Why I Chose To Have Septoplasty (Deviated Septum Surgery)

For as long as I can remember I could not breathe out of my right nostril as I could out of my left.  Very rarely would air pass through and I would think, "that is different" or "cool".  My finger couldn't get up my right side of my nose, no worries, I had another side to pick.  Those menial thoughts were my lone considerations of a youth plagued by sinus headaches, sinus infections, and random bloody noses.  Bloody noses in high school were not fun especially during a test when everyone was quiet and blood would drip down out of nowhere.  I felt like everyone was looking at me thinking I was picking my nose and made it bleed.  It was embarrassing and I didn't know why it was happening. No one had used the words deviated septum, I knew allergies and I felt weird and allergic to life as my symptoms were lethargy, fatigue, headaches, swollen eyes, nose bleeds, and decreased concentration.  Then occasional respiratory issues.

My swollen eyelid and shaffing

When I became a nurse, deviated septum became to mean something to me.  I understood the septum was blocking my sinus cavities causing those symptoms.  For years I applied nasal sprays to alleviate allergy symptoms and sprays to help keep nasal passages clear, not too dry, and perfect little passageways.  The kicker is my septum was against my nasal wall and these sprays weren't very effective.  By the time my ENT doctor scoped by nose (nasal endoscope) he could not pass the scope after applying his shrinking and numbing medicines due to the severe deviation.  If you are wondering, this is done in the office, is painless, and takes 2 minutes.  I even watched on the monitor as he did it and I have impeccably clean nasal passages.

Little video that shows how even when I take a deep breath, I cannot get any air through my right nostril.

Why didn't any of my previous allergists, primary care doctors, ENTs suggest this?  It would have saved a lot of money on ineffective medicines, antibiotics for sinusitis after sinusitis, and countless sinus headaches.  Although medications like Flonase can help stop the cascading effect of allergens, if the medication cannot get into your nasal passage and is blocked, it cannot work.  After discussing the pros and cons with my ENT doctor and learning he does anywhere from 5 to 10 of these a week I felt very confident in my next step and gladly signed up for the surgery and am writing this 3 days after.  In another post I will write about the surgery, know that this was a great decision for me and I am healing well with minimal pain.