Deviated septum/sinus surgery recovery

[Lil-Rokslider]

I'm scheduled for surgery to straighten out a deviated septum and clean up my sinuses at the end of this month. It sounds like the "cleaning up my sinuses" part of the surgery is the more invasive part of the surgery, and requires a bit more recovery time than just a septum surgery would require.

I'm a farrier/blacksmith by trade, so I spend all day with my head below my waist underneath horses, and swinging a hammer. I'm also a crossfitter. Needless to say, my every day life is fairly active and physical.

My question is in regards to a realistic recovery timeline. Has anybody had this operation done? What did your recovery look like? How long before I can realistically expect to be back to work and fitness?

 

[TxxAgg]

I did it at 26. (40 now). That part was mild and not a huge issue. Just uncomfortable and the bloody boogers that come out are something to behold. Once you get the nose stents out you'll be good to go. I would guess a week of "down time"

I had my tonsils, uvula, and adenoids out at the same time as the deviated septum/nasal cavity. That was brutal...for nearly 3 weeks. Tonsils out as an adult is a real ass whip.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

My daughter had the surgery after dirt bike accident. She had no idea how to ride the bike and went through a garage door. Anyhow the surgery was no big deal but the thing I remember the most was, her entire face above her lips was bruised and quite swollen, which took a few weeks to start to look normal.

 

[Pony Soldier]

I had the polups cleaned out. They didn't have to go real deep and I only had one set of tampaxes to pull out. The surgery was nothing. The healing was like having a bad cold. The removing of the tampaxes was 1.5 seconds of hell. I was good to go after that. I have had to do a sinus rinse a couple times a day since then. More of an inconvenience than a problem.

 

[Superdoo]

I had it done like 22 years ago. I think I was 16. I don’t remember it being a big deal at all

 

[Amos Moses]

Recently had my turbinates reduced through a high frequency wire of some sort. Also dilation of my Eustachian tubes for ear ringing and pressure. Besides not being able to blow my nose, I was active within a couple of days. The new technology is fairly mild.

 

[sndmn11]

I've had it a few times. You will feel drastically better than before in a week or two. However, I'd say you will notice improvements for several weeks into a few months and take that long to be at your new 100%.

 

[pirogue]

To use your work description above, you certainly don’t want your head below your waist when they pull the stints. It will feel like a pint of blood rushing to your head.

 

[Lil-Rokslider]

To use your work description above, you certainly don’t want your head below your waist when they pull the stints. It will feel like a pint of blood rushing to your head.

Those usually come out after a week?

 

[PaHunter86]

I took a month off work for my sinus surgery/cleaning. 2 weeks of lifting nothing heavier than a gallon of milk. I about died a week after the first surgery. Woke up to blood everywhere. After being rushed to the emergency room I went back into surgery again. I was bleeding from my upper sinus cavities. I had 2 units of blood bc of how much I had lost. My situation only happens in less than 1% of surgeries tho. To put into perspective when the ambulance showed up the medic thought I was shot because of all the blood I was spitting out and because of how much blood was on my clothing. Scary situation but I'm glad I had it done.

 

[SDHNTR]

Recently had my turbinates reduced through a high frequency wire of some sort. Also dilation of my Eustachian tubes for ear ringing and pressure. Besides not being able to blow my nose, I was active within a couple of days. The new technology is fairly mild.

Did that work for your ear ringing? I've got tinitus too.

Had deviated septum and turbinate reduction surgery 15 yrs ago. Wiped out for about a week. The stents are the worst part. Took about 3 weeks for full recovery.

 

[Amos Moses]

Did that work for your ear ringing? I've got tinitus too.

Had deviated septum and turbinate reduction surgery 15 yrs ago. Wiped out for about a week. The stents are the worst part. Took about 3 weeks for full recovery.

Honestly I’m shocked at how well it worked. Apparently it’s a new (last two years or so) procedure where they use a medical balloon to stretch out the Eustachian tubes. Prior to the procedure I was popping my ears 20+ times a day and had regular ringing. Now I clear my ears once every day or two and the ringing is very rare. Not completely gone, but so irregularly that I don’t think about it anymore.

 

[SDHNTR]

Honestly I’m shocked at how well it worked. Apparently it’s a new (last two years or so) procedure where they use a medical balloon to stretch out the Eustachian tubes. Prior to the procedure I was popping my ears 20+ times a day and had regular ringing. Now I clear my ears once every day or two and the ringing is very rare. Not completely gone, but so irregularly that I don’t think about it anymore.

Interesting. Thanks.

 

[Lil-Rokslider]

I took a month off work for my sinus surgery/cleaning. 2 weeks of lifting nothing heavier than a gallon of milk. I about died a week after the first surgery. Woke up to blood everywhere. After being rushed to the emergency room I went back into surgery again. I was bleeding from my upper sinus cavities. I had 2 units of blood bc of how much I had lost. My situation only happens in less than 1% of surgeries tho. To put into perspective when the ambulance showed up the medic thought I was shot because of all the blood I was spitting out and because of how much blood was on my clothing. Scary situation but I'm glad I had it done.

That is Wild! Hopefully my experience is absolutely nothing like yours...

 

[hiker270]

2 years ago I had a deviated septum repaired, sinus blockage cleaned and a tube put in my right ear. Unpleasant experience 3 weeks later when the splints in my nose were removed (what a bloody mess that was). I believe it was over a year till I reaped the total rewards of having the surgery. After that though It has made a world of difference in my breathing not to mention I was getting 1-2 sinus infections every winter. Haven't had one since. Totally worth the surgery!

 

[longhornq]

Not done this operation before, but i wish you speedy recovery man!

 

[KsRancher]

My son destroyed his nose after passing out and hitting the cement nose first. Local ER missed the septal hematoma. Went to ENT 4 days later for an appointment. Surgery the next day yo fix everything, and remove cartlidge as it's dead from loss of blood flow due to hematoma. Had Doyle splints put in both sides. The Doyle splints pulled out a week later. Seemed good to go after that. As mentioned above. The amount of stuff he blew out of his sinuses in the Dr. office when they pulled those out was unreal. Rinsed sinuses for 2 weeks after that. Nose looks great and no issues with it.

I am no Dr. but I would say 1 week and should be good to go.

 

[manitou1]

I did it at 26. (40 now). That part was mild and not a huge issue. Just uncomfortable and the bloody boogers that come out are something to behold. Once you get the nose stents out you'll be good to go. I would guess a week of "down time"

I had my tonsils, uvula, and adenoids out at the same time as the deviated septum/nasal cavity. That was brutal...for nearly 3 weeks. Tonsils out as an adult is a real ass whip.

Same here.
The deviated septum/sinus urgery was a cakewalk. The tonsils, uvula and adnoids was brutal... and I can no longer have children since the removal of my uvula.

I must say that it was "interesting" when the doc pulled 3' of packing out of each nostril a week post surgery.

Oh, and you will only forget about the surgery and rub your nose ONCE the week after surgery.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

I had mine done last year. It felt like a bad sinus infection for a few days and I just had a drip pad, they didn’t stuff mine. I couldnt sneeze or blow my nose for a couple weeks. It was about 6 months before it felt completely back to 100%.

 

[Amos Moses]

Also make sure to use the saline spray as often as you can. Really speeds up recovery.