Sinus problems

firewaterword

Hi H/A. Yes, I'll be seeing a doctor.

For the past, I don't know 6 or 7 years, I've dealt with chronically inflamed sinuses and usually end up with sinus infections at least four or five times a year. I've seen GPs about it in the past when things have gotten bad - most significantly a few years ago when I had pretty painful experience with barotrauma (crying on a plane since felt I like I was going to full Scanners-head painful). The advice is usually the same: decongestants before travel, saline, neti pot, acupuncture, et cetera. I do all this, and while it helps the symptoms somewhat, it's no solution.

I'm wondering if anyone around here has had experience with surgical procedures as far as sinus issues go. I read about turbinate reduction surgery a few years ago, but to be honest it scares the shit out of me. I recently read about two less invasive procedures - balloon sinoplasty and radiofrequency turbinate reduction. On the face (heh) of things, these sound promising.

I've started the process of getting an appointment at the UCSF sinus center, but I'll be traveling for another few weeks, and even then may have to wait to see an ENT when I get back. I'd like to have as much info as possible before I see anyone, and would be interested in any anecdotal experiences or information if anyone has some to share. Cheers.

Thundyrkatz

Hey, so my wife is at this very moment recovering at home from sinus surgery. She had a large cyst that was blocking her sinus and she basically had a bad cold for the last year.

She went to the doctor many times and got the runaround for a while, but she eventually switched dentists for completely unrelated reasons. Anyway, the new dentist looked at her most recent scan and pointed out that she had an alarmingly huge cyst in her maxillary sinus cavity. It was 2x the size that they would typically recommend that she go talk to a doctor about and the last dentist had to have been willfully ignorant to miss it! good times.

Anyway, she went to her GP and he put her on antibiotics (no effect) then on steroids (no effect) then after that they sent her to a ENT doc and he put her on more antibiotics (no effect) and then on allergy meds (no effect). Finally, they approved sinus surgery. Apparently there is a whole check list of dumb things they have to try before they can do the surgery. The whole process took about 6 months from when she switched dentists.

The surgery was pretty quick and easy, and she was able to breath when she woke up. She is not in much pain, and the worst of it is that she can't blow her nose for 2 weeks, cant lift anything or strain in anyway, including sneezing (you can stop most sneezes by pressing your tongue on the roof of your mouth as hard as you can, did you know that?!) all to avoid causing bleeding. But the surgery was just 2 days ago and anything could happen before she is back to normal.

so, long story short... go talk to your doctor and be persistent!

Xaquin

I've been plagued with sinus problems my entire life due to a (twice) deviated septum, polyps in my sinus cavities, and one sinus cavity being abnormally small

Tubes in my ears did wonders

honestly, I'd wager that may be your best bet considering the flying thing.

firewaterword

Thanks to both of you for the input. Hadn't considered ear tubes, that's worth bringing up. I have trouble even counting the number of flights I take for work and play each year, and being able to travel without dosing myself to the gills with decongestants would be wonderful. Will see what my ENT suggests. Definitely want to keep heavy surgery as a last resort; general anesthesia scares the hell out of me, and the idea of 2 weeks without being able to exercise sounds horrible...

ceres

My husband had to have ear tubes put in when he was a small child; it saved his hearing (mostly). That was almost 40 years ago.. I'd assume the surgery has come a long way, and if you aren't in the US you may be able to get tubes that last longer.

Xaquin

I had tubes in my ears when I was a child which popped out after 6 months or so

the tubes I have in now have been in over 5 years

they've been a life saver. The operation isn't bad either.

first day hurts

second day is an annoyance

third day you're fine!

firewaterword

Yeah I'll ask about that for sure. Most of my issues are in the Maxillary and frontal sinuses (above the eyebrows, where I had that barotrauma issue on the past). Don't really have issues with my ears but not surprised to learn that it could be linked.

The only time I really get any relief is when I'm a decent way into a run, or doing a really intense yoga practice since, I assume, my body is pulling a lot of the blood out of the turbinates. But despite my best efforts, I can't be running or doing yoga all the time.

chromdom

Just as a minor point, I'll suggest a change from a neti pot to a sinus rinse bottle. I get mine in the Allergy/Cold Medicine aisle at the grocery store. It's the same as a neti pot, but being a squeeze bottle, means that you don't have to contort to tilt your head enough to pout the water. Just a couple of squeezes and you're set!