thought it was also the perfect time to also take out his tonsils. He couldn''t breathe through his nose OR his mouth. Horrific is a good word for it. But hey, you''re just getting your nose fixed, so don''t think about that! I think it took a few weeks for him to heal... he had black eyes until then though.

His voice changed a bit, his nose looked better, he stopped breathing through his mouth, got fewer headaches, fewer sinus infections and just generally had better health. It was a very wise decision for him.

My DH is a mouth breather with very narrow nasal passages. I''m trying to talk him into at least talking to a dr. about it but he won''t consider it. He says he is freaked out about, get this, not being able to breathe through his nose while he''s recovering!!! Irony? I''ve tried pointing out that he doesn''t breathe through his nose NOW, but he won''t listen. He gets bad tartar buildup because he''s a mouth breather, snores a lot, chapped lips, etc... life is a lot better when you can breathe through your nose.

If you''re going to do it before the wedding, do it ASAP!!!

 

[Skippy123]

I will be okay, don''t look up scary things on the internet; I know easier said than done but I know 3 people who have done it. Make sure you have a good doctor. My sister and mom had it done about 10 yrs ago and it took 4 days of healing. My friends hubby had it done recently and I was suprised at how much better it is from 10 years ago; technology has improved. Prayers for a speedy recovery and good thoughts for you.

 

[violet02]

sumbride - I do have a teeny bump in my nose but they consider it a rhinoplasty to fix things like that so they said no black eyes, no change to my nose appearance just the inside will change. Rhinoplasty = money out of pocket. I''m definitely hoping for all of the health improvements your brother got though! That''s definitely ironic about your husband. I can''t breathe through my nose at all sometimes so I''m not at all worried about having cotton stuffed up it during recovery. I''m dying to not have chapped lips anymore though. I hate it! The soonest they can schedule me for surgery is the 16th. I hope that''s soon enough!

skippy - thanks for the good thoughts, and you''re right it''s tough looking up scary things on the internet but sometimes it pays to be as informed as possible! Now I know to ask my doctor a lot more detail about the turbinate surgery. Still scared about that one. Sounds like you know lots of folks that haven''t had a problem, which is a good thing.

 

[Anastasia]

I have had two sinus procedures. I don''t remember the exact details, but I know in the first one, (this was endoscopic surgery), the doctor removed some bone in the sinuses to open things up and removed a few polyps.

The second procedure was done in the doctor''s office. He cauterized the turbinates.

I have been very happy with the results. The second procedure really seemed to bring the most improvement, however I assume it was the combination of the two procedures that really made the difference.

Wait until you enjoy the pleasures of breathing through both your mouth and your nose!! I don''t wake up with cotton mouth anymore - it''s a beautiful thing!

Neither was a big deal. It is just hard to not sneeze or blow your nose for a week.

My mother had rhinoplasty and septoplasty and her recovery was great. The bruising was pretty dramatic, but was basically gone after one week. I remember seeing her on days 2 and 3 and thinking that there was no way that this bruising would be gone after a weeik, but it really cleared up quickly.

Good luck with it - I understand the misery of mouth breathing and sinus issues - I hope you have great success!

 

[Anastasia]

I just saw that you are not having rhinoplasty. I was amazed that after my surgery, I had absolutely no bruising at all.

I''m sure you will feel better after talking to your doctor.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

My DH had it done (with turbinates) and I do not recall that he suffered much. Nasal packing came out 24 hours later, and that can be uncomfortable, so I recommend taking pain meds 1/2 an hour before it is to be removed.

I worked in ENT (as a nurse) for three years and we did a lot of this kind of surgery. I always recommended a humidifier--to help with dry mouth while sleeping, and of course frequent mouth rinsing/teeth brushing for comfort and to prevent halitosis (dried blood can be malodorus....TMI??).

I am sure you''ve discussed the risks and benefits with your Otolaryngologist, and if you have any questions I recommend you discuss these pre-op.

As an aside, my DH was very happy to be able to "breathe" properly again!

cheers--Sharon

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

My brother had no side effects from having it done and he sleeps much better a night. No matter what he tried, NOTHING worked for my brother to wake up before about noon. He isn''t a morning person now, but he can make it to morning classes and even do well in them, so he is definitely better. His nose looks the same to me, but I admit as I never broke it, I never payed much attention.

 

[diamondfan]

I had one in high school. And it was, I saw xrays. Worst part is, many doctors in my area would say that so insurance would pay for rhinoplasty. Funny thing is I had an xray or MRI recently and I am 42 and I still have it, even though I had a nose job legitimately in 1981! It seems they did not totally correct it. I went to one of the top plastic surgeons in Beverly Hills, I have to believe he would not just leave it without doing something. Maybe it was worse and he did what he could?

 

[violet02]

anastasia - thanks for sharing, I feel better already! I cannot wait until I can keep my mouth closed and breathe, I think my FI can''t wait either haha.

canuk-gal - I''m definitely going to grill my doctor again during the pre-op, thanks also for the info. The turbinate surgery was scaring me the most but after reading what you and anastasia said I feel a bit more at ease about it. Good tip about the blood and pain meds. Thank you.

brazen - this procedure helps you get up earlier? now that''s fascinating. I have NEVER been a morning person ever! How does this change that?? I''d love to know.

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

deviated septums can cause sleep apnea where the person stops breathing breifly during the night. This can cause snoring, sleep walking and generally very poor quality of sleep. My brother now sleeps for the same amount of time, but the sleep is of a MUCH higher quality, so he is able to wake up in the morning. Before, his body slept very badly, so it took a lot loger to get the rest he needed, hence his trouble getting up in the morning.

 

[robbie3982]

My mom had this done a few years ago. I think she had some complications because I remember her being miserable for at least a few weeks and she actually found it to be harder to breathe afterwards. I can''t remember what she ended up doing, but she''s fine now.

I''ve broken my nose 3 times and had it fixed twice (wasn''t crooked the 3rd time I broke it) so I''ve done the whole packing thing and it is miserable, but it''s only for a few days. I know you said no bruising, but did they mention anything about swelling? I''m sure what I had done was a bit different, but I remember them telling me that my nose would not be completely unswollen for 6 months after having it done. If you didn''t know me you wouldn''t have known it was swollen, but looking back on pictures I can see a difference.

 

[blushingbride]

Hi violet - I had it done back when I was in 8th or 9th grade. I was a mouth breather and sometimes still am, but I was able to have the deviated septum fixed along with the little bump on my nose all covered by my parent''s insurance. Full recovery time was about a month and I''d say the first two weeks were pretty bad. I did have black eyes, the splints up my nose which had to be changed daily and lots of sensitivity. I had no complications and the end result was soooo worth it. Like I mentioned, I still breath through my mouth sometimes, but I used to migrane headaches constantly and those have gone away!

 

[sumbride]

Date: 6/23/2008 10:24:05 PM
Author: violet02
sumbride - I do have a teeny bump in my nose but they consider it a rhinoplasty to fix things like that so they said no black eyes, no change to my nose appearance just the inside will change. Rhinoplasty = money out of pocket.

Insurance actually paid for all of it, but it was a struggle. I remember my mom screaming "He''s not having a NOSE JOB! He can''t BREATHE THROUGH HIS NOSE!!" They didn''t carve anything off.... just moved it around. I think they had to do it for the surgery to be successful. If your bump is just a bump and not a structural issue, I could see why they wouldn''t fix it, but be aware battling with the insurance company comes with the territory on pretty much any surgery. Good luck!!

 

[blushingbride]

Date: 6/24/2008 11:09:08 AM
Author: sumbride

Date: 6/23/2008 10:24:05 PM
Author: violet02
sumbride - I do have a teeny bump in my nose but they consider it a rhinoplasty to fix things like that so they said no black eyes, no change to my nose appearance just the inside will change. Rhinoplasty = money out of pocket.

Insurance actually paid for all of it, but it was a struggle. I remember my mom screaming ''He''s not having a NOSE JOB! He can''t BREATHE THROUGH HIS NOSE!!'' They didn''t carve anything off.... just moved it around. I think they had to do it for the surgery to be successful. If your bump is just a bump and not a structural issue, I could see why they wouldn''t fix it, but be aware battling with the insurance company comes with the territory on pretty much any surgery. Good luck!!

For mine, I believe the just "shaved" the bump down

 

[violet02]

The bump I have is on the very top/bridge of my nose nearer to my eye so one doctor said they''d have to do a different procedure to get there, which requires lifting up the skin and folding back to get that high. Whereas with this procedure they just go in through the nostril I guess. That''s why they said no bump... I wouldn''t mind them shaving the bump off for sure but I also don''t want to have to pay for it or have to go through a really long recovery, it''s not worth it.

I guess since theyr''e just going up through the nostril and cutting and moving some cartelidge or bone around it''s not supposed to be a black eyes situation but I am concerned about the swelling and change in appearance. During my pre-op I''ll ask thsese questions. I''m way too close to needing engagement photos and getting married to have some major nose problem during it. Although I really want to get this procedure done.