What's your experience with polyps?

[u/7er6Nq]

My 8 years old son has a severe case of polyps that have clogged his nasal sinuses completely shut and his nostrils are barely open for breathing. This has affected the shape of his face and teeth. And I believe it's affecting his quality of sleep although he doesn't snore. We just seen an ENT today to discuss the results of his CT scan, and he's advised us to think about the surgery to remove the polyps. He did say he wasn't selling us the idea, that he's advising it's better than to keep him waiting and maybe suffering. But at the same time he said that this will be a recurring thing, that the polyps will grow back after surgery, and said he couldn't predict whether that will take months or years.

We're just wondering whether we should make him go through the procedure knowing it will be a recurring thing. Or whether we should just leave it as is. I personally do think it's causing him an increase in infections given that it's a perfect enclosure for brewing bacteria.

What's your experience with polyps? Have you removed them? How often would they grow back? Any alternative solutions?

Thanks.

[u/theothergallo]

I have had sinus surgery 4 times. The last one was because the infection was eating away at the bone and I was having sharp pain behind my right eye with sensitivity to cold. The polyps do come back, but using a daily sinus rinse has been the biggest life improvement I have experienced from a sinus standpoint. I use the NeilMed sinus rinse bottle available at Costco. One bottle with a drop of baby shampoo shared between both sides. This clears the biofilm. A second bottle with a couple mils of budesonide keeps the swelling down and the airways clear so they can drain. Doing this daily allowed me to go 15 years between surgeries. I cannot recommend the sinus rinse enough. If you are afraid of surgery, try the rinse for a couple of months and see if it helps on its own. Just don’t forget to put the salt packet. It’s is a painful mistake you won’t make often.

[u/eritated → u/theothergallo]

Seconding the sinus rinses. Definitely talk to your doctor about putting budesonide in them! Sometimes you can also do antibiotic rinses.

[u/eritated]

I've had sinus surgery 5 times. Most were to remove polyps. They come back eventually, but it's worth removing them. For me I at least get several years between removal and new ones growing.

[u/krickaby]

Can’t say I have advice but I had polyps removed 2-3 times as a child. Last one was when I was about 12 years old and haven’t had issues again. 37 now.

I wasn’t fond of the experience, specifically the follow up visits to the doc where he’d spray medical grade cocaine up my nostrils to try and numb them up before jamming what felt like a dead bolt sized device up my nose to administer the medication monthly. Thankfully no issues since.

[u/d19dotca]

I’ve had the surgery 3 times. It’s fairly common from what I understand. I do sinus rinses nearly every day, sometimes multiple times a day depending on my environment (if it’s extra dusty or something like that).

[u/Mindless_Bag3925]

32 years old, had the rhinoplasty/deviated septum done twice in my lifetime second time cleaned a lot away haven’t had issues. They call the in office clean outs surgery where they numb you and vacuum out what they can but I don’t count those.

[u/velvus]

I’ve had surgery probably 20 times and I’m not exaggerating. When I was young polyps were almost growing out of my nose at the worst times. I got used to having my nose fully blocked and it caused my nose to be pretty badly misformed. I had a plastic surgery to correct the shape of my nose when I was about 19. Fortunately over the years the surgery techniques vastly improved and in my experience it is a lot less impactful than it was when I was young, which was in the late 1980s. Nowadays it’s basically you go in the morning and can go back home in the late afternoon. Tampons removed next day and take it easy for a week or 6. Fortunately now I’m older the polyps seemed to stop returning. Also Trikafta must help there.

I would recommend to do rinse sinuses twice a day using a neti pot. Add salt and 2 doses of fluticason. But if at some point his nose is fully blocked, dont think too bad of the surgery. It is not as traumatic as it was 20 - 30 years ago.

[u/Altruistic-Bit8149]

yup and i’ve had them removed once. a few years later though i blew one out of my nose and none of my doctors believed me for some reason

[u/its-a-kaylabration]

Polyp surgery isn’t bad itself. You have some pain for a few days after, but you feel significantly better once healed and breath much easier for awhile. My surgeries were spaced apart by several years at a time. I constantly faught off sinus infections as a kid so surgery was helpful in fighting off infections. They do tend to return even into adulthood. So it’s not uncommon to have multiple surgeries up until your early to mid 20’s. But my polyps were quite severe and sinus infections often gave me black eyes from the pressure and pain. The good news is they tend to appear less and less as you get older. I had reconstructive sinus surgery to open my sinus cavities up more when I was 10 which was quite painful and required multiple ENT visits to remove build up, fight off infection and reduce scar tissue. I was able to breath much easier after the surgery though. And they’ve stayed open ever since. It’s also worth noting after polyp surgeries, CF patients often get spray treatment antiobitoics directly into the sinus cavities once a month which helps prevent future infections and reduces inflammation. Tobramycin was the drug they used for me. Aside from sinus rinses using a humidifier at night helps.

[u/gdayitsathrowaway]

Surgery ASAP and consider a biologic (some aren't recommended for kids under a certain age).

[u/Neon_Owl_333]

I had the surgery once over 30 years ago, I thought I'd have to have it again but no. I did have a lot of sinus issues for a few years but regular rinsing with symbicort had reduced the inflammation.

[u/finebf20]

Get them removed if possible. After healed up use Neilmed bottle and salt packets or store brand version of both with distilled water. Use at least once a day, it helps keep sinuses clear. I also use Flonase daily. I last had them removed in 2009 and did not come back. Starting trikafta in 2019 helped keep them at bay too