I had sinus surgery almost 7 weeks ago. Should I still feel like my sinuses are swollen?

Question

The type of surgery I had was Septoplasty, Turbinate Reduction and Concha Bulloosa surgery I feel somewhat better but I am still feeling congested. Not a lot of mucus but just a pressure feeling in my sinuses on the sides of my nostrils. I am doing nasal rinses twice a day, and just started back on Flonase and Astelin. Is it normal to still feel congested at times? Seems to get worse with extreme temperature changes such as coming from outdoors into the cold air conditioning.

Bradford (Brad) Mechor, MD, FRCSC · Answer

It is not uncommon to feel congested following nasal surgery although several factors may be contributing to ongoing symptoms.
1. Different methods of turbinate reduction (ie. submucosal resection vs cautery, etc ) may contribute to prolonged congestion. Turbinate reduction with an energy source (ie. cautery) may cause a significant amount of crusting that will cause congestion.
2. If it is a bad time of year for your allergies, this may cause more congestion.
3. It is possible that you're drying the nasal passages out with both Flonase and Astelin. It would be worth checking with your surgeon/ allergist to see if one of them could be stopped
4. It is important to followup with your surgeon to ensure that there is no evidence of infection, crusting or scarring contributing to your symptoms.

I had sinus surgery almost 7 weeks ago. Should I still feel like my sinuses are swollen?

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