Instead of Sinus Surgery...

I won't have sinus surgery to repair a deviated septum. I've known far too many people that have had sinus procedures, all of them BAD. I haven't heard a single success story.

But I'm not writing to bash ENT doctors. That's just my background before I go into....

I'm looking for solutions for the following problems:
... dry tongue/mouth from full face mask (with humidifier)
... listless/tired during the day even WITH a full night on CPAP
... nasal passages only clear when I lay on my left side, but I prefer to sleep on my right.

CAN ANYONE RECOMMEND something I can use in addition to my CPAP to help me with sinus problems?

M

I have a deviated septum too (on the right side).
I found a relatively good solution with the Breeze nasal pillow mask:
I put a large nasal pillow on the left side and a medium dilator nasal pillow on the right side. This got around the deviated septum problem.
The dilator pillows that you can buy for the Breeze are stiffer and longer and stick up further into your nostril. Problem is it can get uncomfortable.
I have since switched to the Swift which doesn't work as well as the Breeze but is more comfortable. Next I am going to try the Hybrid because I have a major mouth leak problem (and I'm tired of taping, etc.)..

good luck!

Maryb

A full face mask can collapse some people's nasal airways if they are marginal. So yes the nasal types can be better.

Saline FLUSH every day helps.

I AM a success story for sinus surgery. It did not get me off CPAP, nor did I expect it too, but it made CPAP finally WORK.
You do need a GOOD ENT though.....and that can be hard to find.

A DIY tongue guide will take care of mouth leaking/ dry mouth. (do a search)

MJRigg wrote:I won't have sinus surgery to repair a deviated septum. I've known far too many people that have had sinus procedures, all of them BAD. I haven't heard a single success story.

CAN ANYONE RECOMMEND something I can use in addition to my CPAP to help me with sinus problems?

M

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): humidifier, CPAP

I had deviated septum surgery which was NOT considered sinus surgery. I asked that my sinuses not be touched. I had broken my nose twice as a child (never even went to the doc) and had it repaired as an adult. The right side of my nose was 90 % blocked. I only had my nose straightened out just purely so I could breathe correctly (nose-wise) and it cut down on the 8 sinus infections I was having a year.

I am surely not recommending the surgery, but just saying that it helped me breathe "normally" through my nose.

My breathing issue has nothing to do with my nose, but being able to correctly breathe through both sides of my nose helps me use a cpap better. This is what works for me!

I too have not heard good things about sinus surgery, but repairing a nose, is a different surgery.

I totally disagree with you on the deviated septum surgery, don't know where you have gotten all your bad advice from but the success rate for that procedure is very high, much higher than you painted its picture.

I had mine corrected over 25 years ago and don't regret that surgery one minute. Only thing I regret is I didn't do it sooner.

I would consider mine 100% success, and I'd do it again if I needed it, but I don't.

I had one side nearly blocked and the other partially blocked, I was in the doctor's office every year with bronchitis. Once they fixed my nose, I could actually breathe again and no more bronchitis.

If you don't have your nose fixed you'll be going around trying to figure out what causes:

I'm looking for solutions for the following problems:
... dry tongue/mouth from full face mask (with humidifier)
... listless/tired during the day even WITH a full night on CPAP
... nasal passages only clear when I lay on my left side, but I prefer to sleep on my right.

It's all very simple, if you cannot breathe through your nose, you will breathe through your mouth. When you breathe through the mouth you bypass all the moisture and temperature control benefits of your turbinates on the air you breathe in before it enters your lungs. Breathing through you nose helps filter out debris before it has a chance to enter your lungs. When you breathe in that air goes across the mucous where particles and pollutants stick to the mucosa, as the air travels across the turbinates it may add or remove moisture. If the incoming air is too cold it warms it a bit, if too hot it cools it. In short, your nose is there for a reason. Breathe through your mouth and you bypass those benefits.

Your tongue is dry because more air is moving over the tongue to dry it out. Because of your deformed nasal passage your nose cannot move air in/out equally so one side is dryer than the other which is why when you turn on your side, one side drains and the other it cannot so it washes all the garbage like smog and allergens over to that clogged side where it causes even more clogging.

Follow the advice of your ENT, if you are not comfortable with his recommendation, look up another ENT and go see them for a 2nd opinion. Nearly all group insurance will pay for a 2nd opinion before a surgery.

MJRigg wrote:I won't have sinus surgery to repair a deviated septum. I've known far too many people that have had sinus procedures, all of them BAD. I haven't heard a single success story.

But I'm not writing to bash ENT doctors. That's just my background before I go into....

I'm looking for solutions for the following problems:
... dry tongue/mouth from full face mask (with humidifier)
... listless/tired during the day even WITH a full night on CPAP
... nasal passages only clear when I lay on my left side, but I prefer to sleep on my right.

CAN ANYONE RECOMMEND something I can use in addition to my CPAP to help me with sinus problems

Well... here is one success story. MINE. IT WENT VERY VERY WELL. And I can breave much better than before. I can really tell a BIG difference, even awake!!!!!

As an added BONUS.... my nose is now straight as an arrow. I had septo-rhinoplasty. Which is septum surgery combined with a nose job.

I had herd a lot of bad stories before surgery. And a few stories about people having it done several times before having success.

For me, worse was a bad headache (due to sinus pressure from the surgery) for about three days and having to breathe out of my mouth for 4 days!!!!! Oddly enough, or maybe not, my nose really never hurt much itself. The ENT also did the entire procedure through the nostrils, so there was no external scaring.

I will tell you I was also really apprehensive about being knocked out. Couldn't help it. I had never even been in a hospital since birth!!!!!!! But I looked at this as something I HAD to do. Turned out... even being knocked out wasn't no big deal.

If it helps any, I think the procedure has improved a lot from a few years ago. Most of the people I talked to that had probelms with the proceedure had it done several years ago. People that had it done recently, had better sucess.

But also, get a good dr to do the procedure.

As for what you can do other than surgery...

Nasal rinse with saline. But that won't last all night. So, you will also need a nasal spray like nasacort, or alike.

(I tried all the above and finally came to the conclusion that surgery was my only option.)

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): humidifier, CPAP