How long does it take to heal from turbinate reduction?
In about three weeks, the new scar tissue in your nose should be completely healed. For the more invasive type of turbinate reduction surgery, recovery takes three to six months. For up to a week after surgery, you may need to pack your nostrils with gauze to keep tissues in place.
How long is turbinate surgery?
It is an office procedure, performed under local anesthesia, and it takes about 10 minutes. Usually there’s no pain on the recovery process, no change on the physical aspect and no long-term side effects, such as loss on olfactory perception.
How successful is turbinate reduction surgery?
At 1 month postoperatively the overall success rate, as defined by patient satisfaction, was 82%, but this declined steadily with time to 60% at 3 months, 54% at 1 year and 41% at 1-16 years. There was no significant difference found in the success rates between methods of turbinate reduction used.
Will turbinates grow back?
The turbinates normally function to warm and humidify inhaled air, and so it is important that the turbinate not be removed completely because this can result in a very dry, crusty nose. Occasionally, turbinate tissue will re-grow after turbinate surgery, and the procedure may need to be repeated.
Who performs turbinate reduction?
When turbinates become inflamed it can cause nasal obstruction and eventually congestion due to increased production of mucous. To correct this airflow issue, a licensed ENT can perform a turbinate reduction, a minimally invasive nasal surgery designed to improve how well you breathe through your nose.
Is it bad to remove turbinates?
Risks of nasal turbinate reduction include: bleeding. infection requiring antibiotics. adhesions (scar tissue) damage to the inside of your nose causing empty nose syndrome.
What to expect from turbinate surgery?
For patients with turbinate hypertrophy, turbinate surgery should correct the problem of nasal obstruction by reducing the turbinate size and thereby decreasing airway resistance while preserving the natural function of the turbinates. This should improve nasal breathing and may reduce nasal drainage and postnasal drip.
What to expect during your turbinate reduction?
Recovery time for a turbinate reduction surgery is about 2 weeks. During this time, you will be prescribed antibiotics and a painkiller, although in many cases just Tylenol is sufficient for the pain as it is fairly mild. Within the first two weeks you may also experience some light bleeding through the nasal passages.
How successful is turbinate reduction?
A lack of turbinate tissue may cause the nasal cavity to become very dry and crusty. In some cases, a reduced turbinate may regrow, requiring a repeat surgery to reduce their size. In most cases, turbinate reductions are successful at opening the airways and making breathing easier.
Does a turbinate reduction surgery cause empty nose syndrome?
Empty Nose Syndrome is not a disease as such, but rather a postoperative syndrome caused by excessive reduction of the nasal turbinates or improper septum correction surgery. The nasal turbinates produce nasal mucus and moisture, and thus ensure that inhaled air is warmed and humidified. They also regulate air flow within the nose.