Septoplasty & Pillar procedure

[hrc54]

Hi all-

Love this forum. I use a Remstar Auto with Cflex. my mask is a Mirage Activa.
Used Cpap for 3 months with poor results. Finally broke down to fix a deviated septum. I'd wake up with dry mouth & very tired. Realized that the deviated septum was mostly the reason that my compliance was poor.

Had surgery done on Tuesday July 12 & at same time the pillars were inserted.
Vitually no pain other than a sore throat(gone on Thursday). Nose was completetly stuffed like the worst cold I've ever had for about 3 days. Nose is still fairly congested. However, it's hard to tell what "normal" nosebreathing is anyway.

My question to those who have gone through this surgery is what kind of timeframe did people need to achieve optimal nosebreathing?

Thanks-Bob

[tater pie]

I don't know about the pillar procedure but I did have a septoplasty last year and it took about 6 to 8 weeks before the drainage dried up. Maybe it took so long for me because I had it done in the winter. After your nose finally clears up, you will be so glad you did it. It's amazing that I grew up with a severely deviated nasal septum and never though anything about me constantly having to mouth breathe. My mom just thought I had a bad habit of breathing through my mouth and used to tell me if I didn't breathe through my nose and keep my mouth shut, flies would get in my mouth. Of course, she was kidding but I was always a mouth breather. I don't have to now but it's a hard habit for me to break since I did have to for the last 53 years.

[hrc54]

Thanks for response. I thought topic would be more popular. Reading these posts educated me to improve my compliance.

After 2-3 weeks would you say you had 70-80% of what you have now? Mine is only 4 days & feel better but still very congested-what kind of ramp up in nosebreathing capacity did you see?

Thanks-Bob

[SLEEPYCD]

I had deviated septum all my life, ENT wanted to fix it years ago, but finally had the surgery in 1999. I just couldn't breathe very well anymore. Surgery was piece of cake, except for bleeding first couple days. Felt better almost at once, didn't have problem wih congestion. Can't help you there. Was always a mouth breather. Found out I had OSA in May. CPAP has been difficult, I had to learn to to keep my mouth shut!!! Getting better and you will too, just hang in there. Lots of great people on this site, always there to help!!! Good Luck!!!!!

[tater pie]

I just have a plain vanilla straight c-pap. It does have ramp but the DME set it when I got the machine and I don't have the user's manual so I have no idea what the ramp is. I don't use it very much anyway. My pressure is set at 12 and I like said earlier, it is a straight c-pap with a heated humidifier but I really like it and I would say I was about at 60% at the time frame you asked about. It was in the winter time and I think that had a lot to do with my nose drying up so slowly but like I said earlier, once it does dry up, regardless of how long it takes, you'll really like being able to breathe easy in the daytime too. More than likely, you'll still be on c-pap. It didn't cure my sleep apnea but it will enhance your cpap treatment and maybe lower your pressure.

[jburnham]

I'm just back online from septoplasty and pillar implants yesterday morning. Not much nose or palate pain or bleeding - tylenol would be fine. I can even put my CPAP mask on - which is a good thing. As soon as I came out of general my throat started burning and hasn't stopped. At times it brings tears and makes my ears vibrate. They gave me lidocaine to dull the throat pain, but that's only good for 15 minutes. I take hydrocodone/tylenol every two hours (instead of 2 pills every 4 hours) and that is making it almost tolerable.

My question is, what the heck happened? Did something go wrong when they intubated me?

[sharon1965]

hrc54

i don't know a thing about pillar procedure, but i can definitely comment on the septo

i had it done in april, but keep in mind that i'm in canada, so my experience was a little different than a few of the people on here...

i was kept overnight because of osa, but was unable to use my cpap in hosp. because i use a nasal pillow interface...this caused quite a flap with the nurses, but i was in step-down from icu, so i was well monitored

the stents were in for 2 weeks, which, again, was different than some here; i also had dissolving gel packing, which no one else on here seems to have had...after two weeks of doing absolutely nothing but resting, as per jeffh's advice, i had the stents removed and was breathing freely and clearly from that moment on...no more congestion, no more sneezing and now i can blow my nose like a normal person! i have continued using the NeilMed sinus rinse ever since, and i find it helps keep things clean and moisturized

after taking allergy meds every single day since i was 11 (so 31 years to be exact) i have not taken one single pill since my surgery! WOW, that, to me, makes it all worthwhile, as i knew those meds were bad for me

my only complaint was that my ENT told me to wait one month after surgery to go back on cpap, again, one more thing most folks here didn't have

my pressure was only 6 to begin with, so it wasn't lowered after surgery, as some have experience, but it definitely has enhanced my usage