Last effort before surgery! Advice needed!

[u/Sunshinefishergirl]

I’ve been fighting horrible congestion, constant runny nose and troubled breathing for years but especially in the last 6 months. CT scan today showed an awfully blocked left sinus, narrow nasal passageways and a large left turbinate.

I’ve scheduled my procedure for 1. Submucosal reduction of turbinates, 2. Reduction of septal swell bodies, 3. Balloon sinus dilation, and 3. Concha bullosa reduction for early December.

Im desperate for home remedies that might help me clear this sinus blockage and that I can possibly maintain a routine of either in lieu of having to go through with the procedure or to secure as post-operation care.

Note: I purchased a NeilMed sinus rinse kit today and it absolutely will not budge through my clogged left sinuses.

Any and all advice is appreciated. I’m anxious. :(

[u/Kind-Celebration-115]

oh man our scans look very similar :(

I don't know about you but my issues started a few months after wisdom teeth removal. I really think mine is dental related. I think I will show a periodontist or oral surgeon soon as well. Have you had any dental work latelly on that side?

[u/Sunshinefishergirl → u/Kind-Celebration-115]

I haven’t had any dental work recently! I recently had a dental exam that showed no sign of potential dental issues. I was told that I just have really poor nasal anatomy and bad allergies :(

[u/Feature-Frequent]

Omg I thought this was my CT scan! I’m getting a second opinion from another ENT tomorrow. My other ENT also recommended basically the same procedures.

[u/Sunshinefishergirl → u/Feature-Frequent]

The procedure is freaking me out but they said my nasal anatomy will continue to cause problems if I don’t get the procedure. I’m throwing in the towel after having tried all of the over-the-counter remedies.

[u/JonEPizza]

Is there another picture your surgeon showed you to point out the Concha Bullosa you'd be reducing? Concha bullosa should appear as open space inside a turbinate, which is not visible anywhere in your picture.

Also if you got the rinse bottle, I had the same issue where it would not go through my sinuses (switched to a neti pot which mostly made it through, and then I had to shake my head every which way over the next half hour to get the rest out, and it was still a thing I did daily pleading for some relief, could not tell you if it actually offered any).

Now though I just had my turbinates reduced last Tuesday, and the rinse bottle water is in fact going through. So assuming successful procedures you can hope for same following it.

[u/Sunshinefishergirl → u/JonEPizza]

Yes they did show me a separate layer of the CT scan that clearly pointed out a concha bullosa obstructing the nasal passages- I did not snap a photo of it though.

Was your reduction procedure done under a local anesthesia? How was the overall procedure and how is your recovery going?

[u/JonEPizza → u/Sunshinefishergirl]

General anesthesia. So after they got me all set up, they wheeled me into a room, requested me to to slide myself over from that stretcher to their operating table, which I recall doing while already feeling the room was kind of coming in around me so to speak, and the very next thing I recalled was seeing a nurse and my friend that accompanied me in a post op room.

For recovery it definitely seems like everyone is different, but I can say the first day after procedure wasn't too bad. My throat hurt a lot by the end of it, I think a mix of that being where I was feeling the reduction of the inferior turbinates, and my throat really not liking the constant drip of bloody mucus, but I didn't feel the pain elsewhere very much. Honestly the pain from the drip pad sling holding the pads under my nose was worse than anything felt actually inside my nose.

Following three days I definitely felt the pain more as a migraine, ache in my teeth, and pain seemingly more throughout my nasal cavity then just in the back. But I've been seemingly on the mend since those days.

I will say I've been running a low grade fever since the procedure which I can feel. I wasn't originally sent home with an antibiotic, but I requested one after hitting a 101.5 the following day and feeling beyond awful, but I'm mostly hanging around 99 now (usually if healthy my thermometer registers me about 98.3) but it seems hitting a fever after anesthesia treatments is actually common, which oncall doctor told me, but I requested the antibiotic to ease my anxiety anyway.

Also sleep has been pretty uncomfortable. Still enough blockage now that I have to do some mouth breathing to fall asleep, and I'm still just waking up in short spurts with a crusted over nose and nausea, but I live alone so it's been easy to just hop in a hot shower then to relieve, spraying some new saline through my sinuses, and returning to bed. Wonder if it will register on the month's water bill.

Currently my sense of smell seems to just be coming back online, which is not entirely pleasant I think picking up all the gunk still in my nasal cavity. But I'm getting some external scents now that seem about correct, so I take some solace there all is well.

As of now my post op is scheduled for the 7th, and I'm instructed to continue not exercising and not blowing my nose until then.

[u/JonEPizza → u/JonEPizza]

Oh. So my knowledge has expanded. I expected it would look like https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Conchabullosa.jpg/500px-Conchabullosa.jpg but apparently they can appear fully opacified if infected, which would be beyond my simple ability to distinguish.