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If you are like me, you are a patient that does a...
If you are like me, you are a patient that does a lot of research when deciding to undergo something as major as surgery. I am writing this review for Dr. Ben Swartout who performed my deviated septum revision surgery to give others an idea what this all entails.
First off, I was hit in the face with a kickboard when I was around 8 years old and my nose grew crooked. I had headaches and breathing trouble as well as allergies and asthma start in my pre-teen years. When I was 22 I opted to have surgery to fix my deviated septum. I did not notice that big of a change post surgery. This was 14 years ago.
Fast forward to 2014. I was seen by Dr. Swartout (word of mouth recommendation) for some kind of odd recurrent sinus infection/allergy type thing which was causing me migraines that were debilitating; in fact I had to go the ER at least three times. He informed me from the very first appointment that my nose was very deviated inside and it looked like the previous surgeon had not fixed the septum at all. Additionally, there was a large spur on the right side (incidentally the side I was getting all of the painful migraines on). He said it was a very bad deviation and I should consider surgery. This was shocking to me; as I thought I had fixed this problem years ago.
I went on with my life, and didn’t think anything of it; however eventually unremittent allergy/breathing/headache problems made me opt to fix my nose about five months ago. I figured breathing was important and could be related to many of these complications.
I can’t say enough about how fabulous Dr. Swartout is. Not only did he endure several sessions of me asking pages and pages of questions for him I’d compiled, he always took time and made sure to explain things which did a lot to ease my fears. Plus, he has an amazing sense of humor and also likes Star Wars. He let me know it was a complicated surgery, but he is a revision specialist and was confident I would have great results.
Because my surgery would be a revision, he let me know there may not be enough cartilage left in my nose to perform the surgery; and would possibly have to take cartilage from my ear or rib. He ended up not needing to do either which was amazing.
My surgery took 4-5 hours, and was performed at Spalding Surgery Center. I was a little nervous the morning of, but I felt very confident that I was in good hands when I saw Dr. Swartout. I was sick from the anesthesia, so understand if you have a longer surgery like mine, there is a good chance this will happen and try to stay calm and realize this will pass in a few hours at the most. I was given pain meds and antibiotics. I am pretty good with pain and I found I did not need the prescribed pain meds at all. I took Tylenol every 6 hours pretty religiously the first 3-4 days. In terms of pain, it does hit more the day after, when everything from surgery is out of your system, but it was nowhere near the pain of the migraines I’d been having.
I have to say deciding to have this surgery with this particular doctor was one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life. I can breathe without holding the skin near my nose open, I have far fewer allergy problems, and my headaches and dizziness were essentially eliminated. It seems that my particular migraines were due to the septal spur that Dr. Swartout removed. (However please understand every person is different so make sure to ask him your questions). If you are suffering from headaches on only one side that do not appear to be relieved by migraine medicine then you may have what I have and this surgery will greatly improve your quality of life.
I would highly recommend Dr. Swartout for both revisions and primary surgery. After suffering my botched deviated septum surgery, he is the only surgeon I would ever trust again. The results have been incredible and I absolutely cannot recommend him enough. If anyone has other questions, feel free to message me through Real Self.
First off, I was hit in the face with a kickboard when I was around 8 years old and my nose grew crooked. I had headaches and breathing trouble as well as allergies and asthma start in my pre-teen years. When I was 22 I opted to have surgery to fix my deviated septum. I did not notice that big of a change post surgery. This was 14 years ago.
Fast forward to 2014. I was seen by Dr. Swartout (word of mouth recommendation) for some kind of odd recurrent sinus infection/allergy type thing which was causing me migraines that were debilitating; in fact I had to go the ER at least three times. He informed me from the very first appointment that my nose was very deviated inside and it looked like the previous surgeon had not fixed the septum at all. Additionally, there was a large spur on the right side (incidentally the side I was getting all of the painful migraines on). He said it was a very bad deviation and I should consider surgery. This was shocking to me; as I thought I had fixed this problem years ago.
I went on with my life, and didn’t think anything of it; however eventually unremittent allergy/breathing/headache problems made me opt to fix my nose about five months ago. I figured breathing was important and could be related to many of these complications.
I can’t say enough about how fabulous Dr. Swartout is. Not only did he endure several sessions of me asking pages and pages of questions for him I’d compiled, he always took time and made sure to explain things which did a lot to ease my fears. Plus, he has an amazing sense of humor and also likes Star Wars. He let me know it was a complicated surgery, but he is a revision specialist and was confident I would have great results.
Because my surgery would be a revision, he let me know there may not be enough cartilage left in my nose to perform the surgery; and would possibly have to take cartilage from my ear or rib. He ended up not needing to do either which was amazing.
My surgery took 4-5 hours, and was performed at Spalding Surgery Center. I was a little nervous the morning of, but I felt very confident that I was in good hands when I saw Dr. Swartout. I was sick from the anesthesia, so understand if you have a longer surgery like mine, there is a good chance this will happen and try to stay calm and realize this will pass in a few hours at the most. I was given pain meds and antibiotics. I am pretty good with pain and I found I did not need the prescribed pain meds at all. I took Tylenol every 6 hours pretty religiously the first 3-4 days. In terms of pain, it does hit more the day after, when everything from surgery is out of your system, but it was nowhere near the pain of the migraines I’d been having.
I have to say deciding to have this surgery with this particular doctor was one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life. I can breathe without holding the skin near my nose open, I have far fewer allergy problems, and my headaches and dizziness were essentially eliminated. It seems that my particular migraines were due to the septal spur that Dr. Swartout removed. (However please understand every person is different so make sure to ask him your questions). If you are suffering from headaches on only one side that do not appear to be relieved by migraine medicine then you may have what I have and this surgery will greatly improve your quality of life.
I would highly recommend Dr. Swartout for both revisions and primary surgery. After suffering my botched deviated septum surgery, he is the only surgeon I would ever trust again. The results have been incredible and I absolutely cannot recommend him enough. If anyone has other questions, feel free to message me through Real Self.
Provider Review
Dr. Benjamin Swartout
Amazing. Calm. Makes doing this seem easy. Knowledgeable, confident, skilled and talented. Basically everything you'd want in a surgeon. I cannot recommend him enough. He's a world class surgeon coupled with an incredible amount of humility.