Septoplasty, Part One

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Last Thursday I had a Septoplasty. I thought it might be interesting to some of our readers to read about it from beginning to end. Of course it isn’t really over yet as I’m still in the recovery phase, but I can’t really do much as far as any real activity goes so I decided to do this. I am also wanting to put this short series out as a guide for those who get this procedure done in the future so they know what to expect and how it all goes down. It may also give a glimpse for our foreign readers into how our medical system works in the good ‘ol USA.

Part One, today, will be pre-op, part two will be the actual surgery day, and the final part will be recovery. I may add an epilogue later with financial information and insurance and how that all went down.

Below the fold will be part one, pre-op.

I have had problems breathing through my nose basically forever. Sometimes it has been worse than others, but this Winter it was really bad. It was obvious that I was mouth breathing at night as I would wake up with chapped lips and a dry throat. What really made me want to seek serious medical attention was when at work, sitting at my desk, I was forced to mouth breathe. Enough of that.

Fortunately I had my annual physical coming up so I told the GP that I would like a referral to an ENT for this problem. She took a quick look up my nose and said that I for sure had a deviated septum. I got the referral to an ENT.

At the appointment with the ENT, the first question out of his mouth was “when did you break your nose?” I honestly didn’t know what to say as the only thing I can ever remember was when I was a little kid I was playing outside and ran head first into another kid and my nose bled pretty decently. Outside of that, nothing came to mind. The ENT then looked up my nose, confirmed the deviated septum and began listing treatments. I cut him off and said I can’t live in this misery anymore and would this qualify for surgery. He said in fact that this was obviously affecting my quality of life and would be easily approved by the insurance. Done.

The nurse then came in and gave me a folder of information and we began to set up appointments. I had to get a covid test no fewer than two days before the procedure. I passed that and we were now ready for surgery day. More to come in part two.

8 thoughts on “Septoplasty, Part One”

  1. Maybe this is a trend. Neoneocon has been describing her complicated cataract surgery. My wife is going to have surgery on her feet this summer. She has rheumatoid arthritis and bad hammer toes. I had not realized that this is a common connection.

  3. I ‘broke’ my nose playing yardball in the 9th grade–it was actually dislocated, and a night in the hospital was required to re-seat it. I had about nine yards of cotton snake up in my sinuses for a few weeks, and a memorable time when they were extracted.

    Ironically, I was (and largely still am) a mouth-breather because of allergies that kept my nose plugged most of the year when I was young, but a dislocated nose is no joke and I hope your procedure goes well.

  4. I’ve been a chronic mouth breather since childhood, though in my case it’s as much allergies as anything. I am prone to severe hayfever, so my sinuses are always clogged up (less so as I’ve gotten older, but I have gotten used to the fast intake that the mouth provides over the nose, so… )

    Luckily for me, my Eustachian tubes are also tight, so I’ve never had many issues with ear infections, due to sinus drainage. It’s a bit of a pain when in water, my ears don’t adjust well to pressures @ depth, one reason I’ve never gotten into SCUBA, even though it would have been interesting, and, in FL, it’s certainly a local sport/activity.

  5. I went through a septoplasty 30+ years ago. I asked to be non-conscious, and awoke with about 20 yards of thin strips of cotton up my nose. It felt as if the bottom of the septum(separator) had been cut free from the top of the roof of my mouth, and re-centered. I was to return for a checkup in a few days.
    At the checkup(I do not remember the timeframe) it was decided to remove the cloth packing. It was pulled out, somewhat blood stained, and I could breathe through my nose again.
    I was to make a second appointment to remove the ‘plastic splints’ that had been attached to keep the septum centered after it had been re-positioned. That was done, the splints removed(they looked like roast turkey cartilage after removing the meat) and I was done. The splints seemed to be fastened in place by sutures through the septum(or pop-rivets..).
    It was not severely painful from memory, was not real comfortable post-surgery, but the discomfort was sufferable.
    My breathing during cold weather was causing one nostril to burn from the increased airflow due to the other side being restricted.

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