Am I Recovering Correctly? Just Had Nasal Surgery

[Don]

Last Thursday the 19th I had nasal surgery and I am wondering if what I am experiencing is the normal recovery experience. The surgery lasted about an hour and a half or so and this is what my ENT surgeon did. I had a deviated septum so he corrected that and also said that while he was in there he found that my septum was unusually thick and and removed the extra thickness and he also removed a bone spur from one passage and then did turbinate reduction. I went home at about 1:30 pm the same day (last Thursday).

At this point (Sunday) my nose is very stopped up (no packing but splints installed). I have been irrigating about once every two hours or so with the saline solution and a "spray" type syringe. I had very little bleeding following the procedure. I was given several gauze strips to tape below my nose and was told that if it bled enough to fill seven of them in an hour to call the surgery center for advise as how to take care of the problem. I never did "fill" up a gauze pad but changed it out each time I irrigated until no bleeding was taking place. One of my questions would be this. Did I not bleed enough to get some of the remanence of the surgery out of my nose or is it good that I didn't bleed much at all? Also I have had a very slight rise in body temperature. I think the highest has been 99.7 and as of this morning is was down to 99.0... Most of yesterday I had what I would call very bad "allergy" type symtoms as is I were a sufferer and it was a terribly high day of allergins which of course it wasn't. Eyes very itchy/scratchy and my nose felt like I had a very bad cold. I have a sore throat (I am guessing from the drainage from my nose down my throat).

I was able to use my full face Ultra Mirage mask and my CPAP machine for the entire night the first night and ever since. I do notice a sore throat/hard to swallow feeling during my sleep but not really any pain except for the sore throat feeling which is not very bad but noticeable.

I only used pain medicine the first afternoon and during the night (which caused me to get no sleep at all the first night) but have not taken any pain medicine since that time. I am taking an antibiotic twice a day.. The surgery center/ENT office have called me twice to check in on me and told me to not hesitate to call them with any questions or concerns at all.

I have to say that the ENT/Surgery Center employees from nurses to the surgeon to the anestheseoligists to the receptionists could not have been any kinder or more caring than they were to me. I was so impressed with their caring and concern it was a boost to my belief in humanity as good caring people still exist in the health/care field.

I am scheduled to go back in this coming Thursday (a week after the surgery) to have the splints removed. I will continue with the saline solution irrigations through out this time and still after the splints are removed for awhile.

My question is this....Does my recovery seem to be appropriate for what took place? I did have more pain with the surgery than some others have said they had and others said they were able to go back to work the following day which there would have been no way I could have done that. I am 54 years old and this was my first surgery.

As I was told here by several people...I told everyone I came into contact with at the surgery center I had OSA and was concerned about stopping my breathing following the surgery. My female anesthegiolists doctor told the operating nurses to hold up the surgery until she had the findings from my sleep study from my sleep doctor specialist and told me that she would not proceed with the surgery until she was satisfied with my sleep study results. She told me if the readings were in question at all she would wait until the procedure could be done at the hospital and not a same day surgery center. She got the results about fifteen minutes later, studied them and said we are "good to go" and she would take good care of me. I told her, "I guess this is the time to mention that I know my life is in your hands" and she said, "I am a very good doctor and you can trust me to take good care of you." That was very reassuring to hear.....And, she did do a very good job of taking care of me. I had no feelings of being out of breath or sick from the anesthetic at all.

I would like to thank all of those here on this forum for helping me ever since I thought I might have sleep apnea. It has been over a year and a half since my ENT told me I should have this type surgery but I wanted to rule out every possible answer before turing to surgery and I think that is what I have done. You all could not have been any more helpful or nice to me. I really do appreciate that.

Sorry this is so long but maybe this will help others that may be thinking of having this same type of surgery too.

Thanks,
Don

[sleep talker]

I had the septoplasty and turbinate reduction surgery in 2003. You will have restricted breathing until the splints come out, and also, until the crusting works it way out. Hopefully the doctor can clean you out pretty good during the next visit. I had one huge blood crust in one of my nostrils that didn't come out unitl 2 weeks after the surgery.

Recovery time and return of energy can vary. I missed six days from work.

Pain is probably directly proportional to amount of surgery and length in surgery. My proceedure lasted 45 minutes. A good suggestion is to heat a coffee mug of clear water in the microwave for 1 minute 50 seconds, and then just hold it under your nose and breathe in the steam (no need to sip the water). That can do wonders for the pain instead of using strong drugs.

[Don]

Thanks SleepTalker. I wonder if that lack of much blood loss is a concern? When they mentioned the possibility of a lot of bleeding and then not having much seems like it could be a concern...Don

[sleep talker]

Don't worry about not bleeding my friend. It is very hard for the medical people to accurately predict if anyone person is going to bleed more than another. Keep up with the saline nasal washes. Give healing some time. Once the splints come out, you will breathe easier and feel better.

[Don]

Thanks for the encouragement. I just want this to go as well as possible and to do my part as well as I can to heal up well. I really do appreciate your words.....Don

[Billinseattle]

Hi Don,

Your recovery seems very typical. It takes about 7-10 days to be mostly recovered. The splint removal will be nasty...but your breathing afterward will be suprisingly refreshing.

Folks warn about the worst case scenerio...bleeding...just in case, so you won't be upset or panic if it happens. Usually the bleeding amounts to a good nosebleed (like a kid on the play ground) and not much more than that. If you don't have a nosebleed, great ! Don't be concerned.

Good luck,

Bill

[Don]

Thanks Bill. This morning was the first morning I could breathe even a little bit through my nose so that was good. Since I have been able to use my full face CPAP mask each night that has helped too. So the splint removal may just be nasty huh? Well, I suspect that could be the case. Since the end of my nose is so sore it hurts when water from the shower hits it I have a pretty good idea that when the doctor sticks a pair of "needle nose" pliers up there and pulls out his "super structure" he constructed from in there it just may be as you put it "nasty" ehehhehe...but hey, it has to come out sometime.

Thank you for your help here and also thanks for all of the others you help here too.
Don

[JimH]

Congratulations, you did it!
I bet when it's all over, you would have it done again. As I imagine it is in every surgery, regardless of what or where, I disagree with "Bill in Seattle" that getting the splints out is a big deal.
I was expecting it to be a big deal (like it was when I had my packing removed from my first septoplasty in the early 80's), but it didn't even require any type of anesthetic.

It was just a "snip" (to cut the stich holding them in place), she then grabbed them with a hemostat, and pulled them out. I remember making the remark that it wasn't a big deal, and then she remembered that she forgot to numb it up (thank god she isn't the surgeon). It didn't even need numbing up. If I were you, I'd ask them to spray the inside of your nose with their numbing stuff (just to ease your mind).

I've had a lot of stuff done to me, but when it comes to the face, I'm no hero. If it hurt, I would tell you to prepare for the worst.

I agree that when your "scabs" all fall off from the insides of your nose, you will be amazed on how well you can breathe. It just takes time for the skin to heal, and the scabs will fall off when they want to. Trust me, you'll know when the major scabs come out, they're not exactly the type of thing you've ever had come out of your nose before (unless you regularily put objects in your nose)

Good luck,

Jim

[Don]

Jim,
I think the last thing I put up my nose (atleast what's not supposed to be put up there) was a peanut when I was about five years old. Learned a lesson with that one! hehehhe...
Thanks,
Don

[Don]

Went in last Thursday and had the nasal splints removed after surgery for deveated septum, bone spur removal and turbinate reduction. The splint removal was piece of cake. Some nasal numbing spray was used and he clipped a stitch in each nostril that was holding the splints in place and removed them one at a time and no pain whatsoever (just a little tickling feeling) and I was done. He said since I used the saline rinse for irrigating like I was supposed to it was very easy to do. I thought the splints would have been maybe an inch long or so and not very big around but they were huge! Maybe four inches long and when opened up maybe two inches across and I have a small nose. Could not believe they would fit in my nose but they did. No wonder I felt so plugged up!
He said I have quite a bit of swelling so it will take 2 or 3 weeks before I really can tell much of a difference in my breathing but for the first time in I have no idea how many years I already breathe through my nose all through the night. Normally within a minute of laying down my nose would be congested to the point of not being able to breathe through either side. I think once the swelling and soreness goes down I am going to switch from my full face Ultra Mirage mask to my nasal mask. Right now the end of my nose and nostril openings are too sore to use one.

[sleep talker]

That's an excellent report Don. Keep watching the forum. You will certainly be of help to the next person who is going through this surgery if you share your experience with them!

[Don]

I will try and help however I can as so many people here have helped me so much. I really do appreciate the caring people on this forum...Don