Turbinate Reduction and Septoplasty

Hello all,
I am new to this groups. Well, I should say posting here. I have stalked this site for a while now, lol. I am 2 weeks away from getting a Turbinate reduction/septoplasty. I just cant breath at night with my C pap machine. I have always had trouble with stuffy nose but now that I am on C pap its so bad at night. I love my machine, sleep so well....UNTILL...I get the dreaded stuffy nose and wake up again and again. Tried it all, nothing helps well enough.
Can anyone tell me how long till I will be able to use my mask? I have a full faced one, but still it touches the bridge of my nose. I will ask the ENT this question but hopeful that someone has experienced this. Also, did it help much with your breathing. I am NOT doing this to cure my hypopnia (I have no apnea)...just doing this to help my machine do its job.
Also, any advice, tips would be much help. Thanks in advance from a big old chicken....

Even though you are scheduled for surgery, you might consider the Oracle 2 mask which is oral only and will solve the issue of a stuffed up nose. It may be that you should consider getting one for the transition period after surgery when you will be unable to breathe through your nose.

During that time, your nose will be sore to the touch.

Hello Army mom

A short while before being diagnosed in 2005 with sleep apnea I had my deviated septum corrected and turbinate reduction on the right side. I did this to hopefully end my snoring which drove my wife out of the room almost every night. It helped for about a month but my snoring came back so I sought help from a sleep doc because my wife was telling me I stopped breathing even after the surgery. I am very glad I had the surgery because I would never have been able to breath with a nasal mask since my nose would become completely closed off shortly after going to sleep. By the time I was diagnosed with sleep apnea I was already healed and able to use my mask immediately.

About two years ago I had turbinate reduction on the left side to improve my breathing a little more since I was suffering from increased allergies due to my workplace. This caused me to have my nose close up on my left side while sleeping. If I remember correctly I think I had to wait about 2 weeks from the time I had my last turbinate reduction done until I could use my cpap machine again. It was difficult to get used to not having my cpap but I managed by sleeping at a steep incline in bed. It got harder each day to sleep without the cpap but once I was back on it I was grateful to have had the surgery once again. It really did improve my breathing especially at night!

You can ask your ENT but I don't think the pressure of the mask on the nose is a problem after the surgery the concern the ENT doctors have is the air pressure increase. I think they are afraid of the increased air pressure doing something to the surgical site, that is my guess though. There is one minus to having the surgery you may not be aware of and it is this: if you had enough blockage once your nasal passage opens up you will be bombarded with many new smells and not all of them pleasant! I now notice perfumes much more than before, also body odors are particularly much more pungent than I ever noticed before All in all I think it was a fair trade, better sleep with cpap vs a whole new world of b.o.

Good luck with your surgery!

Dale

I had this surgery but didn't use CPAP for awhile afterwards by choice, so I don't really know. Ask the doctor if he/she is going to pack or splint your nose. Both of those things will make it more painful afterwards vs. not having packing or splinting.

Did you try messing with the humidifier settings to see if it affected the stuffiness? I'm wondering because you make it sound like you start out the night using CPAP fine and then get stuffy. I'm not sure why your septum or your turbinates would be changing in the course of the night on CPAP.

I am glad I had my surgery. I can breathe so much better, and as a bonus, I have fewer sinus infections.

Ha ha dale!
I just re read about the ability to smell stuff!!
I about woke my husband up laughing. Funny you should
Say this because it's an on going joke between us that
I can " almost" smell something but get it wrong constantly.
I didn't know it would help me smell too! I played basketball for 9 years and have
Been hit in the face so many times. Not to mention the time my old pal
Molly accidentally hit my nose with a beer bottle in college :/
I am so torn by being worried about pain/ all that goes with
This surgery and just so happy to finally doing something about it!
Army mom

Army mom

Everyone is different I guess but my experience during my two separate turbinate reductions was really not much discomfort at all. Of course they give you meds during surgery for the post op pain and prescriptions for stuff like vicodine to take at home but I only took one pill at home after surgery at my wife's request to try to keep ahead of the post op pain. I found even with the correction of my deviated septum in the 1st op my nose only felt "odd" sort of like after you smash it and the pain goes away but there is a numb feeling. I hope your surgery goes well and you do not have much post op discomfort.

Reading your response to my post reminds me what it was like before my surgeries. I too had numerous basketball injuries and I also broke my nose when I was very young. I almost never could smell food cooking from another room I had to have it right under my nose to even get a slight hint of what food smelled like. When I was a child I remember my parents taking me to the doctor for various things and whenever a doctor would shine his little light into my nose to check it out he would inevitably say to my parents that they should take me to an ENT to have my nose fixed but I had such a fear of doctors at that age I could not bear the thought of surgery. I finally gave in to having the surgery after my wife would not sleep with me any longer because of the freight train she would hear all night long. I couldn't have her sleeping in another room so I overcame my phobia and had the surgery. So glad I did! Things are so much better when your nose functions the way it should, colds are not as bad, I don't get continuous sinus infections etc.

Good luck, I will be thinking of you!
Dale

Thank so much Dale !
My hubby is excited of the chance I will stop complaining about my poor nose. I however do not snore. Even on my 2 sleep studies none. They say no apenea just hypopnia which is mild--- I don't understand at all how it's mild if my pulse ox goes to 83 :/. But I have adjusted very well to my mask and sort of dare I say --- like it.
I will keep you posted as to my progress. I have already filled my percocet (30) and an antibiotic. He gave me 3 smallish bottles of spray. Told me a humidifier would help.
Plus I may need advice in my " time of need" . Lol
Army mom

I had the septoplasty done prior to my apnea diagnosis. My septum was severely deviated. I do not remember pain from the surgery. My ENT splinted the nasal cavity for 7-10 days post-op. That was the worst part having to be a mouth breather. I am glad that the cat we had at that time did not sleep on our bed. The furry mouth was just from breathing and not the cat. It was an amazing feeling to have air moving freely through my nose.

Good luck with the surgery.

I am actually recovering from several procedures right now. One was to correct a deviated septum, one was to widen nasal stenosis, and one was to shore up the cartilage in my nose which apparently collapses when I breathe. Had the surgeries on Monday. The pain has not been too bad; breathing through my mouth has been beyond irritating. Mostly been sleeping sitting up. Tomorrow I'm supposed to get the splint off. I am very tired and kind of out of it still; more so than I thought I would be. I'm hoping for some of the positive effects folks have been mentioning on here in a couple of weeks!

Keep us posted as to your progress. They say it gets a lot better moved the stints come out ?
I am such a chicken. I hate sleeping on my back so my try the recliner. Not to mention the mouth breathing. Please tell us when you get to go back to your c pap !

tuzacat wrote:I am actually recovering from several procedures right now. One was to correct a deviated septum, one was to widen nasal stenosis, and one was to shore up the cartilage in my nose which apparently collapses when I breathe. Had the surgeries on Monday. The pain has not been too bad; breathing through my mouth has been beyond irritating. Mostly been sleeping sitting up. Tomorrow I'm supposed to get the splint off. I am very tired and kind of out of it still; more so than I thought I would be. I'm hoping for some of the positive effects folks have been mentioning on here in a couple of weeks!

You will probably have some swelling in the nostrils for a while and will not feel the full benefit until the swelling subsides.

I remember when mine was done. Another patient described the feeling as having an open freeway through the nose for the first time.

My voice sounded different because of an echo chamber effect that wasn't there before. After a couple of weeks I got used to it. Family said they never noticed any difference in my voice.

Definitely a big improvement in life.

(Of course it is not a cure for sleep apnea because it does not address soft palate and tongue base.)

It was 6 weeks after my Septoplasty that I started CPAP. The sleep technician would not start me without ENT clearance. My ENT did however tell me when I had my appointment that he had had patients who went on CPAP right after surgery. In my case I don't think I would have wanted to although I must admit I don't feel much pressure on my nose with CPAP.

Went to the doctor yesterday and he took the stent off my nose and cleaned me out. My nose is pretty swollen so breathing is still problematic. It really hasn't been that painful; more sore and irritating than anything else. Didn't really need that much percoset. I have been tremendously exhausted so haven't returned to work yet. My problem is I teach and have to talk all day long; very difficult to do when you are not breathing properly through your nose and you are super tired. I have been having to remind myself that I had three separate procedures, not just one, and that I'm close to 60. Trying to cut myself some slack. The Doctor said I could go ahead and try the BiPap machine so last night I did. I was really surprised I could tolerate it since it has only been a week. My AHI was up - over 3 - lots of snoring and events. Today I felt like I'd been run over by a truck. That could be because I decided not to nap yesterday - trying to wean myself back into work mode - so that was the first time I'd been awake all day for a week. Today, I drove for the first time and went to the grocery store - was exhausted so I did nap. I'm planning on going back to work Thursday but am playing it by ear.

When is your surgery? I wish you great success!

Thanks for the info. My doctor said that I had a deviated septum and my whole right nostril was blocked when sleeping at night. I have had my CPAP machine for six years and it hasn't helped me at all. I really wish I would have went to a ENT years ago instead of my regular sleep doctor. I had the septoplasty and turbinate procedure today and I am doing fine. I am nervous when I have to sleep for the next six days without any cpap machine or oral appliance. After the surgery my doctor said it went very well. I had a bone spur in my nose and he corrected all of the blockage. I am praying for the best. He stated that with mild sleep apnea two things could happen. First, I may not have to use my cpap machine ever again or I may need to wear it since sleep apnea can't be cured. Good luck to everyone. Day 1 is going well so far.

First, I may not have to use my cpap machine ever again or I may need to wear it since sleep apnea can't be cured.

Sounds like he really has things figured out.