Surgery Tomorrow!!!!!!

[dolphin]

I'm having nasal surgery done tomorrow called "Septoplasty". I have a mild case of sleep apnea, but sleep apnea just the same. I'm hoping this surgery will finally put an end to my "very" loud snoring. My husband hopes it work as well, you can imagine. He wears earplugs every night and sometimes has to take sleeping pills so he can get some sleep.

We sometimes sleep in different rooms!! I feel sooooo bad that I keep him up. It's very frustrating.

Has anyone here have this procedure done? Did it help with the snoring? What can I expect after the surgery? The closer it gets, the more nervous I get. Can anyone here help?

Thank-you

[Toth]

All I can say is "Good Luck".

I had turbinate surgery, but thats an office procedure on the inside of the nasal passages useing radio frequencies to generate heat to melt the fat so the nostril won't be blocked so readily.

Similar procedures are sometimes used to restructure the areas that produce snoring at the back of the throat but I've not undergone them.

[Billinseattle]

Hi there,

I've had a whole series of procedures including septoplasty/turbinate reduction to address my severe sleep apnea.

Of all my procedures, the septoplasty combo was the most minor. You can expect a 7-10 day recovery . Most people tolerate this procedure well with minimal pain. The initial packing (not everyone does this...but many surgeons do) comes out in 1-2 days. It is kind of a drag. You will be big-time congested until this comes out. There may be plastic splints or stents that come out 7 days or so later. Life gets good after that. For certain, you'll have a lot of congestion for the first few days. This gets better. Use the saline rinses religiously and copiously...this will help flush clots and mucous out. That means a cleaner airway with less liklihood of later infection or scar formation (inside the nose).

Overall, I'd put this procedure on the scale of a big root canal. Nothing to be afraid of or nervous about...but it is not much fun for a few days. You'll feel like you have a pretty severe head cold and won't breathe out of your nose for several days. This does improve substantially.

As to what it might do for your snoring...that is controversial. For most people , this is a good operation as it will allow you to breathe out of your nose and use CPAP better. It is not a cure for OSA. I don't think it will be a cure for loud or severe snoring either.

If snoring is your only problem, once you are over this operation and can breathe out of your nose, you should look into radio-frequency ablation of the base of your tongue. This is an office procedure and will dramatically diminish your snoring.

That being said, most people who snore have OSA. The best non-surgical treatments for OSA are CPAP or dental devices (both work better with this nose procedure you're about to have). OSA is very serious and shouldn't be excluded to try to fix snoring (which is cosmetic by comparisson). By the way, successful CPAP or dental device use will also mostly fix your snoring.

Best of luck...this procedure won't be that bad...and you'll love breathing out of your nose afterward !

Bill

[Phillip]

Best of luck to you on your surgery Dolphin. I am afraid of it myself. I hope it brings you much success.

Phillip

[ASaxon]

I wish you the best of success with this procedure.