POSTED UNDER Septoplasty Reviews
FINALLY! I Got Back the Nose I Was Born With!!!!
ORIGINAL POST
FINALLY! I Got Back the Nose I Was Born With!!!!
Back in 1956, I had a staph infection which caused boils and carbuncles on my body. Two of the thre carbuncles left scars on my knee and stomach, but the third was inside my nose and destroyed quite a bit of cartilage, with the result that my nose was crooked and I had to sleep on my left side in order to breathe. Two other plastic surgeons (in 1975 and about 1985) looked at it and passed on trying to fix it as the damage was so bad (bad enough that insurance was willing to pay for the surgery). Finally, I saw Dr. Bridges, whose first comment when I came in was "Wow! That's a doozy!". Anyway, it took five hours of surgery, but now my nose looks exactly like it did before the infection. I can breathe through both sides of my nose and I couldn't be happier. He had warned me that he might need to take cartilage from my ear, but he didn't even need to do that. He is absolutely the BEST!!!!
GEM1966's provider
Replies (5)
Well, I LOOKED like I had run face first into an 18 wheeler, but I never eben took any of the pain medicine that I was given. It really wasn't bad at all.
even, not eben
Hi! I am considering getting a perforation repair from Dr. Bridges - how is your repair holding up now that you’ve had it for a couple years?
It is great. I have ad NO issues at all. I often wake up in the morning on my right side, which NEVER happened before the surgery. And it still looks great. I highly recommend Dr. Bridges. He is wonderful!
Was your perforation large? Doctor's I have seen say that haven't ever seen one as large as mine and don't want to touch it. I've had it since I was a child...it has grown large over the years. I am worried about the structure of my nose.
I'm not the one who posted the review, but from what I understand "small" is anything under 1cm, "medium" is 1cm-2cm, and "large" is anything over 2cm. There's a FB group for septal perforation patients, and there is one in there who had a 3cm perforation repaired a couple months ago (will take some time to see if it holds). I've also spoken with some people who had 2cm.x 1cm perforations and their repairs have held. It's all about the procedure used, which seems like it can vary from one provider to the next.
I have a consult with Dr. Bridges coming up soon by finding him here on RealSelf - but if you google around enough you can find some other specialists around the country who will take on this procedure. But there are a small number of doctors who really seem to have specialized in this, so you may need to be prepared to travel for surgery. Look around in NYC, Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles markets for some of the providers.
99% of ENTs simply won't touch a perforation
I have a consult with Dr. Bridges coming up soon by finding him here on RealSelf - but if you google around enough you can find some other specialists around the country who will take on this procedure. But there are a small number of doctors who really seem to have specialized in this, so you may need to be prepared to travel for surgery. Look around in NYC, Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles markets for some of the providers.
99% of ENTs simply won't touch a perforation
Thanks for your reply. Are you seeing Dr Bridges, in VA? I am considering meeting with him. My perforation doesn't bother me, but it keeps growing larger. Having this since I was a child, it has just gotten larger and larger until there is almost nothing left. I have seen ENT's when I was in my early 30's and your are correct, they wouldn't touch it. They said if it wasn't bothering me to not worry. They also assume I have used some sort of substance, which is NOT the case. It is very frustrating.
I have a virtual consult with Dr. Bridges next week, and then if he doesn't see anything impossible on my CT will likely drive to his offices (2 hour drive) for an in-person examination before he can likely agree to take on my case.
I am also consulting with Dr. James Hamilton in Los Angeles who has a lot of experience correcting these as well. But that's a cross-country flight. I actually think Dr. Hamilton has probably done more of these, but there's value into having your surgeon nearby when considering a surgery that 99% of their peers don't want to get anywhere near.
I was asked the same question - "Do you use cocaine?" I was a bit taken back, but now that I've learned more about it, it's probably the #1 leading cause alongside self-induced trauma such as overdoing steroid nasal sprays or nose picking.
I think when the ENTs say "if it's not bothering you then don't worry" that's just their way to quickly get out of the conversation about what the reality is - it will never get smaller, unless your nose is really moist all the time it will slowly get bigger. Even if it's just 0.5mm per year that's half a centimeter over the next decade. You have to live with it ... your ENT just wants you to get out of their office so they can submit their claim and collect their check. So they give you bad medical advice IMO.
Prosthetic buttons are another possible solution, but they have a high take-out rate (>50%) because they really bother people. And at the margins of the button, the tissue underneath tends to get necrotic and die as well - potentially making the perforation larger over time and somewhat defeating the point of the button.
It's a complicated procedure, no doubt. If you want to chat further, find that septal perforation FB group I mentioned and join it, and then make a post indicating you'd spoken to someone here. We can carry on a more direct conversation if you like.
I am also consulting with Dr. James Hamilton in Los Angeles who has a lot of experience correcting these as well. But that's a cross-country flight. I actually think Dr. Hamilton has probably done more of these, but there's value into having your surgeon nearby when considering a surgery that 99% of their peers don't want to get anywhere near.
I was asked the same question - "Do you use cocaine?" I was a bit taken back, but now that I've learned more about it, it's probably the #1 leading cause alongside self-induced trauma such as overdoing steroid nasal sprays or nose picking.
I think when the ENTs say "if it's not bothering you then don't worry" that's just their way to quickly get out of the conversation about what the reality is - it will never get smaller, unless your nose is really moist all the time it will slowly get bigger. Even if it's just 0.5mm per year that's half a centimeter over the next decade. You have to live with it ... your ENT just wants you to get out of their office so they can submit their claim and collect their check. So they give you bad medical advice IMO.
Prosthetic buttons are another possible solution, but they have a high take-out rate (>50%) because they really bother people. And at the margins of the button, the tissue underneath tends to get necrotic and die as well - potentially making the perforation larger over time and somewhat defeating the point of the button.
It's a complicated procedure, no doubt. If you want to chat further, find that septal perforation FB group I mentioned and join it, and then make a post indicating you'd spoken to someone here. We can carry on a more direct conversation if you like.
I am not seeing him now, because my nose is back to what it was before my staph infection at age eight. And I have had no problems at all with it since Dr, Matt Bridges repaired it. And, finally, I am able to sleep on both sides, which I could not do before the repair. It took me a LONG time to find someone to fix it, but I would return to him for anything I may ever need again without hesitation.
I knew that cocaine could cause cartilage damage, but Dr. Bridges never even asked me about that. (I would never have used it anyway, knowing how bad my nose was in the first place.) He was very nice and VERY competent. I highly recommend him.
I am not sure if perforation is the right term for the problem I had. Mostly, the cartilage had kind of crumbled from the staph infection and I gather some of it was gone entirely, which is why I was told I might need to have some taken from my ear. Apparently, I had a deviated septum, then when I got the carbuncles, it destroyed cartilage and caused another deviation in the opposite direction. It was a mess. But Dr. Bridges was able to piece the remnants together and never even had to get any from my ear. He recreated the nose I was born with and hadn't had since I was eight years ols. I am extremely happy with the result.
So glad you got the results you needed and wanted! How was/is your recovery?