Nasal Polyp / Septoplasty

[DivemasterWill]

Here's a fun one:

Over the last two years, I have been getting sinus infections more and more frequently. The last one I had, six weeks ago, I asked the doctor to check out my nose, since I have broken it on four previous occassions (the joys of fighting full-contact Tae Kwon Do).

So, he takes a peek up there, and he says I have a 10 to 15 mm polyp in my left nostril, which is more or less making it impossible to drain the sinus, and it's pretty much the root cause of my recurring sinus infections. He also noted that my septum is pretty messed up.

He set me up with a referral to an ENT specialist, and he said that I'd need to have the polyp out, and get a septoplasty at the same time.

Obviously, I'm NOT looking forward to this, and I'm planning to postpone it for as long as I can deal with it, since these are the few warm months in New England.

From what I've read, it looks like I'll be in for a week or two of irrigating the sinuses with sterile saline after the operation, followed by probably four to six weeks of being out of the water

Wondering if anyone is familiar with this either procedure from a diving standpoint, and has any experiences and or wisdom they can share, particularly about the recovery period and getting back in the water.

Thanks,

~W

 

[pasley]

I have had this surgery twice in the past 20 years. The last time was May 2002. I offer the following advice.

1. Get the GENERAL anastetic. The first time I got the local. The nightmares, the sounds, the hammer and chisel (seriously). No thanks. The second time I got knocked out, pice of cake.

2. No diving for 4 to 6 weeks. If you do a search on this site, you will find where I questioned my doctors sudden switch on the operating table from 4 weeks to 6 weeks of no diving and the expert advice I received. So you will probably be dry for 6 weeks.

3. You will have to use the saline spray. I still use it and it helps to keep my sinus flowing like it should.

4. My sinus infections, which were several a year, have virtually disappeared.

Good luck and good diving.

 

[cudachaser]

I've had several polyps removoed...no big issueud...sick for a day or two...recocery is really fast...max 2 weks from diving

 

[FSUgly]

I just recently had a septoplasty. No big deal at all. Out patient surgery, and was told 3-4 weeks before getting back in the water. I will actually be getting back in the water this week after about 6 weeks, so hopefully all is healed properly.
As a possible added bonus, if you have some problems equalizing, this may help ease/rid you of them. My ENT is a diver himself, and he said it helped him alot when he had his septoplasty.


Tom

 

[scubamax]

I had a very large and some smaller polyps removed along with a septoplasty in May. My observations:

1) Had local, not general anesthesia, but that was my preference. Actually fell asleep anyway and awoke about 2/3 through the procedure. Local stuff puts you into a 3-martini wonderland anyway, but you do hear the crunching and scraping inside your head. Not a big deal for me, but did not want general.

2) Was done on an outpatient basis, and walked out of the hospital that day!

3) Was on Tylenol for about 3 days, and antibiotics for 60 days after that. Recovery was uneventful. My nose felt like it got hit by a basketball, for about a week, but never lost any sleep or was uncomfortable!

4) Nasal packing can be quite uncomfortable. I did not have any. Ask your DR. if his/her techniques requiire packing of the sinus cavity. I am a firm believer that the quality of your Dr. in this case will affect your recovery.

5) Turned out that the analysis of my polyps extracted indicated that I had a staph infection, so my time out of the water was probably longer than that of some. Needed to have that cleared up.

6) Have been using neti-pot and saline to irrigate sinuses twice a day. Will probably be doing this for a long time, but it is easy and beneficial and helps in the healing process.

7) My Dr.'s philosophy is that this condition needs to be managed and treated not unlike high blood pressure....that is to say for the rest of your life. A lot of people have the surgery and then do not manage sinuses after that, only to have the polyps grow back in 5 to 7 years and have surgery again. Doing it right (DIR) (sorry!) the first time and managing it afterwards is the key to long term sinus health. So if you get an infection or sinusitus symptoms, you need to manage it with your Dr. to make sure it does not manifest more problems. Polyps can and do grow back over time!

8) I have had several followups with surgeon to have sinuses suctioned out, scar tissue removed, etc. These follow-ups are also critical to the success of the recovery.

9) I found my ENT Dr. via a referral from DAN. You should check with them to see if there are any ENT specialists in your area they can refer you to. (Mine is in NYC). PM me if you want his number.

10) My wife is much happier now, because a side effect of the procedure is about a 90% decrease in my snoring! SO if nothing else works out, at least she gets to sleep better!

Hope this helps you.

Scubamax