I have really bad annoying rhinitis which leads to a annoying stuffy nose and dry mouth. My allergist said i coudl alleviate the problem by getting surgery done by spending me to a specialist and it'll be a quick and simple two hour procedure or so, in and out on the same day? Anyone have this done before? Is there anything I should be worreid about? I was told its not relaly any cutting just some electirc charge or whatever to scar the inflmaed passage which will shrink it and it should be simple. I have yet to get all the details. Any thoughts on if it helped after you go through with this?

Originally posted by macross:
I have really bad annoying rhinitis which leads to a annoying stuffy nose and dry mouth. My allergist said i coudl alleviate the problem by getting surgery done by spending me to a specialist and it'll be a quick and simple two hour procedure or so, in and out on the same day? Anyone have this done before? Is there anything I should be worreid about? I was told its not relaly any cutting just some electirc charge or whatever to scar the inflmaed passage which will shrink it and it should be simple. I have yet to get all the details. Any thoughts on if it helped after you go through with this?

All I know is what my ENT told me - sinus surgery is painful and doesn't always alleviate the problem.

For me, that is his last resort in helping me since he is a conservative doctor. (I have a few problems going on at the moment - 31 with bad tonsils, horrible sinus problems that resulted from being exposed to materials (fungus and molds) I was breathing in at work for a year and while I had mono.)

Christine.

I had it and it did not really help me much. Stay with medications. Plus the doc just wanted to rip me off.

For me, the medications haven't done nothing for me. I have yet to feel any relief from any sort of nasal spray or pills. I am also aware that for some people even the surgery may not help some people, each person is different i suppose. But i'm jsut worried about if there are any chances that something bad will happen after the surgery or my rhinitis may even get worse, etc. Anyone know of anyone with experiences of that sorts.

macross,
Part of what concerns me is the description, "a simple two hour procedure." If it takes two hours for the surgery itself, then it is not a simple procedure, in my opinion. Two hours is a very long time to be under anaesthetics. I think you need to at least research this very well on the web, talk to your friends, ask anybody and everybody for doctor recommendations, check out your doctor's records, etc...
wr

Hi.....The surgery I had (on Sept 3rd) was a "Maxillofacial Anteostonomy" or something like that. Although I am still healing, and still have some "sludge" that is still working its way out, for me it has been a lifesaver. They pretty much had to fix everything, from a hole in my sinus, deviated septum, massive scar tissue, and also enlarge one of my sinuses. However, if you've exhausted all other options, find a reputable ENT and have a complete evaluation, including CT scans done of your sinuses. That's what will be the indicator whether or not you need any surgery at all. If there's nothing wrong with the structure of your sinuses/nasal passages, it may just be a matter of training your nasal passages to stay open (with prednisone.) If it's recurring sinus infections (like with me) you may need to make dietary changes. They took me off wheat and dairy...which stinks big time!! lol

Although I'd say to be cautious about the surgery, don't rule it out completely until you've discussed what type of procedure you're going to have, and the success rates for your particular problem.

Good Luck!
Sue

I was told I have a deviated septum due to rhinitus/allergies and was told by my allergist that surgery would really help. So i plan on going through with it once my insurance clears since i just switched insurance companies. I assume the doctors aroudn my area are good since my allergist told me the ENT he is refering me to is the best (or so he says, he also teaches at Stanford Hospital. Are there any horror stories i should know about though?

I don't have any horror stories, but make sure the dr. that does the surgery doesn't allow their patients to take their own packing out. I know that sounds really bizarre, but when my brother had the surgery twice, they had him take his own packing out the next day! When I was discussing my surgery with my ENT, I asked her if I was going to be taking my own packing out and she got this mortified look on her face and said "avsolutely NOY!! There are too many things that could go wrong if you do it yourself, like ruining what was done in the surgery." Maybe this explains why my brother doesn't feel too much better than befoe he had the surgery.

Good Luck!

My wife had the surgery done. It helped her stuffiness but she developed perfume allergies. The post surgery pain was kind of bad. I think it was laser surgery for a deviated septum and inflamed nodes. The stuffiness returned 2 years later. She thinks it was not worth it. We have found that using a humidifier at night really helps, especially when running your heater.

macross, I've been an allergy sufferer since as long as I can remember (age 3 perhaps?). During my HS years, it got really bad and I developed rhinitis.

I had tried numerous drugs throughout the years, which brought little or no relief. During my first year of college, my doctor prescribed me with Zyrtec and Flonase nasal spray combined. Zyrtec would reduce the allergy symptoms, Flonase would help me with my rhinitis.

My rhinitis was very bad, and yes, surgery was one of the discussed options, but after just a month under these 2 medications my rhinitis was pretty much gone and my passages had reduced to normal size. The pain/soreness and itchiness went away, and my allergies were reduced altogether. I still get a little stuffy in the morning, but I can live through the rest of the day with little or no problems. I'm 24, and I was only on the prescription for 30 days, and that was when I was 18.

So before you get any costly and painful surgery done, experiment with these combination of meds, or at least the nasal spray. It worked for me.