septoplasty

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hhr - 03 Oct 2003 01:55 GMT

I am thinking of having septoplasty performed to correct a deviated
septum. The doctor who would do it emphasized the fact that he did
not use packing unless absolutely necessary, saying that packing is
what most people complained about. He said he places some kind of
pack outside, under the nostrils so that even if I wanted to go to
work the next day, it would be wiser to stay home.

My concerns are:
1) how much time will I miss work
2) how much pain is there after the surgery
3) how long after the surgery does the pain last
4) how long before I return to 'normal', as if nothing happened.

Thanks in advance.

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Don Brady - 03 Oct 2003 06:59 GMT

>I am thinking of having septoplasty performed to correct a deviated
>septum. The doctor who would do it emphasized the fact that he did
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>
>Thanks in advance.

If done by an experienced surgeon, none of the above will be major problems,
except be prepared to call in sick for 3 days or more in case you don't
recover as quichly as some.

But I have some questions for you that may be more important than whether you
miss two day's work or not -

Why are you correcting the septum? Is it to address sinusitis, did you have
a CAT scan done? How serious is the sinusitis? Is it bilateral?

Did you get second opinions from experienced sinus surgeons (e.g at a major
University)?

If that is the path you are on, I would put it off for now and get second
opinions. Often just correcting the septum is not enough to correct
sinusitis. Also septal deviation must be corrected very carefully or problems
can arise..... It has been overdone at times....

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Max - 03 Oct 2003 19:29 GMT

Agreed--I had a septoplasty done by an ent doc who insisted it would
help,then came back after the surgery to his office for several painful
"adjustments" involving a fistful of packing up the nose and me almost
passing out from the pain. Oh, and the doc was 3 hours late the day of
surgery and the hospital had no record of my surgical appointment till he
showed up. The man's business card were xeroxed 3rd generation cut out with
kindergartener's scissors, BUT my GP recommened him. Total quack, should
have known it when the first words out of his mouth involved how Jesus
would help. The a.shole made a boat payment. I'd love to sue him, but how
do you prove your septum wasn't screwed up before the surgery.

I visited a world renowned ENT in Sweden whist seeing my family there, he
took some scans and showed me the obviously tiny ostial openings, and
infected area. He even pointed out that I didn't even HAVE sinuses in my
forehead (some of us don't, go figure) which Doctor number one said were a
problem as well. I underwent FESS a few months later under his scope.
Pretty gnarly recovery (unless you find blowing oyster sized bloody
phlemballs out your nostril magical), but it did stop most ofthe headaches.

GET A SECOND OPINION, there's some good guys out there, but it seems to me
that theres, plenty of quacks, so watch out!!

I visited aOn Fri, 03 Oct 2003 01:59:49 -0400, Don Brady
<dbrady@pobox.com> wrote:

>> I am thinking of having septoplasty performed to correct a deviated
>> septum. The doctor who would do it emphasized the fact that he did
[quoted text clipped - 33 lines]
> problems
> can arise..... It has been overdone at times....

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