septoplasty and turbinate surgery

[Snoredog]

thanks for the reply. i guess now i'm a bit worried. the constant taste and spitting seems to have diminished. however i have a feeling it's not completly gone. we are friday night...so all the people i need to see are closed. my only option is to go to the hospital and wait overnight till someone sees me. i guess i'll wait it out a bit more... this just really sucks

so spitting normal looking blood mixed with mucus is not norml 5 days post op?

Mucus from the sinuses drains down into the throat, so spitting up some of that would be expected. Small amount of blood mixed with that would also be normal. You can have open wounds in your nasal passages that are bleeding, it mixes with the mucosa and drains down in the back of your throat. If your nose begins bleeding like a bloody nose externally, then I would be concerned and would call your doctors after hours support.

They SHOULD have given you a sheet with post-surgery instructions. I would avoid any aspirin products for pain, only use Tylenol for pain. Ibuprofen would have clotting tendencies (reason most post-stroke sufferers avoid ibuprofen) and may be better in your case. Just avoid aspirin, it is an antiplatelet agent and will increase bleeding.

You can be miserable after that therapy with the discomfort, just know you are going to through the worst of it and things should start to only get better the more it heals. When was the last time you seen your ENT for follow-up? Did they remove the packing or is it the type that dissolves?

Everyone's surgery is a bit different, your case may be worse than my daughters or my own. IF your doctor said it was okay to use a "oral" antihistamine that is what I would try, that might reduce inflammation and reduce bleeding. Do NOT spray anything into your nose, not even a saline rinse until your doctor says it is okay to do so. Limit physical activity and try and stay vertical.

If you took a hot shower, the steam from that would/could dislodge any blood clotting in the nose. Bleeding like from a typical bloody nose is what you want to avoid.

[Guest]

thanks for the reply it's a bit more reassuring. my nose is not bleeding from the nostrils. it's really just my throat...i keep swallowing mucus and tasting blood. i spit out quite a few hunks of it today...but it seems to be subsiding tonight...blood taste is still there and small feeling of it dripping down my throat but it's not gushing down my throat...so i guess it's not a feeling of toooooo much blood. but it is constant.
my nose however feels ok aside from that, i'm not in too much pain, i haven't taken aspirin. i had the packing removed on wendnesday...and they told me start the saline spray yesterday, which i did. i need one more spray and cream application to do tonight.

so i guess maybe it's just normal...maybe i'm bleeding a bit more then most? there is no blood flowingout of my nostrils... and the feeling i had today of it down my throat and having the urge to spit it out has also subsided. there is still blood and i still feel it when i swallow it but hopefully it will keep subsiding. your comment was a bit more reassuring so....i'm gonna try not to worry too much about it. by monday if i still have this i'll see my doctor.

my next checkup would be in 3 weeks only...he needs to remove a plastic mold he put in there to open things up a bit because my septum was very very deviated.

[Snoredog]

thanks for the reply it's a bit more reassuring. my nose is not bleeding from the nostrils. it's really just my throat...i keep swallowing mucus and tasting blood. i spit out quite a few hunks of it today...but it seems to be subsiding tonight...blood taste is still there and small feeling of it dripping down my throat but it's not gushing down my throat...so i guess it's not a feeling of toooooo much blood. but it is constant.
my nose however feels ok aside from that, i'm not in too much pain, i haven't taken aspirin. i had the packing removed on wendnesday...and they told me start the saline spray yesterday, which i did. i need one more spray and cream application to do tonight.

so i guess maybe it's just normal...maybe i'm bleeding a bit more then most? there is no blood flowingout of my nostrils... and the feeling i had today of it down my throat and having the urge to spit it out has also subsided. there is still blood and i still feel it when i swallow it but hopefully it will keep subsiding. your comment was a bit more reassuring so....i'm gonna try not to worry too much about it. by monday if i still have this i'll see my doctor.

my next checkup would be in 3 weeks only...he needs to remove a plastic mold he put in there to open things up a bit because my septum was very very deviated.

You might try picking up a aerosol can of Simply Saline. It has a special applicator that gets the spray up deep in your sinuses to help flush things out faster (follow your doctors advice on how often that should be). Simply Saline is expensive but a can lasts a long time, it is not a spray but a measured "mist", it will put the saline up high so it flushes things out. It can be found at most drug stores even walmart, the can is a bit different looking than below and it may come in a box so you have to ask/look for it.

[Guest]

thank you
i'll ask for it. i spit up more blood...very litle but it was bright red. it does not look like old crusted blood. so...i'm thinking maybe i have something bleeding but it's not profuselly.

i might go to the clinic first thing in the morning if i'm still worried...if not i will definitly call on monday to ask and see if i someone can see me about this. i'll ask for the simply saline as well...i live in Canada however so maybe it is not available here.

i'm a bit worried. i'm pretty sure it is just normal blood flowing down my throat but it is not in an gush or crazy abundance...it is however constantly and sometimes comes out more and sometimes just a pinch...the taste is there... so i really don't know anymore.

i'm hoping it's nothing and it will clear out by monday

havent heard anyone else really say they have experienced this so it is worrying me a bit...the timing just really sucked as it happens over the week-end.

[Blue Snuffle nose]

Hello there.....

I just noticed you having trouble breathing thru your nose so I read from your post. I used have a nose which was nearly entirely blocked up all year round due enlarged tubinates [air heater for nose, it warms air before it goes into the lungs] When I was on cpap like yourself it was nearly impossible to breath and I felt my ears and eyes were gonna pop out!

Have consider getting your sleep dr. getting in to a ENT Dr ? They may find what's blocking you up and they may able to fix your breathing a it may make using the cpap more pleasent, without feeling your eyes and eardrums are gonna pop out!


I saw one Ear,Nose and Throat Dr and he saw all my nose was nearly entirely blocked off due to enlarged tubinates. Then I went for nose surgery and they shaved the excess off, after for 1st time ever in my life I was able breath thru my nose without suffocating after recovering!!! It was easier to use cpap after have your snoz [nose] fixed! Although I have lost my sense of smell.....that's small price to pay to breath easier thru my nose! Top

[Guest]

well today is better. i still taste some blood but it really isn't as bad as yesterday...so whatever it is..it's diminishing. i'm hoping tomorow will be even less and come monday morning i'll call the ENT department at the hospital and tell em about it.

hopefully it's nothing to worry about and it keeps getting better and not worst. right now i,m trying to stay positive. i'm glad it's not as bad as yesterday!

[Blue Snuffle nose]

Hello guest

When I had tubinate surgery they put my lights out with General and local anistacha so I didn't know what happened during the operation. The only time I started stirring was when they were wheeling to my ward, the first I said was, I need go the to the toliet! But the nurse said, " No, You must stay in bed for a few hours....." So I stayed until I could bear no more and said, " I really have to go to the loo if not I'll do it in bed!!!!." Nurse sighs " Oh okay.....and she escorted me to the loo and back. She said now you stay in bed....... My most boring day of the year, luckily I bought alot archie comics and my little train engine with me.

Having your nose caultrized without numbing hurts like all heck as I found !!!! I used keep busting the blood clot with my nose, they go so fed up with me coming back thatthey did the caultrization to stop my nose from bleeding [electrical] without the numbing agent! [butchers!!!]

[scinnytastic]

I had septoplasty, turbinate reduction and turbinectomy on Oct 29th. If you have turbinate reduction, my reading material says that the turbinates do not start bleeding for 5 - 8 days after surgery. I have continued to have bleeding after surgery which has slowly subsisded. My big problem however is the drainage of blood to the back of my throat mixed with thick mucous. Last weekend I coughed up (which was more like a vomit than a cough) a huge dry piece of caked black blood. Prior to that I'd had a really sore throat for a few days. Again today, I have quite a sore throat which has built up over the past couple of days and I am guessing that tomorrow i might vomit up another piece of the dry caked blood. I haven't found any postings from people online who have done this, so I think that maybe i have a bit of a problem?

Anyways... I read as long as you're not bleeding for more than 10 minutes at a time, and your nose blood is subsiding daily, that it should be all ok until you get to check in with your specialist for your post op appointment!!!

[Kackinsgrl]

Guest wrote:

I'm not a registered user of the forum, but I wanted to post this since I had such a difficult time finding accurate information prior to my surgery. Below is a summary of my recent surgical experience with septoplasty/turbinate reduction.......

I had that procedure done 25yrs ago, never regretted it one minute. I didn't have the turbinate reduction and glad I didn't but I did have the septoplasty.

You are still early in your recovery, you won't feel the true relief offered by the surgery probably for a year, it can take that long for things to fully heal up and settle with scar tissue etc. but my experience is it will only get better as the months go by.

I had the dreadful packing after the surgery, when they pulled that out it was like they exposed the brain, I could actually breathe for the first time in my life it seemed.

I would suggest gathering up from every bathroom every bottle of Afrin, Sinex or other OTC spray other than saline and toss it in the trash.

Nearly all of those OTC sprays cause rebound, that is what the 3-day warning is on the bottle. Rebound is where the spray causes turbinate tissue to become inflamed where it engorges with blood reducing the flow of the air. It is normal for the turbinates to become engorged with blood to control temperature and moisture of the incoming air you breathe.

The best thing you can do for your nasal passages is to rinse it out with a saline only rhino rinse. You can use a irrigation syringe or ear aspirator to flush them out holding your head over a sink.

I use:

-8oz. glass of warm distilled water (I nuke it for 30-seconds).
-1/4 teaspoon of uniodized salt.
-pinch of Arm&Hammer baking soda

I use half the solution on one side, the rest on the other. Regular use (2-3 times a week) will reduce allergy symptoms and congestion. Rhino rinse seems to flush out the allergens that cause the congestion.

I had septoplasty, turbinate reduction on 2/9/09 and it's the 24th. I go tomorrow to have the last of the stitches removed. It wasn't that bad. My concern is that my husband says my snoring is louder now than it was before surgery. What have you experienced? Does it get better with time? I would love your input.

[Jason S.]

I had septoplasty, turbinate reduction on 2/9/09 and it's the 24th. I go tomorrow to have the last of the stitches removed. It wasn't that bad. My concern is that my husband says my snoring is louder now than it was before surgery. What have you experienced? Does it get better with time? I would love your input.

My ENT said septoplasty would have no effect on snoring. It would improve breathing only. He said a separate surgery to remove the uvula would be required to reduce/emininate snoring.

[mountainlvr]

Thank you everyone for telling your stories about this surgery. Like most of you were, I am terrified of winding up with ENS after this, and having broken and fixed my nose twice before, I remember the pain afterwards. I am a WIMP and didn't do well recovering either time. But then, my nose was broken in 3 places the first time and 2 the second, so perhaps I had more pain because they were fixing breaks.

Anyway, I've been struggling with this decision for a week now and I think I'm going to go ahead and do it. My ENT called my obstruction (due to the turbinates and deviated septum) severe, and he along with my RT and Sleep Clinician all agreed I am not getting enough air through my nasal passages for the my CPAP therepy to work properly.

So I will post my experiences as well when I have it done.

Thanks again! Glad to hear so many positive results!!

[eutychus]

I'm going in on Monday (March 2) for endoscopic sinus surgery with possible septoplasty. Reading through this thread was very informative.

[roster]

......... Like most of you were, I am terrified of winding up with ENS after this, .............

In earlier days surgeons removed too much of the turbinates, or even all of the turbinates, and caused ENS. These days there should be no reason to fear ENS.

Ask your surgeon how he prevents ENS. If he draws a blank, then run. He should say he has a protocol for leaving enough turbinate membrane to ensure there is no danger of ENS.

[ciscorlando]

Had surgery on Wednesday, the eighth of April. Worse pain of that day was the start of the IV ... remember very little after that. I really had no idea that I had these huge stints with air tunnels up my nose, but I could immediately breathe better. That lasted for two days, until the swelling went away and I can clearly see the edge of a stint in each nostril. I'm 36 hours away from getting my stints removed, and I feel more than ready. I've been very loopy this week from the general anesthesia and feeling of hopped-upped-ness from the prescriptions I've been taking religiously. These are the first nights without a CPAP in more than three years, and daytime drowsiness has already set back in.

I would highly recommended this surgery! Find some way to stay entertained while you recover ... there will be many hours of boredom. Watch out for mild constipation.

[roster]

..............
I would highly recommended this surgery! ....

Ditto from me. It is probably the best thing a doctor ever did for me.

..............
Watch out for mild constipation.

Eat a three-ounce cup of Kellog's Bran Buds (as a dry snack or in milk) with each meal and drink plenty of fluids for a couple of days. The psyllium husk fiber will do the trick gently and thoroughly.