I'm 6 weeks post-op from my Septoplasty with Turbinate Reduction - some advice and things I used during recovery

I'm a little over 6 weeks post-op and I'm doing great! Nose is finally starting to feel normal and breathing out of both nostrils is incredible. The surgery was well worth the months of anxiety and stress leading up to it. I'm sharing some things I used during my recovery and some tips in hopes that someone else finds it useful during their own recovery.

Here's a list of supplies I highly recommend:

I'm fortunate enough to have a spouse that was able to take care of me the first few days after surgery, but I probably could have handled everything by myself AFTER the first day. I've never had general anesthesia before and my body was a bit of a wreck for like 8 hours post surgery, so definitely have someone stay with you the first day if possible.

If you can I highly recommend taking a whole week off work. I definitely could have gone back to work like 5 days after surgery, but I would've been a bloody, snotty, uncomfortable mess and to limit the chance of infection I wanted to avoid as many people as possible.

I was instructed to begin the nasal rinses the morning after surgery. My method for doing the rinses is as follows:

  • Inhale the saline spray bottle gently into both nostrils. GENTLY. Just barely breathe in while holding the nozzle at the opening of your nostril. This sort of loosens things up for the real rinse.
  • Pour 1 packet of the saline solution mix in the Neti Pot and fill it with distilled (NOT TAP) water almost to the top. Shake it around a bit to mix it in. Run some hot water and fill up a large cup (I used a Yeti Tumbler) with the hot water and set the Neti Pot in it for a minute or so. You want the water in the Neti Pot to be warm, not steaming hot.
  • Start irrigating one nostril and stop when the Neti Pot is about half way empty. Gently blow your nose (my surgeon told me this was okay but ask your surgeon if it's okay) to clear out any gunk then repeat the process for the other nostril.
  • Use a Q-Tip to remove any boogers/snot/blood/gunk that's still hanging, but don't rub it against your septum if you can help it.
  • My surgeon had me use bacitracin the first week to coat my septum with. I used a Q-Tip to apply this too.

The first two weeks I was doing like 5-7 rinses a day. Then after my 2-week follow up they told me to cut it back to 2 a day, so now I do one in the morning and one at night.

This was my first surgery and I was an absolute wreck leading up to it. I would search google for potential complications, patient stories, how long recovery will take, etc and worry myself sick. Looking back, I probably could have saved myself some stress by NOT doing this lol. Even though it was painful for a few days post surgery I can barely remember it (and it was only a few weeks ago) and I'm so, so glad I went through with it. Breathing out of both nostrils is AMAZING and so game changing for every aspect of life.

My #1 piece of advice would be to GET OFF THE INTERNET AND STOP WORRYING ABOUT THE SURGERY. SO MANY PEOPLE GET THIS DONE EVERY DAY. Most people who have a successful septoplasty don't go on the internet afterwards to tell people about it. You'll find more horror stories than anything because people with negative experiences are much more likely to post about them.

If you have any questions about recovery or any questions about the surgery I'll do my best to answer them!