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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Sinusitis / January 2005Surgery Question
Having been plauged with sinusitis for about 14 yrs, I am now looking for a surgical solution for my problems. Winter is the worst time for me and I feel foggy, congested, and have pain for several months straight. I have tried the grossan irrigation. It leaves my head feeling worse for some reason. I have found some relief with Allegra D and Nasacort. But eventually I need antibotics also too. A recent cat scan of the sinuses shows no real problems in sinuses however it showed a turbinate that is blocking my nasal passageway. This is on the right side where I always have symptoms. I have a "slight" deviated septum to the right also. It is straight it is just that I have more airflow on one side as opposed to other. My doctor wants to do surgery for deviated septum and also inject turbinates to shrink them. I asked him if he could just shrink turbinates to start to see if that helps before doing septum surgery. He replied that he did not think insurance would cover to just shrink turbinates. I found this rather surprising, it seemed like he only wanted to do a big surgery. Does anyone else find this odd? Should I get a second opinon, or is this a normal response. >Having been plauged with sinusitis for about 14 yrs, I am now looking >for a surgical solution for my problems. Winter is the worst time for [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] >turbinates. I found this rather surprising, it seemed like he only >wanted to do a big surgery. If the only reason to have surgery is to get insurance coverage, that hardly seems like sufficient justification. >Does anyone else find this odd? Should I get a second opinon, or is >this a normal response. I would indeed get other opinions, or if you prefer just get an estimate for injecting the turbinates *only* and ask the insurance company for pre-approval. I don't see why it would cost that much anyway if it is just injections. It's all very odd I think that you would have "sinus pain" and yet the sinsuses would look normal ont he CT scan. Have you tried nasal steroid sprays? That might be all you need...... >>Having been plauged with sinusitis for about 14 yrs, I am now looking >>for a surgical solution for my problems. Winter is the worst time for [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > > Have you tried nasal steroid sprays? That might be all you need...... Read her post again. She said she had tried Nasacort.  SignatureSteven D. Litvintchouk Email: sdlitvin@earthlinkNOSPAM.net Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me. >Read her post again. >She said she had tried Nasacort. Oh right. She says she found some releif with Nascort and Allegra but eventually needs antibiotics. But her CT scan looks ok. So I guess she is suffering from acute sinsuitis from time to time that has not yet become chronic. What would you suggest? Thanks for your replies. Yes my ct scan look fine in the sinus area. but it does show a turbinate blocking my nasal passageway. This is what I believe eventually becomes so swollen that my sinuses/nasal passageways can't drain and then eventually I get an infection for which I need antibotics. The doctor seemed to be interested in doing a septum surgery along with injecting the turbinates. One of the things he said when I asked to just do turbinates ONLY was that "I would get more *bang* for my buck by doing both" and then said he didn't even know if ins would cover just the turbinates. Why wouldnt they?? I have had cauterization done in the past, only it was on the outside of tissue. Which I believe was bad cus it probably removed alot of cilia. After that I became hyper sensative to smells that trigger migraines. I find this an odd way to diagnose for surgery. I am very conservative and would like to try the least invasive procedure first. Do you think the doctor is right in suggesting I need septum surgury, or is he just looking to make more money...? > Thanks for your replies. Yes my ct scan look fine in the sinus area. > but it does show a turbinate blocking my nasal passageway. This is [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > the doctor is right in suggesting I need septum surgury, or is he just > looking to make more money...? I think you should get a second opinion from another ENT. If your septum is so deviated that it can block one or more sinuses from draining, or block one of your nasal passages, then that should be visible on the CT scan. SignatureSteven D. Litvintchouk Email: sdlitvin@earthlinkNOSPAM.net Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me. Thanks for the reply. Yes. My CT scan showed that my septum is straight, but more airflow on Left side than Right. Right side is where I always have swollen turbinate. >Yes. My CT scan showed that my septum is straight, but more airflow on >Left side than Right. Right side is where I always have swollen >turbinate. Turbinate reduction eeds to be done very carefully and expertly or it can cause later problems. Don, when they inject your turbinate to reduce swelling is that the same thing as turbinate surgery? My doctor was going to do the injection, just wondering the side effects if any... >Don, when they inject your turbinate to reduce swelling is that the >same thing as turbinate surgery? My doctor was going to do the >injection, just wondering the side effects if any... If it is *only* an injection it is not the same procedure as the cutting that is involved in the common surgical form of turbinate reduction. Just an injection alone should be very low risk. As a matter of fact it is probably extremely minor and harmless. It may or may not still be classified as surgery, depending on who is doing the classifying and for what purpose. I have heard of a few doctors who do that procedure. Whether it solves the problem or not be hard to predict though..... >Having been plauged with sinusitis for about 14 yrs, I am now looking >for a surgical solution for my problems. Winter is the worst time for [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] >Does anyone else find this odd? Should I get a second opinon, or is >this a normal response. I have a very similar case - slightly deviated septum - to the right side and inflammation in turbinates. All I can tell you is my own experience. I've been advised by others who had 'slightly deviated septums' and opted for surgery that it wasn't worth it. One felt some improvement - the others absolutely none and one felt way worse - had complications from the surgery. I've finally found something 'over the counter' that helps greatly with the inflammation and has kept me from getting any infections - it's a nasal spray called 'Sinus Buster' that contains capsicum (red pepper). Takes a little getting used to - yes, it stings when you shoot it up your nose, but it really works. Also, I've found that cherry juice - believe it or not seems to help greatly with inflammation. Now that I've discovered sinus buster and cherry juice, i'm finally going to wean myself off these dangerous steroids (prednisone) that i've been using to control inflammation. Good luck. iJah > Now that I've discovered sinus buster and cherry juice, i'm finally > going to wean myself off these dangerous steroids (prednisone) that [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > iJah Thanks for the info. Where do you buy the sinus buster? I am willing to try just about anything to control this inflamation. And I have heard that about cherry juice, its worth a shot. iJah wrote: >> Now that I've discovered sinus buster and cherry juice, i'm finally >> going to wean myself off these dangerous steroids (prednisone) that [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >> >> iJah >Thanks for the info. Where do you buy the sinus buster? I am willing >to try just about anything to control this inflamation. And I have >heard that about cherry juice, its worth a shot. Lynn, you can get the sinus buster from http://www.sinusbuster.com matter of fact, i think that's the only place you can get it from. make sure you order the 'metered dose' spray bottle - which delivers a perfect size dose. the original sinus buster spray bottle gives you a different dose each time depending how hard you squeeze the bottle and you can really give yourself WAY TOO MUCH that way. It's got cayenne pepper in it, like I said and you don't want to overdose on that - OUCH ;-)! iJah Thanks iJah. I am going to order some today. I hope it helps. I am soooo miserable. I irrigated last night, and as usual it always make me feel worse. I must be doing something wrong? I thought I would post a link you might be interested in that talks about how to make your own chili pepper solution. I kinda dismissed this as quackery when I first read it. who knew. http://sulapani.tripod.com/p3.htm I had a slightly deviated septum and enlarged turbinates and I had the surgery. The recovery from the surgery is horrible. The surgery was the biggest mistake of my life. My nose was much, much worse after the surgery than before. I went from extremely rare headaches to daily sinus headaches. At one point I wondered how much longer I could take it before I committed suicide. After 3-years of fighting with my HMO I had a procedure by another doctor called coblation. Now I have no more headaches and my nose is better than before the surgery. Recovery from coblation is hours. I wish I had the coblation in the first place. Hope this helps on your decision to have turbinate surgery. > Having been plauged with sinusitis for about 14 yrs, I am now looking > for a surgical solution for my problems. Winter is the worst time for [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > Does anyone else find this odd? Should I get a second opinon, or is > this a normal response. Thanks for all the input. That is my worse nightmare is to actually make things worse as if I don't feel bad enough. I am glad to hear you are feeling better after what you went thru. >I had a slightly deviated septum and enlarged turbinates and I had the >surgery. The recovery from the surgery is horrible. The surgery was the [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >coblation in the first place. Hope this helps on your decision to have >turbinate surgery. Ed, what about the recovery was horrible? can you explain what you experienced during recovery. thanks, iJah |
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