Congested Nose After Sinus Surgery?

Question

I had a sinus surgery 3 weeks ago. It included: frontal sinus, antrum, intranasal op, Turbinates, submucus resection. Almost 3 weeks after the surgery I don't have the sneezing attacks anymore, but my nose is still very congested. My ENT says it is congested because there is still some dry blood and could take a month to clear. Has anybody had congested nose after surgery? According to the report the surgery only lasted 10 min. Can all these be done in such a short time? Any opinions on this?

Thomas A. Lamperti, MD · Answer

It is normal to have nasal congestion and blockage this soon after sinus surgery. Like your surgery said, there can be dry blood and mucous. Also, the nasal skin lining will become swollen after surgery and it takes time to calm down.

	Your surgeon may have mentioned that nasal rinses or lavage may be helpful in helping to clear out your nose.

Julian W. Dixon, MD · Answer

Thanks for your question, I am sorry to hear that you are having this problem. Generally speaking there will be severe congestion after a nasal surgery for around 1 week. At the end of that time after the nose is cleaned, you should be breathing much better. Occasionally you may get some minor congestion for the first few weeks due to crusting, but it is generally still better than before surgery. Hang in there and be sure to address your concerns with you surgeon.

Kapil Saigal, MD, FACS · Answer

Crusting and mucous congestion is very common after nasal and sinus surgery. This may be caused by any combination of dry blood or secretions in the nasal cavity, that can take weeks to clear. Sinus irrigations may help with this.
Post-op visits with your surgeon should help with clearing the sinuses, as in some cases they may have to debride the sinus cavities to make sure they are healing adequately.
Discuss your case with your doctor, and make a follow up appointment for an evaluation. Best of luck.

David O. Volpi, MD · Answer

Congestion following a sinus surgery is extremely
common and should not be the cause of much worry. If you are very uncomfortable
because of the congestion, you may try nasal rinses designed to clear the
sinuses gently and efficiently. Should your symptoms persist or worsen,
schedule a follow-up consultation with your doctor to ensure that your recovery
is going smoothly.

Mark Loury, MD, FACS (retired) · Answer

Nasal congestion is one of the first symptoms to improve. There may be swelling, infection, septal hematoma, or excessive crusting but at three weeks the acute postop edema in the sinuses is resolving rapidly and crusting decreasing as the sinus linings are recovering function. I'm pretty efficient with sinus surgery and your procedures would take me at least 45 min if only one side of sinuses or 1:15-1:30 if submucous resection, turbinates, and bilateral sinuses. If not better after 3months then ask to get another CT to compare to preop and see if what was done was actually done

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