Sinus Surgery

[anonymous]

My 12 year old is getting ready to have sinus surgery for the first time. Any of you that have been through it or have children that have gone through it - please give me an idea of post-op pain and anything else that can be expected. They are going to drain and scrape her frontal sinuses - they will also be creating a "window" to help her sinuses drain easier. They said she will have drains in place for a week to flush the sinuses with Tobramycin.


Thank You

 

[ClashPunk82]

Hi, I axtually had sinus surgery in Nov, it went great. I didn't feel like I had anything done at all. My nose didn't hurt nor did I have any bruising. The docs were saying it looked like I didn't have surgery at all. My sinuses drained for a little bit but nothing great. And then about a month later I started the irrigation. It's a really quick and simple process. Now I don't know how everyone is with pain but for me there was none and I could breathe much better after they cleaned my nose out. I hope everything goes well!<img src="i/expressions/heart.gif" border="0">

 

[ej0820]

Hey there...I had my first sinus surgery when I was 12 also. It went really well. I had polyps removed and had my sinuses fixed b/c as I grew (with the polyps) they kind of pushed my sinuses out. They also took out my adnoids with the polyps. Aside from pressure from the packing and blood, there really wasn't much pain. It was so worth it though, I was able to breathe and smell things again after not being able to for a long while. My mom made me soup and softer things that just went down easier which was a big help. I was put on tylenol with codeine, and taking that every few hours pretty much did the trick.

erin
19/f/cf

 

[blindhearted]

I don't want to scare or upset you, but unfortunately not all sinus surgeries go as well as the two ppl who posted above. I had my sinues drained, scraped, and had "windows" created both times. I had my first surgery at the age of 14 and then again at 15. The first surgery helped me for 3 months, the 2nd surgery lasted less than 6 weeks. Then I was right back where I started. I took tylenol with codine and was put on warm water/saline flushes followed by flushed with Tobi and DNase. I had no bursing on my face, but alot of drainage and pain. To me the pain, drainage, and bleeding was not worth it. I should have stopped when the first one didnt work. My sinuses are now in the same, if not worse shape then before the two surgeries. I might just have extremely bad sinuses (due to CF and family history). The doctors told me they couldnt help me unless I took another surgery, and even then they dont even know if they would give me one since I have had bad results in the past. I would not agree to one anyway unless it was completely necessary.

But please keep in mind that not all surgeries go the way mine did, I don't know too many that have, except my mom (w/o cf), her sinus surgery only helped her for a few months then she was back in the same/worse shape then before. But not all go as good as the above. I wanted to let you know the other possibility.

I really hope your daughter's surgery will go great and have no problems.

 

[IG]

All experiences with this are different. People have a different tolerence to pain. As for my first sinus surgery (that I had at 13 I believe) well... wow, let's just say that it was incredibly painful when the morphine started to wear off. After that first day or two I had no problems. Drainage went all right, a bit icky though. That surgery lasted for 6 months I believe, my next one for another 6 months. We were extremely unhappy that I required sinus surgeries so often so we switched ENT's... and the guy that I have now is fabulous. I actually went about 2-2 1/2 years without a sinus surgery and they stayed free of polyps and that stuff. I think the guy just paid better attention to what my sinuses were actually doing and treated them accordingly. Now just personally it seems to me after each sinus surgery that I have, the pain gets less and less. (Which doesn't bug me at all) So it's different for each person.

 

[anonymous]

my son had his worked on when he was 2 and he did fine. they also removed his tonsils and adenoids. He spent one night in the hospital (just to keep an eye on him). he was in a lot pain, but the drugs helped and within a week he was back to normal and breathing better than ever. He has had no problems since then but will probably need it again in a few years.

 

[Lilith]

I had the surgery a few months ago. The pain didn't last long at all, and there wasn't much discomfort. The packing they use now is some kind of gel pak that they insert to absorb the blood and other drainage. I kinda felt like I had a cold for a month, but other than that, it wasn't bad, and it helped me out a lot. After about a month they were able to remove all of the packing and I was as good as new! They probably will recomment flushing the nostrils a few times a day with a saline-salt solution that you can make at home. I still do these flushes every day to maintain my sinuses as part of my daily medicinal routine. The salt also helps the sinuses heal faster after surgery. Other than that, there's not much too it. Good luck to you and your daughter!

 

[anonymous]

my 7 yr old just had sinus surgery. He did just fine and had no real discomfort. In fact he was up playing that evening. Have faith in your doctor, I'm sure your child will do great.

 

[anonymous]

I had The same surgery when i was 12 and it was quite painful for me, but that was 16 years ago. my sinuses were full of packing for 2 days, but they don't do that for the most part anymore. now they like to use a gell instead if they can.
i've had surgery 2 more times since then and they got easier each time.

 

[buggygurl321]

When I had the sinus surgery ( i believe i was nine), it didn't really hurt me so much. Afterwards I was like, wow, i never knew how much smell everything had! Also, when my mom gave me ponytails in my hair (you know how you have to lean your head back?), well, i wasn't afraid anymore that my head would fall off (b4, it always felt like it would)

LOL!

Katie

 

[anonymous]

Thanks for everyone's replies about sinus surgeries. My daughter had her surgery last Monday and she is doing great. She said the pain was not bad at all - said the pain from her sinus infections and the bones popping in her face with the infections was alot worse. Since about day 5 she has been eating like a horse - says food never tasted or smelled so good to her before.

Thanks Guys

 

[Bubbalove]

Does anyone know if there are specific signs that someone needs to get surgery on their sinuses?

 

[anonymous]

I had my 1st surgery when I was 12 or so. It went fine I was up and alert within 30 min. The unfortunate thing is my polyps grew back within 6 months. I had it done once again, and same thing. After having 6 surgeries they grew back, I was then sent to Sick kids and had them removed through my mouth. They cut through my uppers gums on both sides. It was a painfull recovery, much like the worse case w/ wisdome teeth. All in all it wasn't all that bad, except I was 16 and looked a bit on the chipmunk side for prom...yeah horrible at the time!!<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0"> I have a poor sense of smell as a result, but they never did come back. 17 yrs later I had them check and again, no probs. Mine was prob worse case senerio but even with all the surgeries it wasn't all that bad, just a pain in the but. Good luck to you!

 

[Princess76]

oops...the post above was mine...forgot to sign-in!

 

[stevehof]

I'd like to chime in on this one. I had horrible sinus infections all my early life. I finally had sinus surgery at about 24 years old. They cut windows in the main sinuses and removed polyps for the second time. My ENT was a very bright guy and he knew there needed to be a significant post op regime or the polyps would soon grow back. He introduced me to doing daily or twice daily nasal lavage (wash, douche, rinse or anything else you care to call it). You can do this with a WaterPic and special nasal attachment or for the last several years Ive used a plastic squeeze bottle by a company called www.sinus rinse.com. The bottle approach is better than the WaterPic because it is easier to keep the bottle clean than the inside of the WaterPic. My ENT also added a daily nasal cortisone spray to my med list. This was over 30 years ago and my sinuses still do not have polyps. I wouldnt say that this level of relief is typical but I do know that heavy sinus infections, besides being painful add more infectious gunk to your lungs because of post nasal drainage&.