r/emptynosesyndrome

Hello, I have had FESS and lower turbinate reduction about 7 years ago. Immediately after the operation i felt like i could draw too much air through my left nostril. Now, a few years later i have zero airflow sensation in my left nostril. I don't feel any suffocation or anything, as i know that i am breathing, but my left nostril is numb. Also I cannot smell that well. Last week I had a cold and my nose was swollen and it was the best I could smell in years.

Otherwise I can only smell "sharp" smells, like chemicals, perfume, etc.

I have been to several ENTs and they say that the operation was done okay but that my nose is extremely dry. It bothers me a lot and after reading so much about ENS, I feel like I am obsessing and going crazy over this. I also have some fatigue which I don't know if it is stress related or if there is a connection between breathing "too much". (My breathing frequency seems to be okay).

Hello folks. I want to prefix this by saying that I don't have ENS and I am sorry for the ones that do.

For about 1 year, I've been having issues where I sleep about 7-8 hours, but I wake up during the night and feel very tired in the morning and throughout the day. This genuinely affects my day to day as I feel like my mental clarity is significantly reduced and I struggle with remembering things. I also wake up with very dry mouth and throat. My weight is normal, I am 25 and exercise about 2 times a week.

For some context - for the last 2-3 years (before this last year where my issues started), I had been using xylometalozine drops pretty often (maybe every other day to once every 3 days). I also had really bad summer allergies and would frequently wash out my nose with cold water and I'd pretty often bleed out of my nose due to sneezing so much.

This last year I basically kind of stopped xylometalozine almost fully and the issues began. The weird thing is that my issues almost always only appear at night. I lay down and usually the side im laying on completely blocks (100%, cant feel any air going through). Ive done all of the standards - did dymista for 2-3 months, I have a 45° pillow, I use breathe right strips, I avoid eating too late and eating oily foods, too much sugar, etc - nothing seems to help. I don't have a deviated septum nor nasal polyps, my air passages are pretty clear when standing.

Many of my ENTs suggest a turbinate reduction using RFA. While I know it may not ALWAYS cause ENS, my last ENT said that they don't perform this and they don't believe in it as you don't know how your body will react to the scarring and healing. I agreed with her, I am now doing a new set of steroid sprays, but honestly I don't really have high hopes. I believe my issue is vasomotor, my doctor even said that she saw I had blueish turbinates which from research shows that its due to venous blood swelling (which makes sense in my case).

I have tried what is usually suggested on this subreddit (buteyko and CP) and my CP is pretty good (30-40s).

I really dont want to have a reduction (my ent that could do this is very respected and is on the ENS aware list), but I feel like I have exhausted basically everything else. I am just looking to see if anyone else has similar symptoms and any suggestions/ideas for going forward.

I cant imagine what having ENS is like, I assume only the worst, but my symptoms are now making me feel like I can't really live a normal life anymore and I am in a state where I feel dreadful all the time.

Thanks!

I have ED since my surgery and never recovered on that side.

Any advice?

Looking to combat nasal dryness, topicals don't really do it for me and believe me I've tried them all. I feel like better secretion would go a long way for me because staying moist is when I feel the most relief. Initial Google search says Pilocarpine or cevimeline or maybe even varenicline nasal spray (Tyrvaya). Anyone have experience/advice with any of these?

https://preview.redd.it/orfvbhapzwsh1.png?width=880&format=png&auto=webp&s=d1db9a949e9015fa2ed0b37838dc356fba1199ad

I recently completed palatal expansion which increased my nasal aperture to a very large ~ 29 mm. I have never had any other nasal procedures done. These scans were taken when my expansion was complete.

Within the past few days I have started to experience ENS type symptoms particularly in my right (left as you are looking at these scans) nostril. The specific symptoms I am experiencing are a too open feeling and a harsh cold air feeling. These symptoms have led to extreme disruption from sleep leaving me waking up minutes after falling asleep.

I did the expansion to treat UARS, so the sleep issues predated the current symptoms but the current symptoms are significantly worse than any sleep issues or nervous system issues I had prior to this.

The only environmental notes I can think of are that for the day or two before these symotoms began the heat was turned on in my house as well as I did sleep with a fan pointed right at my face for a night.

Last night while desperately searching for sleep, I was able to sleep "better" with multiple tissues taped on the exterior of my nostrils providing a barrier.

It should also be noted that I finished expanding 4 months ago and had not had any symptoms until the past few days.

Are there any strategies I should employ to try to help heal my right nostril to hopefully restore my normal nasal airflow?

Has anyone had this type of turbinate reduction? Supposedly they leave the submucosal layer untouched. I have a surgery coming up but after being here its made me reconsider it.

Hi, I am 34F from the UK. I am 5 foot 6 and about 103kg. I have anxiety which I'm on sertraline for. I take omeprazole for the sertraline side effect. I was diagnosed with B12 deficiency about 10 years ago. I take metformin for type 2 diabetes, diagnosed 18 months ago.

I had a septal perforation about 5 years ago. They biopsied it but didn't solve the cause of it.

I have had a septal button for the last 5 years due to septal perforation. I had a nasal lump removed in January which was biopsied and was fine. A lump appeared to grow back so I saw the consultant who said the button had run its course and was causing inflammation.

I went to the clinic today and they removed the button and said I need to wait a few months to let things heal before they consider putting another button in.

As mentioned, I have anxiety and am working myself up to thinking my nose might collapse without the button.

Will they put it back in? Am I at risk of structural damage?

Thanks in advance!

ETA I've added pictures of what came out after a nasal rinse, is this normal mucus, or more tissue deteriorating?

I had septorhinoplasty with turbinate reduction many years ago and in the last few years my nasal breathing has gotten a lot worse. Currently I'm on a journey to figure out what's wrong and have already seen several specialists.

I was wondering, for a typical ENS patient, do you feel substantial airflow through both nostrils when you hold your hand in front of your nose, despite the suffocating sensation? In my case, one nostril is always 100% closed and alternates.