I'm so glad I found this community. I'd like to tell you about my situation (sorry it is so lengthy) and would really appreciate your general thoughts on what was done to me and advice. I had septoplasty and sinus surgery a year and a half ago. I had read about ENS before I had surgery, so the surgeon I had do it agreed NOT to reduce my turbinates beforehand. The last thing he said to me before surgery was to confirm that he wasn't going to mess with my turbinates. After surgery, he said that everything went great, and everytime he looks up there since then he says it looks very healthy. However, since the surgery, on my left side I have had: excessive mucus (clear), bad congestion, sometimes a little bit of burning, pain, and sometimes dryness/crusting (crusting goes away as long as I moisturize consistently). No problems with breathing. The pain gradually and slowly went down for a long time, but the last few months it has stayed consistent---a small amount of pain, but always there.
I then sought a second opinion from a random ENT (not someone who specializes in empty nose). She put an endoscope up there (no CT scan) and said it generally looks good---my nasal cavity was clear and my sinuses look open. She said she didn't recommend more surgery. She said there was a bit of crusting, and she told me to use ponaris and prescribed me a nasal steroid for the mucus/congestion. She didn't say anything about my turbinates at that point, and she wrote in her office notes that my turbinates looked "normal." When I wasn't feeling better a month later, I went back to see her. She didn't put an endoscope up there (just flashed a light in there for 3-5 seconds on each side), and said crusting was better. It was clear at this point that she had no interest in me being her patient (didn't want to schedule a followup appointment, etc). I told her for the second time about my problems on the left side and she said my left inferior turbinates were smaller on that side and thought they were reduced. She didn't go into detail about how small they were. She then said that there was nothing that could be done for that and the appointment ended. At that point, I freaked out and I went back and looked at the op notes from my septoplasty and FESS. There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about my turbinates (no reduction, outfracture, or anything). It says the original surgeon did septoplasty and sinus surgery.
I am very confused and worried about what was done to me and what is wrong with me now. I have no idea whether it is atrophic rhinitis, rhinitis sicca, the beginning of empty nose, chronic vasomotor rhinitis (I have read about some cases where it is one sided), or something else. Any thoughts on what was done to me? What might be the problem and how I can improve it? I think the next step might be to see Nayak or Das to see what they think. I am very very anxious at this point and basically spend 24/7 thinking about it.
I then sought a second opinion from a random ENT (not someone who specializes in empty nose). She put an endoscope up there (no CT scan) and said it generally looks good---my nasal cavity was clear and my sinuses look open. She said she didn't recommend more surgery. She said there was a bit of crusting, and she told me to use ponaris and prescribed me a nasal steroid for the mucus/congestion. She didn't say anything about my turbinates at that point, and she wrote in her office notes that my turbinates looked "normal." When I wasn't feeling better a month later, I went back to see her. She didn't put an endoscope up there (just flashed a light in there for 3-5 seconds on each side), and said crusting was better. It was clear at this point that she had no interest in me being her patient (didn't want to schedule a followup appointment, etc). I told her for the second time about my problems on the left side and she said my left inferior turbinates were smaller on that side and thought they were reduced. She didn't go into detail about how small they were. She then said that there was nothing that could be done for that and the appointment ended. At that point, I freaked out and I went back and looked at the op notes from my septoplasty and FESS. There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about my turbinates (no reduction, outfracture, or anything). It says the original surgeon did septoplasty and sinus surgery.
I am very confused and worried about what was done to me and what is wrong with me now. I have no idea whether it is atrophic rhinitis, rhinitis sicca, the beginning of empty nose, chronic vasomotor rhinitis (I have read about some cases where it is one sided), or something else. Any thoughts on what was done to me? What might be the problem and how I can improve it? I think the next step might be to see Nayak or Das to see what they think. I am very very anxious at this point and basically spend 24/7 thinking about it.
