Septoplasty: Stories

I had a septoplasty performed twice. Once when I was 16 and again about 10 years later which also involved turbinate reduciton. After the second surgery, I noticed a very high pitched noise that was really annoying especially at night when I was trying to sleep. In addition, I was experiencing pervasive dryness.

I feared right away that I had a perforation because I know what the symptoms are from researching. I went back to an ENT and sure enough he found a whole in my septum straight through about 3 mm in diameter.

There is nothing simple about repairing perforations. Nor is the procedure cheap if you go to a plastic surgeon which you should at that point, go to the best. Your looking at close to $10,000 give or take for repairing a perforated septum! The worse news is that it is a very complex and delicate procedure with a pretty high failure rate - with most physicians it's a coin toss, literally. Life has been hell with this tiny little hole in my nose because it disrupts my sleep.

Don't butcher your nose, irrigate it with a saline solution daily. Unless you can afford the very best surgeon which insurance probably won't cover, I wouldn't do it.