The turbinates are very important structures for respiratory health. They moisten, filter, heat, and sense/direct airflow so your brain knows you are breathing (they are packed with airflow nerves) .
The second Doctor's opinion really sums up a very very poor attitude and is why sadly for 20 years more and more people are being diagnosed with ENS. Further that comment is very hurtful to those that are suffering from ENS. Dryness is one aspect of ENS but not even close to the worst and is the one that is managable. Shortness of breath and feeling of suffocation are the worst.
Most ENT's today accept this iatrogenic condition and work conservativly to avoid it (this means no surgical removal of the turbinate). Doctor's at the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, etc. all accept it and it is really the only place where patients can go for help.
You should get your records and see how much was resected and how.
The new consensus is that most ENS patients actually notice breathing problems within the first year after their surgery. If you have no breathing problems now, then you can do your best to keep your nose moist and the remaining tissue health so that it and the nerves do not atrophy
Take me for example. I broke my nose playing football a couple years ago and let it heal. Later I developed poor breathing through my right nostril.
Unfortunately, I was sold the surgery on my turbinates, as you were, by a poorly skilled ENT march of this year (2009) who resected with scissors 50% of inferior and middle turbinates and then cauterized the remaining tissue. If only I had been informed.
I was very athletic and was doing very well in college. I had a internship at a very large tech company. I have been absolutely crippled by this surgery. I feel like I am suffocating 24/7, have constant headaches and am now suffer from sinus infections. I am only 20, there is no cure. My life is on hold until I get nasal implants by Doctor Houser at the Cleveland Clinic. There is no excuse for Doctors to continue to let this happen.
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Posted to Bilateral Turbinectomy on 5 Aug 2009