Quick question:

I had a visit with a new ENT/Facial reconstructive surgeon at UCSF. He
listened to my sorry story (nasal congestion that also causes the typical
sinus pressure problems not helped by anything inc. turbinate surgery,
sprays etc)

After his examination he said I CLEARLY have Nasal Valve collapse. Surgery
will help he said. He is known to be very conservative with nasal airway
surgery and he was very positive the surgery would help a lot. The only
concern he had was that about 25-30% of folks come out of the surgery with
narrowed airways (sounds bad).

My questions are:
--Is Nasal valve collapse the same as Collapsing Ala?  
--Has anyone had this done?
--How big of a risk is the narrowed nasal passages and can anything be
done to mitigate the risk?

I use both Quiet Night and Breathe Right strips to keep my nose opened and
they both help tremendously (90% reduction in symptoms) -- but they look
weird and are irritating after a while!

Any thoughts on this are greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks!

Andrew

FYI: He is just starting a national study of the effects of the procedure
and is one of the investigators so he did say he was somewhat biased
toward this procedure because (1) he believes this problem under diagnosed
and (2) many many years of anecdotal evidence indicates it helps a LOT when
diagnosed correctly. He thought I should get other opinions and is sending
me to Stanford for a second. Even though he thought is would help, he did
not push rushing into it at all.