r/Septoplasty

Hey all,

I am set up for deviated septum surgery and just counting down the days. I have been having terrible depression horrible plus terrible intrusive thoughts. I think it's cause I am so tired I just don't sleep well I wear breathing strips at night but I they don't help much. I toss and turn because I can't sleep.

I think I am just worn out. Also my cognitive health is failing I'm so tired all the time. I want to nap all the time have no motivation and being able to remember things has become hard cause I can't focus. I also have really bad anxiety as well.

I think I let this nose thing go on for too long. I should have done it awhile ago but I kept thinking I could get away with nasal strips but they just aren't cutting it anymore. I used them for about two years but my breathing seems to be getting worse.

Did any one here have severe cognitive problems because of deviated septum or nasal collapse? If so what were they like?

Also if you have any of you had crippling depression or anxiety caused by the deviated septum or collapse?

Last question did any of you suffered severe lack of motivation like couldn't bring your self to do anything?

Was any of this fixed or corrected by the surgery

I’ve been sleeping, I’m in some pain (wasn’t prescribed any pain killers cuz of my anti depressants and Tylenol isn’t cutting it) I was curious to know for those of you that have gotten it done if the nasal rinses hurt? And did you guys do it the first day? I forgot to ask my surgeon and it’s too late now to call. Ima probably going to start doing mine tonight but I’m nervous. I have splints in there.

Hey guys,
I had septoplasty done August 17th. I’m on day two. I am having problems with my vision. I wear glasses so I tried them on today. The near vision is all blurry I can’t make sense of the words. Is that normal bc it might have been swollen inside? I can see good far with my glasses on. But I can see near without my glasses.
TIA

Hello everyone,

I have been getting colds very often, like on average every two months, for a few years now. Also, I feel like my nose and sinuses are always very dry, inflamed, i feel pressure on my face sometimes, and AC for example exacerbates this. Recently I have also been waking up with a dry/sore throat or nose.

I went to doctors that prescribed me with Dymista, and it didnt help much, especially since i dont have runny noses, congestion, etc in my daily live, so it doesnt seem like sinusitis or rhinitis.

My symptoms remained, especially the illnesses. I was diagnosed with a deviated septum after a TAC scan but the doctor said it had nothing to do with my recurrent illnesses. My extensive blood scans came back normal, Im young, I live a healthy lifestyle, etc. Even with those oral vaccines for breathing infections, the issue remains.

However, shouldn't the deviated septum be a cause? If I have poor sleep, if my sinuses and throat are chronically inflamed and dry, wouldn't that make it much more likely for me to get sick? These illnesses are ALWAYS the common cold, no fever, just inflammation and pain in sinuses or throat, and then a runny nose/cough.

Anyone have/had a similar experience and did surgery fix it for you?

Thanks in advance.

They’re out. Or as they say in Scotland “they’re oot”.

The clinic was running almost one hour late but the feeling I have now is incredible. The splints coming out was actually ok and not at all sore. Marginally uncomfortable at worst.

I can smell the air freshener in the car, the dog’s furry coat and the body spray I put on after my shower earlier. Absolutely wonderful.

I’ve to massage the inside of my nose with Vaseline for 3 months and also continue the nasal douching and see the consultant in November.

All that’s left for me to say is thanks to everyone who gave me advice, support and contributed to my posts. Your help was so much appreciated. For those with splints in just now, stick with it, be careful and look forward to the first walk in the fresh air after they’ve come out.

Thanks again.

I got my septoplasty the 14th to fix my deviated septum, now I’m 4 days out, and am set to meet with my surgeon to remove stents/packing on the 20th. I move into college the 21st, I know I screwed myself over a little with this scheduling, but I live 5 minutes away from the campus so I have a lot more flexibility.

It’s my first year of college and I am nervous about how the first few weeks are going to be affected by my recovery process. Will I look different? And will I be unable to open my mouth fully for a long time?

I am swelling a good amount, but I can’t be sure what aesthetic differences are being caused by swelling, vs stents or packing. To me my nose looks quite different, mostly bigger, and ever so slightly pushed upward (like a pigs nose.) But to others it’s less noticeable

Does anyone have any reassurance for me? I’m quite nervous, mostly about how I look and how I will come across.

Well in less than 4 hours I will be at the hospital to have the splints removed following Septoplasty surgery on 5th August. It's been a long 13 days.

Over the last few days I have started to feel slightly better within myself however not having the luxury of breathing through my nose is pretty debilitating.

What am I expecting today ? I haven't a clue, however the splints removed isn't going to make me feel any worse. I return to work on Thursday and my only hope is to be able to breath and not to constantly worry if my nosing is running.

I've read posts stating the recovery process starts from the time of removal of the splints so hopefully that process will go well. My mouth is still dry during the night and I'm drinking close on a litre of water whilst in bed. I sincerely hope having nasal breathing ability will reduce this.

I'm actually planning on a celebratory beer later - should all go ok and i will be able to taste it. Finally, many thanks to everyone that have replied to my earlier posts and passed on your advice your own personal experiences of this operation.

Hey all, I know this is the eleventh hour but tomorrow I have a septoplasty scheduled with turbinate reduction. ENT is using a microdebrider (sp?) for the turbinates, but I am getting really freaked out about empty nose syndrome. I know occurrences are rare… but man have I seen SO many anecdotes of it going wrong. Thinking about canceling the whole thing.

For context I have some but little nasal breathing capability. Always stuffy even when I’m “clear”.

ETA: ENT said he’s never had a patient develop ENS before. He’s been practicing around 10 years.

I am having septoplasty surgery August 25th. Because of my past addiction (been clean 5 years) issues, I am doing this with no pain medicine once I leave the hospital. Definitely a little nervous but I've been through a lot so I feel like I can handle this. Any suggestions from experience?

It's been a year and a half. My surgeon told me it was a success and now I have a super straight septum but I don't notice any difference in breathing. I'm still dependent on using nasal spray every day to not wake up with a dry painful mouth. I started recorded myself and I notice that I snore daily too (not too loud)

Hello everyone, I'm booked to have a septoplasty with turbinate reduction next month. I've been on the waiting list for just under a year.

Its definitely for functional reasons but I was wondering what peoples experiences were regarding the shape of your nose changing/not after surgery.

Mine is visibly crooked, I have a more straight side profile on one side and on the other it's a more of humped. Straight on it looks a bit like a squiggly line.

Im wondering If I should expect any change in profiles or nostril shape, could it get worse even?

Another thing I'm slightly confused about is that the doctor who examined my nose asked me if I'm sure it was the left nostril with the restricted air flow, he seemed to be confused by me telling him it wasn't the right side. Even though I think it's really obvious? That took me off guard a bit.

Lastly, I had an injury to my nose earlier in the year, I was told in A&E it may be fractured (sent home without xray because it was busy) but I never went back as it felt ok, however I have noticed it feels n looks ever so slightly different...But the doctor who examined my nose for septoplasty told me 'it doesn't look fractured, if it does end up being so is this something they'd notice/fix in surgery?

Sorry for the loong post! I'll admit I am a tiny bit nervous. Hoping someone can shed some insight here. Thanks so much! <3

I am due to have my splint removed on Tuesday 18th but today after a serious sneezing episode I notice it has moved. Before I could see the bottom part (blue coloured) quite easily, now it is further inside my nose. Should I be concerned ?

Hey guys, I am going ahead with a Septoplasty tomorrow and I’m a little concerned about the nausea.

I’ve tried to close my nose and only breathe from my mouth to try and replicate the post op experience and I instantly feel so nauseous…

What am I in for? Any first hand experiences are welcome..

Hi, I had septoplasty and turbinate reduction on March 22nd 2026. Initially, when the stents came out, I breathe better, way better than before and I also slept better. For the first 3-4 months it has been like that way.

However, around late June, I felt my breathing was wrong. I couldn’t feel thr satisfying air flow. It got bad to the point I felt inflammation in my left nose. I figured it was the AC. So I turned it off. My symptoms felt better. But I still couldn’t feel the air flow right. It’s been like this for a month and half. Some days were better and other were bad days. Right now it’s probably one of those bad days. I’m not sure long will it take. My sleeping is worst too and I feel like everything is irritating my nose and setting me back again and again.

Has anyone experienced recovery like this?

Gonna delete this soon for obvious reasons. I just wanted to make sure I didn't screw myself completely. Got my surgery Monday 8/10 (septoplasty + turbinite reduction), splints out on that yesterday as of this post, and/could only breathe out kf my nose like 1%, and instinctively went digging a couple hours after splint removal in search of relief. Still can't breathe out of my nose barely, and super swollen on the inside, it feels like. I tried putting toilet paper up there, spin it around to clean it out multiple times, picked it multiple times half asleep, not even thinking about it. Still keeping up with my saline spray fairly often and feels about the same, can only breathe like 1% still. Am I screwed??

Basically I've had septoplasty and bilateral turbinate reduction 40 days ago and they've told me I have basic nasal packing and to come remove it in 5 days.

After the removal I haven't had any crazy relief, my left nostril is good most of the time while my right (which was the worse one) is still blocked/semi-blocked most of the time.

I've had 2 post ops and in both of them my ENT looked at my nose and said it's okay and to keep doing nasal irrigation etc., but now in the last week I've been blowing my nose a bit more and there has come an oval shaped transparent object down to the beginning of my right nostril. It hurts to pull it and it just feels like a thin plastic coin in my nose, I can't get it out and can only get better breathing if I push it in deeper in the nose. Also it seems like I still have some dissolvable stitches.

Since this plastic has come down I again am getting more red and yellow discharge from the nose which was present only in the first 2 weeks.

I fear they have forgot about the stents since I got operated by one surgeon and I guess a resident (different name since I'm in Europe and got operated in a public hospital), but my packing was removed by a third random ENT, and my checkups are with the resident. Maybe they have not communicated well...

If somebody could explain what stents feel and look like and if what I'm feeling are actually stents.

TL;DR: Got operated by a surgeon and a resident, nasal packing(no stents) removed by third ENT five days post op, checkups are with the resident. Fear miscommunication happened, 40 days after surgery oval shaped plastic object is at the beginning of nostril (wasn't there before), hurts to pull. Are these stents?