My Nose Spray Addiction (Part 2)
As I blogged previously, I have been addicted to nose spray, largely due to chronic enlarged turbinates making it hard for me to breathe otherwise. I realize this is an unhealthy thing, but so is not getting any sleep. The thing that sucks is that they really don't know what causes enlarged turbinates, and once they become enlarged, there isn't a whole lot they can do, outside of a turbinectomy. Given that your turbinates serve the useful purpose of warming air and filtering out particles like dust and pollen, removing them completely sounds like a procedure not without consequence. And besides, I've already been under the knife once to have my septum straightened and turbinates worked on -- so I didn't really want to do it again.
A couple months ago, after consulting with my Otolaryngologist (aka. my nose doc), he informed me that I would probably be a good candidate for a minimally invasive procedure called a Turbinoplasty, which is a specialized version of Somnoplasty. The basic idea is that they shove a tube up your nose and use high frequency radio waves to superheat your turbinate tissue, effectively burning it. After being burnt, it scabs, and your body starts working on repairing it by removing the destroyed tissue and replacing it with new tissue. The end result is supposed to be that when your body is finished healing, the turbinates will be smaller than they were before, allowing more air thought. Apparently they have had pretty good results with this procedure in the past, but unfortunately since it's really up to your body to do all the useful work, the effectiveness of the procedure is ultimately determined by your genetics, not so much by your doctor. The downside is that means there's a chance it might not help much at all.
After thinking about it for a while, I decided to give it a go. My appointment was yesterday. I went into the doctors office, and he sat me down in a chair. He took some lidocaine gel (local anasthetic) and used a cotton swab to poke it deep into my nasal cavity. This is like someone jamming their pinky completely up your nose and is fairly uncomfortable, except a cotton swab isn't as girthy (I love that word) as a pinky so it's marginally better in that regard. After that, he took two thin cotton sheets, folded them up, soaked them in a lidocaine solution, and stuck them in my nostrils. Since they were absolutely dripping with lidocaine, a lot of it went down the back of my throat. I have to say, it's pretty much the most bitter thing I've ever tasted! Yuck!
After about 45 minutes, he came back and asked me if I was numb. I told him I couldn't tell, so he poked me with another cotton swab, and I couldn't feel it. He said I was ready for my injection. He asked me if I had a tendency to faint when I gave blood, and I told him no. So he took a huge needle filled with some kind of more powerful anasthetic, and stuck that in my left turbinate. Although I expected it to be quite painful, it was more of a pinching and not all that bad. And then I started getting lightheaded and REALLY hot. The nurse had to put a wet towel on my forehead so I didn't pass out.
He then took the somnoplasty widget and went to work. At first it wasn't that bad, but I calculated that the widget heated up to 157 degrees farenheit. So even though I was numb, I could still feel it, and it was quite painful. Not enough to tell him to stop, but pretty close. After a few minutes, he said he was done, and went to do the other one. Strangely enough, even though my right nostril had been soaking in the lidocaine for longer, when he gave me the injection it REALLY hurt. But at least no more lightheadedness. Then he went to work with the somnoplasty widget and did the same thing as before. Fortunately, it wasn't as painful as the left side.
After he was done, he stuck some cotton in my nose and let me rest for about 30 minutes. Then they took the cotton out, and I was free to go!
My nose dripped blood and gunk for the rest of the evening, both out of the front, and down my throat. And the worst part was that it all tasted like burnt flesh. YUCK!
I expected the first night to be hell (with my nose scabbed and swollen on the inside), but surprisingly one of my nostrils opened up and I was able to breathe through it, even though it felt kind of burning. But whatever, a little burning isn't going to keep me from sleeping! So I slept through the night, woke up this morning, and it feels MUCH better. The inside of nose is all crusty and gunky and scabby, and the worst part is that I'm not allowed to blow it hard. I just have to live with it and let my body do it's job. Over the next week, I'm supposed to be swollen and scabby, and then in about 3-5 weeks I'm supposed to start seeing the benefit.
I hope it works, because if I went through all of that for no benefit, I will be pretty damn unhappy. :)
A couple months ago, after consulting with my Otolaryngologist (aka. my nose doc), he informed me that I would probably be a good candidate for a minimally invasive procedure called a Turbinoplasty, which is a specialized version of Somnoplasty. The basic idea is that they shove a tube up your nose and use high frequency radio waves to superheat your turbinate tissue, effectively burning it. After being burnt, it scabs, and your body starts working on repairing it by removing the destroyed tissue and replacing it with new tissue. The end result is supposed to be that when your body is finished healing, the turbinates will be smaller than they were before, allowing more air thought. Apparently they have had pretty good results with this procedure in the past, but unfortunately since it's really up to your body to do all the useful work, the effectiveness of the procedure is ultimately determined by your genetics, not so much by your doctor. The downside is that means there's a chance it might not help much at all.
After thinking about it for a while, I decided to give it a go. My appointment was yesterday. I went into the doctors office, and he sat me down in a chair. He took some lidocaine gel (local anasthetic) and used a cotton swab to poke it deep into my nasal cavity. This is like someone jamming their pinky completely up your nose and is fairly uncomfortable, except a cotton swab isn't as girthy (I love that word) as a pinky so it's marginally better in that regard. After that, he took two thin cotton sheets, folded them up, soaked them in a lidocaine solution, and stuck them in my nostrils. Since they were absolutely dripping with lidocaine, a lot of it went down the back of my throat. I have to say, it's pretty much the most bitter thing I've ever tasted! Yuck!
After about 45 minutes, he came back and asked me if I was numb. I told him I couldn't tell, so he poked me with another cotton swab, and I couldn't feel it. He said I was ready for my injection. He asked me if I had a tendency to faint when I gave blood, and I told him no. So he took a huge needle filled with some kind of more powerful anasthetic, and stuck that in my left turbinate. Although I expected it to be quite painful, it was more of a pinching and not all that bad. And then I started getting lightheaded and REALLY hot. The nurse had to put a wet towel on my forehead so I didn't pass out.
He then took the somnoplasty widget and went to work. At first it wasn't that bad, but I calculated that the widget heated up to 157 degrees farenheit. So even though I was numb, I could still feel it, and it was quite painful. Not enough to tell him to stop, but pretty close. After a few minutes, he said he was done, and went to do the other one. Strangely enough, even though my right nostril had been soaking in the lidocaine for longer, when he gave me the injection it REALLY hurt. But at least no more lightheadedness. Then he went to work with the somnoplasty widget and did the same thing as before. Fortunately, it wasn't as painful as the left side.
After he was done, he stuck some cotton in my nose and let me rest for about 30 minutes. Then they took the cotton out, and I was free to go!
My nose dripped blood and gunk for the rest of the evening, both out of the front, and down my throat. And the worst part was that it all tasted like burnt flesh. YUCK!
I expected the first night to be hell (with my nose scabbed and swollen on the inside), but surprisingly one of my nostrils opened up and I was able to breathe through it, even though it felt kind of burning. But whatever, a little burning isn't going to keep me from sleeping! So I slept through the night, woke up this morning, and it feels MUCH better. The inside of nose is all crusty and gunky and scabby, and the worst part is that I'm not allowed to blow it hard. I just have to live with it and let my body do it's job. Over the next week, I'm supposed to be swollen and scabby, and then in about 3-5 weeks I'm supposed to start seeing the benefit.
I hope it works, because if I went through all of that for no benefit, I will be pretty damn unhappy. :)
posted by Tarindel @ 2:37 PM
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