Nose/Throat Surgery suggestions

**646guy** · 8th February 06, 09:28 AM

I just had some intense nose and throat surgery done yesterday and was hoping that someone on here has gone through the same thing (or at least one part of it) and can give me some advice: I have mild sleep apnea and I had my tonsils removed, my uvula removed (UPPP) and my septum fixed.

They did not pack my nose with cotton and the saline solution isn't helping clear up the dried blood and stuff up there which means I have to breathe through my mouth and my throat is still quite raw. On top of that swallowing is a problem too. The pain meds have dulled the pain but not gotten rid of it (which I was told would be the case)...

Has anyone else gone through this and what did you do to make it a bit more bearable?

**Shay** · 8th February 06, 10:15 AM

Well, I haven't gone through that, but almost three years of living with a guy prone to nosebleeds, and two kids who are seemingly 75% booger, have taught me the correct care for the dry nose:

Try a humidifier, tabletop fountain, etc to get some water in the air- it will help with the itchiness and soothe your skin a lot.

Or for more current relief, put a pot of water on the stove and breathe over steaming water. Put a towel over your head and (carefully!) 'tent' it to get all the humid goodness you can. Throw something nice-smelling in the pot if you want- we usually toss a handful of salt and a pinh of lavender in there- the salt makes it saline steam, the lavender just smells nice and encourages breathing through the nose.

The dry air of most wintertime homes isn't helping much, I imagine. And at the risk of sounding gross, the humidity will soften the crusted blood and um... other stuff, giving you some relief from what my daughter calls 'nose sharpies.'

Good luck with more specific advice, and with your apnea clearing up!

**Moosehead** · 8th February 06, 10:20 AM

Drambuie! Not up the nose...should make things bearable.

**pdcorlis** · 8th February 06, 10:56 AM

Sorry to hear about your going under the knife - I hope you recover quickly!

It might be a good idea to call your doctor - I'm sure they will be interested in any post-operative problems you experience.

**Livingston** · 8th February 06, 11:10 AM

Shay gives excellent advise. That and drink more.....water not booze. The booze will dry you out.

**646guy** · 8th February 06, 11:12 AM

Originally Posted by Livingston

Shay gives excellent advise. That and drink more.....water not booze. The booze will dry you out.

If I drink any more water or apple juice (the other approved liquid) I'm gonna drown....

**mudd** · 9th February 06, 06:03 PM

Originally Posted by Shay

giving you some relief from what my daughter calls 'nose sharpies.'

My daughter calls ‘em “nose pokies”.

**646guy** · 9th February 06, 07:36 PM

Thanks for all of the advice...I've been doing some hot steam baths where I stand in the shower full of steam and breathe in from my mouth and nose and I can definitely feel things loosening up and opening up my passages. I'm also using the saline spray which is helping a bit as well but not to the effect that I thought it would. I set up my follow up appointment with my doc for Monday at 9am so he can take a look at how things are going and figure out what the next steps are from there...I figure I can last until then before I want to beat myself over the head.

The only freaky thing that's happened during the steam infusions (AND IT'S KINDA GROSS SO STOP NOW IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW) is that all of the coagulated blood that is either in my throat or nose or whatever is also being spit out during this time. It's like I can now tell when a big "blood ball" of spit is gonna come out when I do one of those steam therapies. However, it does feel better after I get them out of my system so I'm hoping that's a good sign and that I'm not doing myself major damage.

**bjcustard** · 9th February 06, 09:27 PM

In 2004, I had bad things removed from my sinuses (think 'thumb'), had good things taken out to improve airflow, and had my deviated septum fixed. They did not pack my nose or anything. I, too, had the 'sore throat' feeling. I presume it was from the breathing tube.

The faint-of-heart should stop reading HERE.

The short answer: suck it up. It'll pass in a week or two.

The long answer: Hydrate as much as you can stand. Use the saline as much as you can stand. Ask your physician if you can use something akin to this: one liter of distilled water, with 3 spoons of Sea Salt and 1 spoon of Baking Soda added (check my figures... doing this from memory). I had to use that (it's like saline, but more 'briny'), and it helped get all the cr@p out after a week or so. I must stress that you should TALK TO YOUR PHYSICIAN before you use something like this, because you could be removing clotting material that you shouldn't.

Hope all is better soon.

**646guy** · 9th February 06, 09:45 PM

Originally Posted by bjcustard

In 2004, I had bad things removed from my sinuses (think 'thumb'), had good things taken out to improve airflow, and had my deviated septum fixed. They did not pack my nose or anything. I, too, had the 'sore throat' feeling. I presume it was from the breathing tube.

The faint-of-heart should stop reading HERE.

The short answer: suck it up. It'll pass in a week or two.

The long answer: Hydrate as much as you can stand. Use the saline as much as you can stand. Ask your physician if you can use something akin to this: one liter of distilled water, with 3 spoons of Sea Salt and 1 spoon of Baking Soda added (check my figures... doing this from memory). I had to use that (it's like saline, but more 'briny'), and it helped get all the cr@p out after a week or so. I must stress that you should TALK TO YOUR PHYSICIAN before you use something like this, because you could be removing clotting material that you shouldn't.

Hope all is better soon.

Yeah trust me....I'm sucking it up as well as I can....at this point I'm just glad that I can get a good night's sleep or at least cat nap for a few hours. I'm seeing my ENT doc on Monday morning for a follow up so I figure three more days isn't going to kill me.

They told me in the hospital that it was probably from my breathing tube as well and I'm drinking as much water and apple juice as I can althogh having to go to the bathroom every hour is starting to get annoying. I'm also wondering what they cauterized in my throat as well to see if perhaps I have skin that is healing back there as well. I hope to be back on normal food by the beginning of March because I am craving pepperoni pizza BIG TIME...