Deviated Septum Surgery? Has it helped w/allergies?

[christopherniedzwiecki]

Hi! at my last Dr's appointment, It was discovered that I have a Deviated Septum. The Dr suggested that if I was having worsening problems with allergies, I should consider going to an ENT (ear, nose, throat Dr.) and make a decision about surgery. Has anyone had any results with this? Lessened sinus/allergy problems?

[BigOrlandoNerd]

I suffered terribly from sinus/allergy problems for approximately 6 years. During that time I was on a constant regimine of antibiotics, nasal steroids and/or sprays such as Flonase and of course antihistamines.

About a year or two into this ordeal I had my deviate septum corrected. I believe that it was definitely necessary and prior to such surgery a CAT scan will be taken which will clearly show the ENT the structure of the septum, as well as other structures of your sinuses, so they will know how to correct it. Additionally the CAT scan may likely reveal what will be called "polyps". Since I don't have a medical background I struggled with the term "polyps" since, to me, it meant that a foreign growth was in my sinus cavity. Most polyps are benign and is simply the sinus walls having grown excessively, think of it as a curtain that gets bunched up. The ENT would likely recommend that the surgery also reduce the polypoid growth and correct all other structures of the sinuses.

Recovery from deviated septum surgery is not easy and you will likely lose an entire week of work, you will definitely want painkillers for a few days post surgery. Surgery to reduce polyps is not too bad.

While the surgery was beneficial for me, I experienced the greatest results by using saline spray religiously six to eight times per day for months. This truly served to assist in clearing my sinuses and permitting them to drain naturally, but I doubt it would have been beneficial had the underlying structures of my sinuses had not been corrected first.

*CAUTION* You must obey your doctor's post surgery insturctions to perfection!!! They will advise you not to pick up heavy items, I picked up my four year old after a second polyp surgery and had to have emergency surgery to stop the bleeding. Trust me, you do not want to go through that trauma.

[keshequa87]

My husband had this done in college. It helped a lot. It didn't magically make his allergies go away, but it did help him to breathe- especially at night. Something else you might try that worked for him was this: He was addicted to the nasal allergy sprays. If he'd try to stop, he'd get the backlash reaction where his nasal passages and sinuses would become inflamed. Finally he just decided to suffer through the withdrawals and only used saline sprays. Now he's at the point where he takes a Claratin now and then and sometimes uses a saline spray- that's it. It made a big difference in quality of life not to be dependent on those sprays. I'm not suggesting you do anything like this without discussing it with a doctor first- but I think more people should give it a go. Best wishes.

[20 pack]

my dad had it and it didnt help at all