I don't think I am infected right at this moment. I think I have a condition in which infection will be a continuous threat from now on.

This condition was created by a surgeon 5 months ago, when he enlarged my nasal passages and nasal cavity and stripped out my mucosa. In other words, he altered a healthy, happy, beautifully functioning nose into one that mirrors exactly the anatomic picture of atrophic rhinitis.

Because of the openness and loss of cilia, I no longer have the first line of defense of my immune system. I believe I have overcome the hospital-acquired infection--the bonus gift of this incomprehensible surgery--but re-infection is likely to a plague.

I have begun to re-infect twice in the past month, and gotten rid of it with silver nasal spray. As Anthony said, the silver is even more effective than manuka honey for infections.

The real blessing of the manuka honey is the mositurizing effect on my nostrils.

I'm confused about ENS. I have shortness of breath. Is it coming from the dryness of my nasal passages, or am I still adjusting to the turbinate reduction, which was 30% on all turbinates? If I continue to have shortness of breath, but it is due to mucosal dysfunction rather than turbinate loss, does that mean I do not have ENS? Would it be ENS-type?

Here's another thought: My nose is collpased. According to wikipedia, a feature of atrophic rhinitis is a "saddly nose deformity."--that is what I have--the hump, the lost bridge, the works. This has happened to some of us on this forum who had a septoplasty, along with turbinate reduction. Those of us with the collpased noses all have breathing problems. Perhaps over-reduction of turbinate is not the only surgically-caused anatomic nasal deformity that results in shortness of breath. Just a thought.