You should avoid blowing your nose while healing is occurring. Check with your surgeon before planning any air travel. Your surgeon may also ask you to avoid heavy lifting or playing sport. You may have a feeling of pressure in your nose and some pain for several days.
You can take a shower or bath. Avoid swimming for 6 weeks. Avoid strenuous activities, such as bicycle riding, jogging, weight lifting, or aerobic exercise, for 1 week or until your doctor says it is okay. You may drive when you are no longer taking prescription pain pills and feel up to it.
Septoplasty is a minor, low-risk procedure. Recovery usually takes a few days and requires an average of a week of downtime. But, as with any surgery, septoplasty carries some risks, including bleeding, infection and numbness.
This can be due to several reasons, including obstruction caused by issues other than the deviated septum that was repaired, individual factors that may cause tissue and cartilage to reshape over time, or problems with the initial procedure.
What Are the "Don'ts?" Nose blowing - You may sniff (even vigorously) if you feel you need to clear your nose. Realize that the interior of the nose will be swollen for four to seven days and may not clear—even with the most forceful attempts. Blowing your nose too early in the healing process can cause bleeding.
1–2 days Your nose will feel sore, and much more stuffy than it did before the operation. Once the dressings are removed from your nose, you may still need to breathe through your mouth for a week or so.
In most cases, Dr. Cohen clears patients to resume sleeping on their sides and backs after the first week of their septoplasty recovery. However, extra precautions are necessary to avoid accidental injury or pressure to the nose.
You had septoplasty to fix the problems in your nasal septum. This surgery takes about 1 to 1 ½ hours. You may have received general anesthesia so you were asleep and pain free.
There is usually little pain after surgery. If you experience discomfort, your surgeon may suggest over-the-counter pain medication, such as acetaminophen. People who've had septoplasty can expect very little swelling in the days after surgery.
Postoperative Septoplasty and/or Turbinate Surgery (without Sinus Surgery) Instructions. Sleep with your head slightly elevated for 2-3 days. No heavy lifting or straining for 7 days. Do not blow your nose or sniff forcefully.
Hoefflin recommends resting quietly for the first 48 hours after surgery. You should walk or ambulate (with assistance) around your home every couple of hours. Ambulating is one of the best ways of maintaining lower extremity blood flow and preventing deep venous blood clots (DVTs).
Keeping your head elevated while you sleep helps prevent congestion, improve drainage, and reduce swelling. You may need to sleep on your back with your head propped on a few pillows for three to four weeks for optimal results.
Avoid foods requiring prolonged chewing and avoid excessive facial movements for one week. Brush teeth gently with a soft toothbrush only. Avoid manipulation of upper lip to keep nose at rest. You may have some numbness in your upper lip and upper teeth for about a week.
For at least one week, you should avoid getting your nasal cast and dressing wet. You may carefully wash your face and hair, but you might need to have someone else assist you. Showers, baths, and swimming must be completely avoided.
Nasal congestion – Cleaning the nose with peroxide on a Q-tip or rinsing the nose with a nasal saline (i.e. – Simply Saline) will help with this. A facial steamer is also helpful and can be bought at CVS, Walgreens, or the like, and used with or without mentholated pads to reduce congestion.
Diet. You can consume a normal diet but for the first 48 hrs do not have very hot or spicy foods or hot cups of tea or coffee to minimise the risk of bleeding (warm drinks ok).
The splints and packing will make it very difficult to breathe through your nose for several days, so patients should not expect immediate relief following surgery.
After discharge it is advisable to take at least one week off work and attempt to rest indoors for at least the first 3 to 5 days, avoid touching the nose, smoky atmospheres and exposure to people with colds. Sneezing should be done with the mouth open!
For the septoplasty, a small cut is made on the inside of your nose on the septum and any bent or obstructing bone/cartilage is removed or straightened. The reconstructed nasal septum is secured with internal stitches.
You may shower or bath as normal after discharge from hospital. You may resume driving 48 hours after your operation. You may resume your normal sexual relations as soon as you feel well enough to do so. You will need to refrain from work for up to 14 days after your operation depending on your job and how you feel.
Due to swelling, dry blood, mucus, temporary packing, and crusting in your nose, you may have symptoms like an upper respiratory infection, and – yes - an unpleasant odor. To help your nose and sinuses recover and return to normal, your doctor will likely recommend sinonasal irrigation.
LIP AND MOUTH CARE. For the first two weeks following surgery, avoid pursing the lips as in whistling, applying lipstick, kissing, or sucking on a straw.
Keep your head elevated as much as possible for the first three days. Sleep with your head elevated on pillows. Place ice packs (frozen peas, crushed ice in zip lock, etc.) on your nose, eyes and cheeks as much as possible for the first three days.
Patients who undergo nasal reconstruction, septoplasty, turbinectomy, or sinus surgery usually have their nose packed at the end of surgery with a special soft sponge that has a string attached to its end. In some ways it is like a feminine tampon.