Has anyone had surgery for a deviated septum and/or a turbinate "spur"?

Question

I had a CAT scan on my sinuses recently. My doctor has told me that I have a deviated septum, and a "spur" on my left turbinate. He said that surgery would significantly reduce the amount of sinus infections I get, as well as improve my breathing. Has anyone else had this surgery? How did it go, i.e. recovery, results? My doctor said he will not have to break my nose to correct the deviated septum. Thank you for any input!!!

Just to add some detail, the main reason my doctor wants me to have the surgery is to improve the drainage of my sinses. As it stands now, I get 2-6 sinus infections a year and many headaches. My doctor claims this surgery would reduce the infections and eliminate the headaches, which he believes are due to the turbinate spur.

Answer 1

I am 12 days post- op after having the septoplasty with the tuberinate reduction. Before the operation, I was pretty much constantly suffering from a sinus infection and sick of taking antibiotics. I also had trouble breathing through my nose particulary at night. I also did not need to have my nose broken to fix my septum. When I came home after the surgery, I was very uncomfortable, not so much in pain. I had packing in both nostrils and the drip pad taped to my nose. I did not receive a splint. I had to sleep basically sitting up so betweeen that and the packing in my nose, I barely slept. The worst part was when I would sneeze. I was instructed to allow myself to sneeze, but to keep my mouth open. Every time I sneezed, my nose would ooze and I would have to change my drip pad. I also had a reaction to the general anesthesia, which made me sick. I would have to say the first two days were pretty miserable. My packing was removed two days post-op which made things a lot better. At this point, I was not allowed to blow my nose. This made me very uncomfortable as for the first few days, I became extemely congested. Decongestants and saline nasal spray helped somewhat. I was however now allowed to resume a normal sleeping position, which helped. Another stipulation of recovery was a soft, cold diet for 5 days. I understood why the soft restriction was in place because I did have some pressure and pain in my jaw following surgery. My doctor explained that hot foods are not allowed to do the fact that they can stimulate drainage from the nose into the back of the throat. My doctor cleared me to go back to work after 11 days, but I do not have a physically demanding job. I would imagine that for some jobs, the sick time is greater. 12 days later and I am still not allowed to blow my nose, but I am not as congested as I was before and find that my breathing has improved. As for the sinus infections, the long term effects of the surgery remain to be seen.

Answer 2

'Deviated septum' alone is not a valid reason for a septoplasty to be covered by health insurance. The deviated septum would have to be obstructing your breathing in some way. In addition, a septoplasty involves reshaping the cartilage within the nose that divides the nose down the middle. This only makes a very subtle difference to the outer appearance, so it is a functional, not a cosmetic, procedure. The procedure you appear to be looking for is a rhinoplasty, which involves resculpting the actual bony structure of the nose as well as the alar cartilages at the side of the nose. A deviated septum, however, is not an indicationfor rhinoplasty. In summary, a cosmetic rhinoplasty will give you want you want, but cannot be justified on the basis of a deviated septum. A septoplasty, which can be justified by a deviated septum that occludes the airway, will not give you the result you are looking for and will simply be an uncomfortable procedure with no benefit.... Good luck

Answer 3

Yes, I've had it. I had a turbinate reduction as well as septum repair. Prior to surgery, I could barely breathe, it has helped significantly. I still get about 3-4 sinus infections a year, although this is due to allergies.

The worst part about the surgery was they packed the nose for a day. Tough to breathe will sleeping when your mouth closes. Got about 20 min. that night.

Aside from that, the only other thing is that if I get wacked in the nose, it still hurts and it's been 5 years since the surgery. All in all, I would do it again if I had to. Good luck.

Answer 4

I could have told you about this anyway but it happens that my son had a similar surgery -- septoplasty (what you're going to have to correct the deviation) and turbinate reduction. If the deviation & the spur are the only causes of breathing difficulty, then this will resolve it. He won't have to fracture the nasal bone but you will require a splint postop and possibly nasal packing. If you don't have packing, you'll have what's called a moustache bandage. You can make these at home when you replace the one you leave with by using 4x4 gauze and surgical tape. You will be miserable for a several days and will have to mouth breathe. Pick up Salivart at your pharmacy to moisten your mouth during recovery. You will be prescribed pain medication to take. Take it! You'll be sorry you had the surgery. When you return for your first postop follow up, the packing and splints will be removed. Not fun but you'll be able to use your nose again. Most likely, you'll be told to use a moisturizer like Ocean Spray, a saline mist to keep the membranes from drying out and bleeding. In 3-4 weeks, you'll feel like yourself again and you'll be glad you had the surgery. Any other questions, I'll be happy to answer. I used to work Head & Neck surgery.

Answer 5

I had it done about 6 years ago,helped a lot with sinus infections not occuring. The surgery cost me about $6000 (No insurance) a bit painful after the surgery for about 3-5 days...